Hight/Carter Dome

shamples · Aug 27, 2005

So me and my father-in-law did the simple loop up Nineteen Mile Brook Tr, split towards Zeta Pass, up Hight, over to CDome, down to Notch Hut and loop back out.

Originally I was planning on staying right at the first fork to stay towards the hut and ascend Carter Dome first, but we instead opted to gain the great views of Hight early and first, so we chose left at the junction. I must say now after experiencing the drop from Carter Dome down to the hut (mainly from that viewpoint down to the hut really), that I was glad we chose the way we did and went down that instead of up. That steepness lasts for a good little while and would have been much tougher going up than from the other side ascending Hight which was a piece of cake.

Great little loop though. My dad-in-law was impressed, especially with the views atop Hight. He's 68 and had never heard of Hight until I mentioned doing it with CDome. Was tough getting him off the top as we took a sweet break at the top there and enjoyed grand views all around. I have never done anything else in the Carter/Moriah range so that new perspective was pretty cool to check out. Great weather for it (Sat, 8/27) and had the top all to ourselves from like 8:30am-9:30am.

Started at 6:10am and was back to the car at 12:55pm. Great day and while driving home, noticed many hiker lots overflowing so it looked like a popular day for hitting the trails. Good stuff!

Damn, Hight really is a gem!

darren · Aug 28, 2005

We did the same loop on Friday and we went the other direction (counter clockwise) and we were really happy that we chose to go that way. I'd much rather hike up a steep section than down it. It is much easier on my knees. It is funny how two people can do the same hike in different directions and both be happy with their choice. And, yah, Hight is a gem.

- darren

Waumbek · Aug 28, 2005

shamples said:
Damn, Hight really is a gem!

It sure is. If you couldn't figure out all the mountains that you saw from Hight, check out Brent Scudder, Scudder's White Mountain Viewing Guide, which has line drawings of the panoramas to all the compass points from the Hight summit. The summits are labeled. He shows Mt Gosford QB to the north among many others. Scudder usually gets most of them but not always all.

shamples · Aug 28, 2005

Yeah, I hear ya on the steep sections taking a toll on the knees going down. I actually tweaked my knee in one spot going down, but nothing serious. But even still, as the humidity started to rear its ugly head, I was happy by that point to be heading down instead of up. It is funny about how people enjoy different ways of tackeling loops.

That Scudders viewing guide link doesn't seem to want to work for me. I am real curious about looking at it since when I was atop Hight, I broke out my map and was trying to name all the peaks all around. With them still fresh in my head, I'd like to see that.

Waumbek · Aug 28, 2005

shamples said:
That Scudders viewing guide link doesn't seem to want to work for me. I am real curious about looking at it since when I was atop Hight, I broke out my map and was trying to name all the peaks all around. With them still fresh in my head, I'd like to see that.

Sorry, that's not a hyperlink, just an underlined book title. Scudder is not online as far as I know so you gotta buy/borrow the book.