amstony
New member
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2004
- Messages
- 732
- Reaction score
- 142
Great Hike! ^MtnMike^m and I met up at the North Imp trailhead early, so we were able to hit the trail at exactly 8:20 AM. We did not have to spend time doing a car spot at 19 Mile Brook trailhead since his wife had drove him down from Maine and was spending the day in the Whites. We pre-arranged a meet time of 4:00 PM. North Imp trail was fairly steep the entire way up to Imp face. All the stream and brook crossings were fine, and there has been some nice trail work done along the trail. We arrived at Imp Face in 80 minutes, took some pics, drank some water and moved on. Low clouds partially obscured the view. We hit the intersection with North Carter Trail and kept moving on. The North Carter was 1.2 miles and a 1200 foot elevation gain, so we felt it upon reaching the Carter Moriah Trail. It was also cool, since we were now in a low hanging cloud base.
Upon reaching the CM trail, we kept trucking to Middle Carter. We stopped along the way for a few minutes and met 2 nice ladies working on their 4K's, and another woman AT thru hiker headed to Georgia. We met one more person just before Middle Carter, and that was the last one we saw for awhile. The summit of Middle Carter was partially obscured by trees. We rested a few minutes so Mike could rest his knee, which was still bothering him from a previous injury, took some more summit photos, drank some water and decided to move on.
The CM trail was in fine shape, lots of plank and log bridges, all recently repaired and/or maintained. This sped us along and made for a smoother hike. We arrived at South Carter and there was not much to see- it is just about obscured by the trees. The approach to the summit has a few good views into the Baldfaces and towards the Presi's.
The descent down to Zeta Pass was knee rattling, and we were glad we had our poles. We made it to Zeta Pass, and decided to make for Mt. Hight. After a few minutes of climbing up the Carter Dome Trail, ^MtnMike^ decided to turn back and head back to 19 Mile Brook Trailhead, where we agreed to meet up, since the knee was sore and he did not want to make anything worse.
Based on this decision I skipped Mt. Hight and Carter Notch Hut,and went up straight to the Dome, where the views were somewhat obscured by low hanging clouds. I met a few folks up there, (the summit was nearly empty- 6 people and a dog), who took my pic, I took theirs and then I headed back down the same trail at 1:15 PM to catch up to Mike.
From this point on I was able to hustle down the Carter Dome Trail and 19 Mile Brook Trails at a fast pace, and caught up to Mike (only minutes behind him) at the trailhead at 3:10 PM. His wife had just pulled in so he did not have to wait for the ride. We popped the cold Pepsi's I had in the cooler in his trunk. We loaded up our gear and they took me back to N. Imp Trailhead.
4K's # 32, 33, and 34 for me; and 2 more for ^MtnMike^. Total time on the trail 6 hours 50 minuts, and approximately 13 miles.
