R
Rick/Ron/Teddy
Guest
Conditions: We made the attempt on Wildcat A from this direction (Nineteen Mile Brook/Wildcat Ridge Trails) despite learning from numbers of folks coming down from the hut that the slide one third of the way up the trail from the Carter Notch junction was pretty much impassable due to drifting, a hard snow crust on the slide, and ice on the slide below the trail.
The trail from the junction up to the slide was pretty drifted in, and hard to find at points, requiring probing with poles to find the harder snow where the trail was firmer. It was hard going with the angle of the slope. When we reached the slide it really did look undoable (read "scarey as heck" in my lexidon). There is a crust under several inches of new powder which it will be very difficult to self-arrest on before the bottom. We couldn't tell where the actual trail was as it crossed the slide. We turned around.
Special equipment required: If you are going to try it in these conditions you will need crampons and ice axe. If it were me, I would want a harness and rope and friend belaying me.
Comments: From talking to the hutkeeper, apparently no one has gone beyond the slide in about three weeks. She is actively discouraging people. My congratulations to the person we met on the trail who crossed it yesterday, and then turned around to go back with his group, and to the gentleman who crossed it Thursday, only to also turn around at that point.
Other than that, a beautiful day to be out for a winter hike, and not a breath of wind in the Notch.
[email protected]
The trail from the junction up to the slide was pretty drifted in, and hard to find at points, requiring probing with poles to find the harder snow where the trail was firmer. It was hard going with the angle of the slope. When we reached the slide it really did look undoable (read "scarey as heck" in my lexidon). There is a crust under several inches of new powder which it will be very difficult to self-arrest on before the bottom. We couldn't tell where the actual trail was as it crossed the slide. We turned around.
Special equipment required: If you are going to try it in these conditions you will need crampons and ice axe. If it were me, I would want a harness and rope and friend belaying me.
Comments: From talking to the hutkeeper, apparently no one has gone beyond the slide in about three weeks. She is actively discouraging people. My congratulations to the person we met on the trail who crossed it yesterday, and then turned around to go back with his group, and to the gentleman who crossed it Thursday, only to also turn around at that point.
Other than that, a beautiful day to be out for a winter hike, and not a breath of wind in the Notch.
[email protected]
