timmus
Well-known member
I was meeting Frodo at some famous Gorham hamburger restaurant and it was good to see him again. We spotted a car at the Bangor Rd «cul-de-sac», drove to the Nineteen-Mile Brook TH, and started our hike. We both knew that we will have limited views during the day, but also that the motivation and good spirit will be unlimited.
The trail was pretty dry all the way to the junction with the Carter Dome Tr, and only one water crossing had slow down our pace. This is when I noticed that Frodo had trail runners, because it took him one tenth of the time I needed to remove my leather boots, cross the brook, and put‘em back on… those small/light/convenient things called trail runners are slowly making their way to my gear closet.
At the junction, we decided to make the loop so I could visit Carter Notch. Once up there, the lake looked very pretty but everything else was in the fog. It was also very windy and cold, so getting into the AMC hut felt good but also very strange. I usually don’t open a door, get inside and sit on a (warm) bench when hiking up a mountain. After a while I was missing the exterior light, and I was glad to be back on trail. Frodo did warn me that the climb up to Carter Dome was steep, but it was more than what I expected. I couldn’t keep up with him (I don’t think many VFTTr’s would) but it was nice to stop and look down at the lake.
The summit of Carter Dome is very interesting. Wide and flat, you can guess that this open area was created by the steps of thousands and thousands of hikers. Or maybe not. We stayed a couple of minutes, took one picture (we were surrounded by clouds), and took off.
We skipped Mt Hight, and walked the wet ridge while talking and trying not to fall on our butt. This is where I slipped and recovered with extremely gracious movements. I can’t remember on which summit we stopped to eat, because they were all trees, clouds and rocks. We traveled through blowdowns and mud holes all the way between North Carter and Stony Brook Trail. We met a caretaker, he was asking Frodo about the condition of the trail he's responsible for, while I was doing my best to avoid getting his dog’s dribble on my food. Let’s just say that the guy didn’t give a good impression…
The climb up to Moriah was strenuous, and I felt so tired I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I think it’s because I ate four buttered caramel/chocolate chip cookies, and stomach mobilized all my energies to digest this too rich snack. Frodo was waiting for me at the top of the rock scramble section just before Moriah’s summit. When I reached the top, I tripped on a metal rod that is popping out of rocks. I’m so thankful that Frodo missed that, because I’m sure it was a pretty ridiculous/grotesque moment. Moriah is such a cool mountain, with all those open ledges. Plus I noticed few blueberry bushes.
It was a long return, slowly going down on the wet slabs. I slipped on a bog bridge, falling right on the butt. Frodo waited to see if I was fine before laughing, and I was glad that I didn’t fell into the water. Another gracious moment provided by Timmus.
The last couple of miles were relaxed; we talked about travel destinations and Seinfeld. The only thing that was going wrong for me was my chafed back. It was burning so much that I had to loose all the straps on my pack.
We reached the car around 7pm, and I felt really good even after 11 hours of hiking. It’s always like that when we’re in very good company. There was no views, but all day long we saw cool colors in the forest, like Mica colored water, alien green rocks, white sand patches on the trail and weird red powder spread on water holes.
I’m going to have to come back to see the views. Next winter maybe?
PICS
The trail was pretty dry all the way to the junction with the Carter Dome Tr, and only one water crossing had slow down our pace. This is when I noticed that Frodo had trail runners, because it took him one tenth of the time I needed to remove my leather boots, cross the brook, and put‘em back on… those small/light/convenient things called trail runners are slowly making their way to my gear closet.
At the junction, we decided to make the loop so I could visit Carter Notch. Once up there, the lake looked very pretty but everything else was in the fog. It was also very windy and cold, so getting into the AMC hut felt good but also very strange. I usually don’t open a door, get inside and sit on a (warm) bench when hiking up a mountain. After a while I was missing the exterior light, and I was glad to be back on trail. Frodo did warn me that the climb up to Carter Dome was steep, but it was more than what I expected. I couldn’t keep up with him (I don’t think many VFTTr’s would) but it was nice to stop and look down at the lake.
The summit of Carter Dome is very interesting. Wide and flat, you can guess that this open area was created by the steps of thousands and thousands of hikers. Or maybe not. We stayed a couple of minutes, took one picture (we were surrounded by clouds), and took off.
We skipped Mt Hight, and walked the wet ridge while talking and trying not to fall on our butt. This is where I slipped and recovered with extremely gracious movements. I can’t remember on which summit we stopped to eat, because they were all trees, clouds and rocks. We traveled through blowdowns and mud holes all the way between North Carter and Stony Brook Trail. We met a caretaker, he was asking Frodo about the condition of the trail he's responsible for, while I was doing my best to avoid getting his dog’s dribble on my food. Let’s just say that the guy didn’t give a good impression…
The climb up to Moriah was strenuous, and I felt so tired I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I think it’s because I ate four buttered caramel/chocolate chip cookies, and stomach mobilized all my energies to digest this too rich snack. Frodo was waiting for me at the top of the rock scramble section just before Moriah’s summit. When I reached the top, I tripped on a metal rod that is popping out of rocks. I’m so thankful that Frodo missed that, because I’m sure it was a pretty ridiculous/grotesque moment. Moriah is such a cool mountain, with all those open ledges. Plus I noticed few blueberry bushes.
It was a long return, slowly going down on the wet slabs. I slipped on a bog bridge, falling right on the butt. Frodo waited to see if I was fine before laughing, and I was glad that I didn’t fell into the water. Another gracious moment provided by Timmus.
The last couple of miles were relaxed; we talked about travel destinations and Seinfeld. The only thing that was going wrong for me was my chafed back. It was burning so much that I had to loose all the straps on my pack.
We reached the car around 7pm, and I felt really good even after 11 hours of hiking. It’s always like that when we’re in very good company. There was no views, but all day long we saw cool colors in the forest, like Mica colored water, alien green rocks, white sand patches on the trail and weird red powder spread on water holes.
I’m going to have to come back to see the views. Next winter maybe?
PICS
Pretty much covered it all on that "not-so-scenic" day...
