H
HikerBob
Guest
OK - I seriously think I should not be allowed to go out alone any more!
Hadn't been up to the Whites for a couple of weeks so, despite a cr*ppy weather forecast, decided to take a stab at Middle Carter by way of the North arm of the Imp Trail and the North Carter and Carter Moriah trails.
So, I'm driving up Rte 16 from Gorham and keeping a good eye out for the Imp trail head... There it is! I park, get ready, snap a pic of the trail sign and head into the woods. No time to lose, I'm making a late start because the forecast said early rains. It's dry at the moment so I'm a happy hiker.
I have my maps and also some trail note excerpts from the WMG. The trail is wet and leafy, and muddy, and wet... Notes say brook crossing at 0.8 miles. I cross lots of brooks but I always overestimate my progress so figure I'll get to the main one sooner or later.
I make good progress but what I'm seeing on the trail doesn;t quite gel with the notes. Not unusual but some major twists and turns seem a long time coming. Shrug and carry on.
First sign of ice at around 2,500ft but nothing much on the trail for a few more hundred feet and all of it bare bootable with care. I'm still waiting for the 'Sharp right turn and steep climb' but nothing seems to fit. Shrug and carry on.
Things start to get pretty icy as the trail seems to share a route with a stream most of the time. Some of the ice bridges are weak and break easilly so a sounding stab with a pole is a good first indicator to strength. I carry on, up and up. Into the clouds.
I look at my altitude and check the direction the trail is taking several times. Shrug and carry on. It's not until I see a trail sign ahead that the penny drops. I've been climbing the South arm of the Imp Loop
I can't believe I missed the other trail head. I also can't believe I didn't notice the mileage given for the Imp on the sign I took a picture of, that would have clued me in right away. Oh well, shrug and carry on.
By now the trail is mostly rotting snow. Having had good firm snow last time out I took a chance and didn't bring snowshoes. As I made my way up the North Carter trail it became obvous they were going to be necessary. I made the decision I'd wished others had on previous hikes and turned around.
A few minutes later it started to rain, I took this as another sign to call it a day. At the very least I'd get to do the whole Imp loop. I had planned to go up and back by the same route so as not to risk an unknown loop ending to a very solo, solo hike. Some other unknown loops had turned interesting, and that was with companions.
Working around the lip of the Imp Brook Ravine there were lots of brook crossings and much more snow and ice than prevously encountered. Then I came to the Imp Brook crossing.
Water had iced up, flowed around and over and iced up some more until the whole crossing area was a mass of ice. I could here lots of water flowing but it was all under the ice. Right in the spot where the trail goes was a huge ice bulge. I scouted around to see if it was avoidable but there seemed to be no alternative. Crampons on I gingerly made my way across the flatter stuff, tapping and prodding with the poles. It all seemed very sold, thankfully.
Nothing for it but to frontpoint up and over the bulge. An axe would have been reassuring and aded security but having only poles I made darn sure each toe hold was secure before trying for the next. Was maybe no more than four feet of very steep ice and once above that an easy walk with crampons. I consider them to be essential for negotiating this crossing.
Beyond the crossing things eased off as I finally made the Imp outlook. Still cloudbound so the views were staggeringly dull. I removed the crampons at this point as the ledgey scramble was ice free. The rain at least had moderated some as I made my way down.
Made it all the way down without having to use crampons again, although a couple of places would have been easier with them. I took one or two mini-detours of particularly nasty spots. Wet leaves, roots and ice gave the poles a good workout and required some additional care.
Approaching the lower brook crossing I could hear the roar well in advance of seeing the water. I wondered what I would find. As it turned out things looked a lot scarier than they really were but the crossing still needed the confidence to walk on submerged rocks in fast flowing water.
Once again, the poles came in handy to test rocks out for stability before commiting to a foot placement. The rest of the walk out was quite pleasant as the skies appeared to be clearing.
Reaching the road I could not believe I missed the trail head. Must have been distracted for that instant. A quick stomp up the road soon had me back to the van. A couple of passing cars honked their horns. I waved regardless of the reason.
An interesting (!), but damp, day out in the woods. Next time - sunshine!
Bob
Hadn't been up to the Whites for a couple of weeks so, despite a cr*ppy weather forecast, decided to take a stab at Middle Carter by way of the North arm of the Imp Trail and the North Carter and Carter Moriah trails.
So, I'm driving up Rte 16 from Gorham and keeping a good eye out for the Imp trail head... There it is! I park, get ready, snap a pic of the trail sign and head into the woods. No time to lose, I'm making a late start because the forecast said early rains. It's dry at the moment so I'm a happy hiker.
I have my maps and also some trail note excerpts from the WMG. The trail is wet and leafy, and muddy, and wet... Notes say brook crossing at 0.8 miles. I cross lots of brooks but I always overestimate my progress so figure I'll get to the main one sooner or later.
I make good progress but what I'm seeing on the trail doesn;t quite gel with the notes. Not unusual but some major twists and turns seem a long time coming. Shrug and carry on.
First sign of ice at around 2,500ft but nothing much on the trail for a few more hundred feet and all of it bare bootable with care. I'm still waiting for the 'Sharp right turn and steep climb' but nothing seems to fit. Shrug and carry on.
Things start to get pretty icy as the trail seems to share a route with a stream most of the time. Some of the ice bridges are weak and break easilly so a sounding stab with a pole is a good first indicator to strength. I carry on, up and up. Into the clouds.
I look at my altitude and check the direction the trail is taking several times. Shrug and carry on. It's not until I see a trail sign ahead that the penny drops. I've been climbing the South arm of the Imp Loop
I can't believe I missed the other trail head. I also can't believe I didn't notice the mileage given for the Imp on the sign I took a picture of, that would have clued me in right away. Oh well, shrug and carry on.
By now the trail is mostly rotting snow. Having had good firm snow last time out I took a chance and didn't bring snowshoes. As I made my way up the North Carter trail it became obvous they were going to be necessary. I made the decision I'd wished others had on previous hikes and turned around.
A few minutes later it started to rain, I took this as another sign to call it a day. At the very least I'd get to do the whole Imp loop. I had planned to go up and back by the same route so as not to risk an unknown loop ending to a very solo, solo hike. Some other unknown loops had turned interesting, and that was with companions.
Working around the lip of the Imp Brook Ravine there were lots of brook crossings and much more snow and ice than prevously encountered. Then I came to the Imp Brook crossing.
Water had iced up, flowed around and over and iced up some more until the whole crossing area was a mass of ice. I could here lots of water flowing but it was all under the ice. Right in the spot where the trail goes was a huge ice bulge. I scouted around to see if it was avoidable but there seemed to be no alternative. Crampons on I gingerly made my way across the flatter stuff, tapping and prodding with the poles. It all seemed very sold, thankfully.
Nothing for it but to frontpoint up and over the bulge. An axe would have been reassuring and aded security but having only poles I made darn sure each toe hold was secure before trying for the next. Was maybe no more than four feet of very steep ice and once above that an easy walk with crampons. I consider them to be essential for negotiating this crossing.
Beyond the crossing things eased off as I finally made the Imp outlook. Still cloudbound so the views were staggeringly dull. I removed the crampons at this point as the ledgey scramble was ice free. The rain at least had moderated some as I made my way down.
Made it all the way down without having to use crampons again, although a couple of places would have been easier with them. I took one or two mini-detours of particularly nasty spots. Wet leaves, roots and ice gave the poles a good workout and required some additional care.
Approaching the lower brook crossing I could hear the roar well in advance of seeing the water. I wondered what I would find. As it turned out things looked a lot scarier than they really were but the crossing still needed the confidence to walk on submerged rocks in fast flowing water.
Once again, the poles came in handy to test rocks out for stability before commiting to a foot placement. The rest of the walk out was quite pleasant as the skies appeared to be clearing.
Reaching the road I could not believe I missed the trail head. Must have been distracted for that instant. A quick stomp up the road soon had me back to the van. A couple of passing cars honked their horns. I waved regardless of the reason.
An interesting (!), but damp, day out in the woods. Next time - sunshine!
Bob
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