April 25, 2009
It's been over a month since my last hike in the White Mountains. It has been an exceptionally long time for me not to visit my favorite playground, but with the completion of my Appalachian Trail journey, it's time to return to the Whites. I had a tough time deciding what to hike this week. Ed Hawkins had an AMC workshop to teach this weekend, so he wasn't hiking. I was thinking of a solo hike across Franconia Ridge, but the weather forecast became a little "iffy". I decided to join Darcy Hobgood who was leading a hike to the Carters and Mount Hight.
It was a last minute decision, so I wasn't able to let her know to expect me. When I got to the trailhead at 8:55 a.m., I saw Darcy's Toyota Camry, but no Darcy. I figured everyone she was expecting showed up, so they hit the trail a little early. Hopefully, I will be able to catch them by the Carter-Dome Trail junction, otherwise I'll have to take a guess at which route they took. It was an exceptionally warm day for April. In fact, it was warmer than any day I spent on the trail down in North Carolina and Georgia earlier in the month.
The Whites have changed significantly since my last hike here 5 weeks ago. It was time to "ride" the monorail.
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I was able to catch the group just in time, right at the junction.
"Did you run into us on accident or on purpose?" asked Darcy.
"On purpose," I said.
I got to meet Nancy and Nick who I hadn't had the privilege of hiking with yet. I also met Payton, who is Nick's canine companion. The four of us or five us if you include Payton continued up the Nineteen Mile Brook Trail. I knew Darcy was a speedy hiker, but I soon learned that Nancy moved at pretty fast pace as well. We were running into more trail with snow than without snow so we put on some traction. Microspikes for Nancy and I, Stabilicers for Darcy, and crampons for Nick. Up we headed until we reached the Carter Lakes. There was several feet of water around the edge of the lake and the ice was looking pretty thin.
"I guess we won't be taking a shortcut today," said Darcy.
Looking up to Wildcat A
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As we proceeded to Carter Hut, Nancy postholed. The result was a very, very wet sock. We reached the hut, took a break, and Nancy changed her sock.
Nancy, Payton, and Nick at Carter Notch Hut.
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The next 1.5 miles would be the toughest of the day.
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We made the steep climb up to the scenic overlook.
I think Payton was having the most fun.
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Looking down to Carter Notch Hut
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After being down south it seemed odd to again see
the Appalchian Trail blazes down by my knees instead of eye level.
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Darcy and Nancy were the first to reach the 4832' summit of Carter Dome.
They are tough to keep up with.
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This was a new peak for Nick. Congratulations!
We decided to switch to our snowshoes and headed off to
Mount Hight,
shown to the right in the picture below.
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Mount Hight (elevation 4675') is one of my favorite summits in the Whites.
Darcy took my picture.
Mount Hight isn't an official 4000 footer, so it doesn't get the traffic it deserves.
"That's OK," said Darcy. "It's our secret."
(Well, it was our secret until a plastered it on my website.)
It's such a beautiful spot. I'm glad the A.T. goes over it rather than taking the side trail around it.
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Looking back to Carter Dome
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The Northern Presidentials
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After an extra long extended break which included lunch and some napping,
it was off to South and Middle Carter.
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We reached the junction at Zeta Pass. Nick and Payton decided that was enough for today.
"You know, Nick," I said. "You are leaving me with a lot of pressure. Now it is up to me alone to try to keep up with these two ladies."
We made our way up to the viewless 4430' summit of South Carter. Seeing no need to stop we just kept goin'.
Looking ahead to Middle Carter
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Taking a look back.
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Another awesome view of the Presies
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As we neared the 4610' summit of Middle Carter, one of my snowshoes came off.
"I threw a shoe," I said to Nancy. "Don't stop, I'll catch up."
Huh, what was I thinking. I went up and over the summit occasionally catching a glimpse of them. I didn't catch them until the junction with the North Carter Trail (and that was only because they stopped).
Darcy and a Gray Jay
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As we began the descent, I realized that my knee which I over used on the A.T. was starting to bother me a little. I didn't want to risk injuring it, so I decided not to push it. I reached the junction with the Imp Trail, but Darcy and Nancy weren't there. I figured I wouldn't see them again until the parking lot. I sat down to rest my knee and enjoy a snack. I continued on my way and bumped into them about two minutes later.
"We stopped at the junction," said Darcy, "but we decided to move onto a sunny spot."
We continued our descent. Finally, at about 2800' feet, we were able to take our snowshoes off. I was glad to get off the monorail.
"I don't know how you move so fast on such an unstable surface," I said to Darcy.
"I face planted once," she said.
Snowshoe free, I kept up much better at this point. It was such a hot day, it didn't seem possible that we were just in several feet of snow. We took the cutoff to Camp Dodge before taking the road back to our vehicles.
Having spent much of the month on the A.T., this would be my only Grid hike for the month, but today's 3 four thousand footers brought my April Grid count to 21.
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