And now for the true summits in the Carter Range

[RoySwkr]

I would say that thanks to Dr.D there is nothing more for ordinary mortals to do about Owls Head - traditionally the 4K committee doesn't take anybody else's word for anything so the next move is for them to send an official to check it out.

Few people know that South Carter has a twin summit - the NE one is a few steps W of the trail and the SW one is a short bushwhack away. This might be where you could actually use that water/beer tube.
http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=19&n=4906392.00011812&e=326319.999961149&datum=nad83

And I have done more research on the actual historic location of Mt Lethe which I will publish shortly, but the key feature may be that Wildcat is visible from the summit:
"a bare peak over which the path leads, but just to the R. of the
summit. This is called Mt. Lethe and offers the most beautiful views
thus far. From this point may be seen the Northern Peaks, Washington,
Wildcat and Carter Dome."

Looking at the map
http://www.topozone.com/print.asp?z...1099&s=100&size=l&u=5&layer=DRG25&datum=nad83
it appears that Middle Carter may block the view of Wildcat both from its N spurs and from "4584", so wherever you can see Wildcat from may be the true Lethe. Unfortunately the day I went to investigate was so foggy that I couldn't even see Middle Carter. I will try again but maybe one of our hundreds of members will be there sooner and have a look.

 

[HikerBob]

This intrigued me so I used Topo! to plot a bearing line from Lethe to Wildcat and then generated an elevation profile.

The results can be found HERE (It's a 543KB jpg so be patient)

The elevation profile at the bottom reads left-right as Lethe to Wildcat so it's bass ackwards to the map. I added a line that shows (given the limitations of the software and mapping) that Wildcat should indeed be visible from Lethe.

Hope this is of some help.

Bob

 

[Tom Rankin]

This intrigued me so I used Topo! to plot a bearing line from Lethe to Wildcat and then generated an elevation profile.

The results can be found HERE (It's a 543KB jpg so be patient)

The elevation profile at the bottom reads left-right as Lethe to Wildcat so it's bass ackwards to the map. I added a line that shows (given the limitations of the software and mapping) that Wildcat should indeed be visible from Lethe.

Hope this is of some help.

Bob

Interesting. Does this take the curve of the earth into account ?

 

[HikerBob]

Interesting. Does this take the curve of the earth into account ?

Tom - I very much doubt it. I assume the software generates the elevation profile from the underlying contour information so this too is limited to the accuracy of the mapping.

Just to add to the pot - here are a couple of images from Google Earth! I added placemarkers for what was my best guess location for Lethe and Wildcat A. They are both fairly large images but both under 60 KB. Your browser may shrink them however so use the tool to revert to normal size.

In view 1 I got as close in to Lethe as I could at around ground level, but slightly above.

In View 2 I pulled back and up some to give a clearer view. The Wildcat Marker can be seen as a yellowish blob directly above the Lethe marker.

Not sure what Google uses for elevation data but I located the highest spot for Lethe and it showed up as slightly over 4600 ft.

I was up there not too long ago but never took a picture in that direction. I'm just going to have to go back

(Can you tell it's been a quiet morning at work so far? )

Bob

 

[RoySwkr]

This intrigued me so I used Topo! to plot a bearing line from Lethe to Wildcat and then generated an elevation profile.

It's always amazing some of the things you can learn here

It appears that no faraway mountains block the view from 4584, only possibly the nearby ridge. Of course that means that the nearby ridge can probably see Wildcat so maybe it's the true Lethe. Somehow I think the views of Wildcat from either one are not impressive enough to be in anyone's photo gallery so that's an excuse to go there.

 

[bill bowden]

Roy-Shame for confusing innocent peakbaggers

Do you mean to say that aspiring FTFC members must actually leave the trail to bag South Carter?
BTW, what drove you to bushwhack South Hale from Zealand? I found the ridge leading from S. Hale into Little River to be steep but pretty open. If I go back for a fourth visit, I'll try to follow the birches directly from the summit back to the Lend-a-Hand rather than return to the view ledge as I have been doing.

Any hints on a reasonable route to Hutchins?

Best wishes

 

[sapblatt]

Few people know that South Carter has a twin summit - the NE one is a few steps W of the trail and the SW one is a short bushwhack away. This might be where you could actually use that water/beer tube.

I find this interesting...when I was recently on South Carter it seemed that there were higher areas very near the summit post...it was cold and pouring and windy...I did not explore.

 

[RoySwkr]

Do you mean to say that aspiring FTFC members must actually leave the trail to bag South Carter?

The ground is definitely higher in a little clearing W of the trail and there is a herd path up, but like many 4K I'm sure a lot of people don't bother to touch the exact highest point

BTW, what drove you to bushwhack South Hale from Zealand? I found the ridge leading from S. Hale into Little River to be steep but pretty open. If I go back for a fourth visit, I'll try to follow the birches directly from the summit back to the Lend-a-Hand rather than return to the view ledge as I have been doing.

Actually I was bushwhacking from Zealand to Hale and S Hale was incidental, surely it's faster for trail runners and probably for me to go around by the hut but I can't resist new routes

Well, let's see, I've now been from the NW, NE, and SW so maybe next time I should climb direct from the hut without using Lend-A-Hand

Any hints on a reasonable route to Hutchins?

Take the trail from Bruce Sloat's up to Mt Mary (S Pilot, yet another
trailed peak missing from the Y-List), then follow the ridge to Hutchins. If you bushwhack directly down you might find an old woods road.