king tut
New member
I got up nice and early saturday morning, around 5:30, and headed off to the Mt Washington valley. I only had about 3-4 hours of sleep that night as I could not fall asleep, and I was a bit concerned that I might be a bit tired during the hike. The drive over was not too bad, I got some great views of Mt Washington from the road just before Bethel as the white top started gleaming out in the horizon. I got to the trailhead just before 9, and finished my McDonalds healthy breakfast.
I started up the nineteen mile brook trail around 9, and the parking lot was almost full at that time. The air was rather cool that morning, and about 5 minutes into my journey I had to stop and put some gloves on, as my hands were starting to go numb from the cold. I guess it must have been right around the freezing mark at that time in the morning. It was 1.9 miles to the next junction, and the trail was rather easy, ascending moderately but a quick walk. When I got to the next junction, I had intended to stay on the 19 mile brook trail as Metsky and others had suggested, but I was feeling good and decided to do the loop in the other direction since i might want to throw in Wildcat. So up the Carter Dome trail I went, that was also a moderate ascent, nothing steep, but also a quick walk. There were a few stream crossings and they were fine. I have long legs and poles, so there weren't any dangerous crossings. It might have been a little tricky for someone shorter than me though. I ran into a little bit of ice and a couple small patches of snow accumulations, all under an ich thick. So the trail was in very good shape.
After a while I connected with the AT and started the trek up to Mt Hight. I went by a large group of Canadian hikers at the AT junction, and then met up with a couple of nice guys in there 40's right below Mt Hight. One of them had a nice dog. At the top of Mt Hight I looked around and got some great views of the Presidentials. Very beautiful. I took a few pics, they came out OK, but certainly not as good as they looked in person. It was great to see all of the Presidentials in a line, having done a 2 day traverse earlier this summer. I asked one of the other guys what time it was, they said a little after 11, so it had taken just over 2 hours to get to the ridgeline. From there it was a 15 minute walk over to Carter Dome. I got to the top and saw a father and his son, i believe, they said that they had not seen anybody as they had been hiking in the opposite direction as me. I told them that they were about to run into a lot of people. I hung around the top for about a minute, and then headed down to the hut. At this point in the day, it had really warmed up, I would guess that it was at least 40 degrees up on the ridgeline with no wind.
The trek down to the hut was moderate for the first 1/2 mile and then was pretty steep down the last 1/2 mile. I decided to check out the huts, and they were pretty nice. Then I took a few pics of the pond as it had a little layer of ice covering it, making it very pretty. It was about 5 past 12 at this point, and I felt good so I decided to head up to Wildcat. The trail was .7 mile and gained around 1200 feet I believe. It was a lot steeper than the other trails that I had done today. I went by a waterfall, that was partially frozen and looked really cool, so I took a few pics. I soon got closer to the top of Wildcat and the trail became very icy, probably 2-3 inches of ice covering all the rocks on the trail up. It was a bit tricky but I took my time going up. I made it to the top, and walked over to Wildcat B, not really knowing where I was, and looking for any signs. There were to be no signs so I took out my map, and determined where I was. I then headed back down and took my time going down the .2 mile of ice from the top of Wildcat A. I made it down this section fine, but getting close to the hut, the trail flattened out. I took a couple of weird steps and fell over twice, luckily landing on soft ground, and a soft evergreen tree. I made a couple of groans each time, and when I got to the intersection I ran into another guy. I was wondering if he heard my cries for help. He didn't say anything, so I wasn't too embarrassed.
I took the 19 mile brook trail out, and it was a lovely walk along the river. The foliage was nice near the bottom of the trail. I saw a lot of people coming up to the hut as i descended the trail. I reached the parking lot at about 3 o clock, a 6 hour hike. I believe the hike was about 11 miles and around 4500 or so vertical. It felt great.
I headed out to Sunday River afterwards to meet up with some family for a party last night, and on the way up to Jordan Bowl, I swear i saw about 6 Hummers. I thought my mind was playing tricks on me. Then I got the Hotel and saw a huge flock of hummers, and there was indeed a Hummer convention going on. I woke up this morning and looked out the window, and it was snowing. It was beautiful. I took a few minutes to watch the heavy snow falling against the ski trails as my liver and brain started to come around from the night before. I was waking up to winter.
I put up some new pics on webshots from the hike.
I started up the nineteen mile brook trail around 9, and the parking lot was almost full at that time. The air was rather cool that morning, and about 5 minutes into my journey I had to stop and put some gloves on, as my hands were starting to go numb from the cold. I guess it must have been right around the freezing mark at that time in the morning. It was 1.9 miles to the next junction, and the trail was rather easy, ascending moderately but a quick walk. When I got to the next junction, I had intended to stay on the 19 mile brook trail as Metsky and others had suggested, but I was feeling good and decided to do the loop in the other direction since i might want to throw in Wildcat. So up the Carter Dome trail I went, that was also a moderate ascent, nothing steep, but also a quick walk. There were a few stream crossings and they were fine. I have long legs and poles, so there weren't any dangerous crossings. It might have been a little tricky for someone shorter than me though. I ran into a little bit of ice and a couple small patches of snow accumulations, all under an ich thick. So the trail was in very good shape.
After a while I connected with the AT and started the trek up to Mt Hight. I went by a large group of Canadian hikers at the AT junction, and then met up with a couple of nice guys in there 40's right below Mt Hight. One of them had a nice dog. At the top of Mt Hight I looked around and got some great views of the Presidentials. Very beautiful. I took a few pics, they came out OK, but certainly not as good as they looked in person. It was great to see all of the Presidentials in a line, having done a 2 day traverse earlier this summer. I asked one of the other guys what time it was, they said a little after 11, so it had taken just over 2 hours to get to the ridgeline. From there it was a 15 minute walk over to Carter Dome. I got to the top and saw a father and his son, i believe, they said that they had not seen anybody as they had been hiking in the opposite direction as me. I told them that they were about to run into a lot of people. I hung around the top for about a minute, and then headed down to the hut. At this point in the day, it had really warmed up, I would guess that it was at least 40 degrees up on the ridgeline with no wind.
The trek down to the hut was moderate for the first 1/2 mile and then was pretty steep down the last 1/2 mile. I decided to check out the huts, and they were pretty nice. Then I took a few pics of the pond as it had a little layer of ice covering it, making it very pretty. It was about 5 past 12 at this point, and I felt good so I decided to head up to Wildcat. The trail was .7 mile and gained around 1200 feet I believe. It was a lot steeper than the other trails that I had done today. I went by a waterfall, that was partially frozen and looked really cool, so I took a few pics. I soon got closer to the top of Wildcat and the trail became very icy, probably 2-3 inches of ice covering all the rocks on the trail up. It was a bit tricky but I took my time going up. I made it to the top, and walked over to Wildcat B, not really knowing where I was, and looking for any signs. There were to be no signs so I took out my map, and determined where I was. I then headed back down and took my time going down the .2 mile of ice from the top of Wildcat A. I made it down this section fine, but getting close to the hut, the trail flattened out. I took a couple of weird steps and fell over twice, luckily landing on soft ground, and a soft evergreen tree. I made a couple of groans each time, and when I got to the intersection I ran into another guy. I was wondering if he heard my cries for help. He didn't say anything, so I wasn't too embarrassed.
I took the 19 mile brook trail out, and it was a lovely walk along the river. The foliage was nice near the bottom of the trail. I saw a lot of people coming up to the hut as i descended the trail. I reached the parking lot at about 3 o clock, a 6 hour hike. I believe the hike was about 11 miles and around 4500 or so vertical. It felt great.
I headed out to Sunday River afterwards to meet up with some family for a party last night, and on the way up to Jordan Bowl, I swear i saw about 6 Hummers. I thought my mind was playing tricks on me. Then I got the Hotel and saw a huge flock of hummers, and there was indeed a Hummer convention going on. I woke up this morning and looked out the window, and it was snowing. It was beautiful. I took a few minutes to watch the heavy snow falling against the ski trails as my liver and brain started to come around from the night before. I was waking up to winter.
I put up some new pics on webshots from the hike.
