Wildcat and Carter Mountains Overnight

SummaryTrip Overview
OwnerMITOC Gallery Administrator
Creation Date2007-01-29 23:26:46 UTC-0500
Description

Wildcat and Carter Mountains Overnight

1.27.07-1.28.07

Our first trailhead (Wildcat Ridge) and final trail (S. Imp trail) were just South and North of Pinkham Notch, off of Rt. 16, (near Mt. Washington)

Nick Edelman, Jon Hanselman, Mike Oltmans, Matt Weldon, Polly Anikeeva and Kate D'Epagnier

Trip Report:

Jon, Nick, Mike, Polly and Kate drove from MIT at about 0530, and met Matt, who had spent the night at Intervale, at 0900, and strategically placed cars at either ends of the planned hike. We started the hike just after 0930, at about -5F. The first two miles, we gained about 2000ft of elevation, which made for several very exciting steep sections for about 1.5 miles. The sections were unfriendly to crampons, and we did some rock climbing with our heavy packs. By about 1pm we made it to Wildcat D, where we stopped to have lunch on the porch at a ski area. We enjoyed the sunny weather and made fun of the skiers for taking the gondola up the the mountain, when they could have just walked. The next three peaks were easier, since we didn't completely lose all our elevation in between peaks. At Wildcat Mtn. we got great views of the Carter Lakes, and of a steep trail with no switchbacks. Looking at out maps, we were pleasantly surprised that we were getting a preview of the Carter-Moriah trail, which we would hike the next morning. We descended along with the sun down the mountain to look for a place to set up camp. The trail was steep, and we were able to enjoy a long glissade down to the lakes.



We set up camp just after 1700. Polly and Matt cooked a delectable dinner of pasta, vegetables, sausage and cheese while Jon, Mike and Nick and I set up the Trangos. I was excited that I got a chance to use my new snow shovel to flatten out an area for one of the tents. After dinner, we made water for the next day and drank some hot tea before going to sleep. We had prepared for colder weather, and it did not get below 0F at night, resulting in a sweaty sauna of about 35F in our tents. We should have vented! We had expected -7F, but awoke to a balmy 10F, and insulating snowfall.



We got up at 0330 and packed up while Mike made an awesome egg and sausage breakfast. We were on the trail by 0500. The climb was very steep for 0.7 miles, but was easier than the previous day since we could use crampons. People with ice axes were very happy. We reached Carter Dome easily before our goal time of 0800, and decided to continue on the Mt. Hight. We flew up the trail. As we reached the summit, the clouds lifted enough to momentarily reveal the observation tower at Mt. Washington. We continued on to the South Carter and Middle Carter Mountains, stopping in a patch of sunshine along the way for lunch. The day felt quite warm at 19F, and we experienced clear, dark blue skies, with winds of only about 5mph at the summits. We bypassed North Carter Mountain and took the North Carter trail to the Southern Imp trail. The entire way down, we had hours of beautiful views of the Presidential mountains. After earlier parts of the trip, the trail felt 'flat,' and we traveled at >2mph. We came to an icy section, where the trail followed a frozen stream. We stopped to put on crampons and enjoyed some crispy precooked frozen bacon and hot cider. We finished the last 2 miles of the trail at 1600, for a trip total of nine mountains. Everyone drove to a restaurant and enjoyed a big BBQ dinner together before returning to Cambridge.