BIGEarl
Well-known member
November 9, 2010: Wildcat Ridge Traverse
Trails: Lost Pond Trail, Wildcat Ridge Trail, Nineteen Mile Brook Trail
Summits: Wildcat D Peak, Wildcat A Peak, and the others that are in the way
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue), Bryan, and me
The plan for the day was to hike the Wildcats and Carters from PNVC to NMB. We all met a little after 6:00am, spotted a vehicle at Nineteen Mile Brook (NMB) trailhead, and returned to Pinkham Notch Visitor Center for our final preparation. The forecast for the day was occasional showers and a total precipitation amount of .06 inches. I guess the weather people can’t always be right.
As planned, we were hiking at 7:00am on Lost Pond Trail. This has a much lower risk level than attempting the Wildcat Ridge Trail (WRT) crossing at Glen Ellis Falls and provides a nice warm-up to the day. In a short time we were at the Lost Pond – WRT trail junction and ready for the climb to Wildcat E. It’s cloudy, it’s raining, and we’re going to get wet.
The climb starts out steep and generally stays that way all of the way up. There are a couple breaks along the way but this is a fun way to the ridge. We slowly made our way along the trail and as we climbed we started to find areas of snow and ice. We reached the first open ledge viewpoint and could see Route 16 and the Glen Ellis parking area through the fog. Unfortunately, that was all we got for “distance” views on the hike. There were no distance views but we found some interesting trailside sights.
WRT from Pinkham Notch is a steep climb with a number of ledge sections. Most folks would probably avoid this trail in bad weather conditions; certainly descending this trail in difficult conditions is a bad idea. As we climbed we found bad conditions. The amount of ice started to increase, slowly at first and then suddenly we were in a return of the Ice Age at ~3000 feet.
The hike was suddenly interesting. Everything was completely loaded with ice, and not just a small glazing. Trees were bent over from the load being placed on them. Many trees were snapped off. There were treetops everywhere. Every time a breeze came through Sue and Bryan reported more trees snapping off nearby. Once, a very large block of ice (10 – 12 inch cube) landed between Bryan and me; we were roughly five feet apart at the time. That would have hurt. Early on we needed additional traction and pulled out the MicroSpikes. Fortunately, the ice was still generally soft and MicroSpikes did the job. The trail became an obstacle course. It’s a mess that will take a pretty good effort to clean up.
With the light traction helping, and the falling ice and trees motivating, we pressed on to the ridge. Finally, the trail pitched over and we were crossing Wildcat E peak. The main climb was behind us but not the ice. Difficult conditions continued. All of the trees had a huge ice load and when the wind blew trees snapped. We continued on our way and soon arrived to the top of Wildcat Ski Area. There we stopped for a quick snack and additional layers. We were wet and needed to stay warm – wet and cold is a bad combination.
Ready for more we stepped back onto the trail and headed to Wildcat D peak. There were no views, only a few summit pictures and we were on our way. We started the hike across Wildcat Ridge. The trip from Wildcat D to Wildcat C was more of the same; plenty of ice and blowdowns with an inch or two on the ground.
We made our way through all of it without any problems and were soon on Wildcat C peak. There we found very different conditions. Evidently, warmer air moved into this area before any damage was done. The trees had shed their ice and there were no blowdowns or broken treetops between Wildcat C and Carter Notch. It was still raining, breezy, and generally unpleasant but the trail conditions were improved. The trail was loaded with the ice cubes that had fallen from the trees but thankfully this happened before tree damage occurred.
We finished our hike across WRT over Wildcat B peak and on to Wildcat A without additional problems. Many of the mud pits along the way have been frozen or at least they’re getting pretty firm. At this point we were all probably not thinking about a little mud. At Wildcat A we had to visit the summit and get the usual pictures. One by one we all walked through the trees to the “high spot” above the outlook.
After a couple minutes we were on the steep descent from Wildcat A. The trail was loaded with ice but the MicroSpikes were doing the job for us. I don’t know that MicroSpikes were intended to handle conditions like this but they worked pretty well. The trail all of the way down to Carter Notch was clear of blowdowns but icy for the full descent.
We hit Carter Notch and briefly discussed our next move; left turn or right turn. It seemed clear we would definitely not be able to get all of The Carters as planned. When we come back to hike South and Middle Carter , hiking Carter Dome from Zeta Pass is only a ~2 mile side trip. We were all soaked; a little like a chipmunk in a pail of water – cold water. It didn’t take long for common sense to prevail and we made a left turn and headed to the NMB trailhead.
The exit hike was a long 3.6 miles to the trailhead with constant rain for the full distance. Slowly we reached the various bridges along the way and observed fairly high flow conditions on the streams. Much of the trail also had high flow conditions on it. Along the lower part of the hike we stopped a couple times to watch Nineteen Mile Brook and its impressive flow – higher than I’ve ever seen. Finally we arrived to the trailhead. In the morning when we spotted the truck there, it was the only vehicle in the lot. Now, it still is the only vehicle. A short distance away from where it was parked was evidence of another vehicle being vandalized. I hope as these idiots are caught they are punished as much as the law allows; but knowing our legal system the way I do they are probably getting a warning and sent on their way.
We had a tough day with difficult conditions. The icing we found was a complete surprise, and a terrific experience. The forecast predicted a total amount of .06 inches of rain (occasional showers). After I arrived home I checked the weather history and found the actual was reported at .93 inches. I guess the weather people can’t always be right.
Thanks Sue and Bryan. Wildcat Ridge from PNVC is always an interesting hike. I can’t wait to do it again – but not this month, we have other targets to shoot at.
Pictures will follow.
I’ve posted some pictures from the day.
BIGEarl's Pictures
Straight to the slideshow
Trails: Lost Pond Trail, Wildcat Ridge Trail, Nineteen Mile Brook Trail
Summits: Wildcat D Peak, Wildcat A Peak, and the others that are in the way
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue), Bryan, and me
The plan for the day was to hike the Wildcats and Carters from PNVC to NMB. We all met a little after 6:00am, spotted a vehicle at Nineteen Mile Brook (NMB) trailhead, and returned to Pinkham Notch Visitor Center for our final preparation. The forecast for the day was occasional showers and a total precipitation amount of .06 inches. I guess the weather people can’t always be right.
As planned, we were hiking at 7:00am on Lost Pond Trail. This has a much lower risk level than attempting the Wildcat Ridge Trail (WRT) crossing at Glen Ellis Falls and provides a nice warm-up to the day. In a short time we were at the Lost Pond – WRT trail junction and ready for the climb to Wildcat E. It’s cloudy, it’s raining, and we’re going to get wet.
The climb starts out steep and generally stays that way all of the way up. There are a couple breaks along the way but this is a fun way to the ridge. We slowly made our way along the trail and as we climbed we started to find areas of snow and ice. We reached the first open ledge viewpoint and could see Route 16 and the Glen Ellis parking area through the fog. Unfortunately, that was all we got for “distance” views on the hike. There were no distance views but we found some interesting trailside sights.
WRT from Pinkham Notch is a steep climb with a number of ledge sections. Most folks would probably avoid this trail in bad weather conditions; certainly descending this trail in difficult conditions is a bad idea. As we climbed we found bad conditions. The amount of ice started to increase, slowly at first and then suddenly we were in a return of the Ice Age at ~3000 feet.
The hike was suddenly interesting. Everything was completely loaded with ice, and not just a small glazing. Trees were bent over from the load being placed on them. Many trees were snapped off. There were treetops everywhere. Every time a breeze came through Sue and Bryan reported more trees snapping off nearby. Once, a very large block of ice (10 – 12 inch cube) landed between Bryan and me; we were roughly five feet apart at the time. That would have hurt. Early on we needed additional traction and pulled out the MicroSpikes. Fortunately, the ice was still generally soft and MicroSpikes did the job. The trail became an obstacle course. It’s a mess that will take a pretty good effort to clean up.
With the light traction helping, and the falling ice and trees motivating, we pressed on to the ridge. Finally, the trail pitched over and we were crossing Wildcat E peak. The main climb was behind us but not the ice. Difficult conditions continued. All of the trees had a huge ice load and when the wind blew trees snapped. We continued on our way and soon arrived to the top of Wildcat Ski Area. There we stopped for a quick snack and additional layers. We were wet and needed to stay warm – wet and cold is a bad combination.
Ready for more we stepped back onto the trail and headed to Wildcat D peak. There were no views, only a few summit pictures and we were on our way. We started the hike across Wildcat Ridge. The trip from Wildcat D to Wildcat C was more of the same; plenty of ice and blowdowns with an inch or two on the ground.
We made our way through all of it without any problems and were soon on Wildcat C peak. There we found very different conditions. Evidently, warmer air moved into this area before any damage was done. The trees had shed their ice and there were no blowdowns or broken treetops between Wildcat C and Carter Notch. It was still raining, breezy, and generally unpleasant but the trail conditions were improved. The trail was loaded with the ice cubes that had fallen from the trees but thankfully this happened before tree damage occurred.
We finished our hike across WRT over Wildcat B peak and on to Wildcat A without additional problems. Many of the mud pits along the way have been frozen or at least they’re getting pretty firm. At this point we were all probably not thinking about a little mud. At Wildcat A we had to visit the summit and get the usual pictures. One by one we all walked through the trees to the “high spot” above the outlook.
After a couple minutes we were on the steep descent from Wildcat A. The trail was loaded with ice but the MicroSpikes were doing the job for us. I don’t know that MicroSpikes were intended to handle conditions like this but they worked pretty well. The trail all of the way down to Carter Notch was clear of blowdowns but icy for the full descent.
We hit Carter Notch and briefly discussed our next move; left turn or right turn. It seemed clear we would definitely not be able to get all of The Carters as planned. When we come back to hike South and Middle Carter , hiking Carter Dome from Zeta Pass is only a ~2 mile side trip. We were all soaked; a little like a chipmunk in a pail of water – cold water. It didn’t take long for common sense to prevail and we made a left turn and headed to the NMB trailhead.
The exit hike was a long 3.6 miles to the trailhead with constant rain for the full distance. Slowly we reached the various bridges along the way and observed fairly high flow conditions on the streams. Much of the trail also had high flow conditions on it. Along the lower part of the hike we stopped a couple times to watch Nineteen Mile Brook and its impressive flow – higher than I’ve ever seen. Finally we arrived to the trailhead. In the morning when we spotted the truck there, it was the only vehicle in the lot. Now, it still is the only vehicle. A short distance away from where it was parked was evidence of another vehicle being vandalized. I hope as these idiots are caught they are punished as much as the law allows; but knowing our legal system the way I do they are probably getting a warning and sent on their way.
We had a tough day with difficult conditions. The icing we found was a complete surprise, and a terrific experience. The forecast predicted a total amount of .06 inches of rain (occasional showers). After I arrived home I checked the weather history and found the actual was reported at .93 inches. I guess the weather people can’t always be right.
Thanks Sue and Bryan. Wildcat Ridge from PNVC is always an interesting hike. I can’t wait to do it again – but not this month, we have other targets to shoot at.
Pictures will follow.
I’ve posted some pictures from the day.
BIGEarl's Pictures
Straight to the slideshow
