Becket1903
New member
I know that this is a bit late in coming, but I wanted to get some info out to everyone about our trip up to Moriah and accross some of the Carter range this past weekend.
The planned trip: Day 1, Park car one at Stony Brook Trailhead, up the Stony Brook Trail to Imp Mountain Shelter (about 4.5 miles with the access trail). Set up camp, summit Mt. Moriah (about 4.2 miles RT), dinner, sleep. Day 2, assuming all went well with Day 1; follow the AT (I forget the name of that section of trail) south over North Carter, Middle Carter, and South Carter to Zeta Pass, and down the Carter Dome Trail to 19 Mile Brook Trail to the 2nd car.
The details: After an early start, well for us early, the 4 of us from Boston managed to meet up with the remaining two of our party who were driving seperately. We all decided to make a quick stop for essential trail food, Subways, and packed the generously made 12" subs into our packs to have for lunch later. Having spent years working to have the lightest pack possible, there was something very wrong about stuffing my pack with a 2 pound grinder, but this was "winter" camping so what's a bit more weight anyway. Happily weighted down with our lunch time booty, we changed into our trail clothes at the Stony Brook TH. 2 of the guys had headed out to drop the 2nd car and we enjoyed the sun in the parking lot until they returned. After final pack adjustments, we were all of, single file, happy to be out on the trail again (been 3-4 months for me).
After 10 minutes, I was shocked to find myself removing layer after layer of clothing, folding to the unexpected balmy weather. In short, I couldn't have been happier. Temps ranged from 40-50 degrees throughout the day and sunny the entire time. We were making pretty good headway until the last of the stream crossings. The trail was almost completely clear of downed trees, and the snow was only a couple inches thick in the deepest spots. As we reached the last of the stream crossings, there were footprints going all over the place. We hadn't seen a blaze in a few minutes and weren't positive where the real trail crossing was. We new that we had to cross it and follow the water up, but were turned around none-the-less. 15 minutes later, one of the guys found the "right" crossing and we were on our way again. Despite the delay everyone continued in good spirits and we made our way higher. As we neared the AT intersection, we met up with a group of 12 day hikers that had tried to go up Moriah. They had turned back as it was starting to getlate and they didn't have full packs of gear. It was only about 2:30-3 at this point.
After the AT intersection, we hustled over to the Imp Mountain Shelter and platforms. We chose 3 at the far end and quickly set up camp. We put together day packs with food water, crampons, poles and headlamps, and headed back towards Moriah for a sunset hike. It was starting to get dark and cold(er) when we left around 3:30pm, but I was still amazed by how forgiving the weather had been all day. We made pretty good time up Moriah and enjoyed views of Washington and the Presidentials the whole way up. I wore crampons the whole time, and although not completely necessary, they were a big help (especially coming down in the dark).
On the way back the wind died down completely, I mean no wind at all. We stopped and sat in one of the outlook areas, and enjoyed watching the sunset with Washington silloueted (sp?) in front of us. We all sat there and enjoyed some crazy shooting stars and just being out there in November, not freezing!
Made our way back to camp, cooked up some great meals and then to bed for some rest.
Day 2 went nearly as well. I ended up deciding to boot pack up North Carter, and managed alright, but might have been better off throwing the crampons back on. I had carried them all that way! Snow depth was marginal as it was all well packed out. There were some icey steeps going up North C., but the warm weather had softened things up enough that it wasn't trecherous. From North Carter, the hiking was a breaaze. Cruised over Middle C and South Carter, and then into Zeta Pass where we picked up Carter Dome Trail. This is where the smooth ride ended!
We started down Carter Dome, and it became very clear that the quick hike out was going to be not-so-quick. Every 5-10 feet there were downed trees of various sizes. Going was tough, and we all crawled climbed and fought our way to the 19 Mile Brook Trail. This all of course would have been horrible in a driving freezing rain, or sub-zero temps, but the weather held out and we enjoyed sunshine and warm weather (high 40s again all day!). By the time we reached 19 mile Brook, we were all covered in sap, branches and mud from crawling and climbing over the downs. I enjoyed it, but as I said, any sort of weather would have had me cursing the trail. This section is going to need a tremendous amount of work to get back in order. 19 mile Brook Trail was a bit better, but continued to have a number of downed trees. The sun was starting to set as we made it to the road, and back to our cars.
Sorry for going on so long, but the trip was amazing. I can't remember a time when weather, trail conditions, and company all came together so perfectly. If anyone hasn't done this stretch of trail, it is well worth the trip. On a clear day like we enjoyed, the views of the presidentials are amazing.
Happy hiking this weekend, off to Holland to visit friends for a few days.
Some pics as well:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLa...e=fromshare&Ux=1&UV=254959141125_201275964106
The planned trip: Day 1, Park car one at Stony Brook Trailhead, up the Stony Brook Trail to Imp Mountain Shelter (about 4.5 miles with the access trail). Set up camp, summit Mt. Moriah (about 4.2 miles RT), dinner, sleep. Day 2, assuming all went well with Day 1; follow the AT (I forget the name of that section of trail) south over North Carter, Middle Carter, and South Carter to Zeta Pass, and down the Carter Dome Trail to 19 Mile Brook Trail to the 2nd car.
The details: After an early start, well for us early, the 4 of us from Boston managed to meet up with the remaining two of our party who were driving seperately. We all decided to make a quick stop for essential trail food, Subways, and packed the generously made 12" subs into our packs to have for lunch later. Having spent years working to have the lightest pack possible, there was something very wrong about stuffing my pack with a 2 pound grinder, but this was "winter" camping so what's a bit more weight anyway. Happily weighted down with our lunch time booty, we changed into our trail clothes at the Stony Brook TH. 2 of the guys had headed out to drop the 2nd car and we enjoyed the sun in the parking lot until they returned. After final pack adjustments, we were all of, single file, happy to be out on the trail again (been 3-4 months for me).
After 10 minutes, I was shocked to find myself removing layer after layer of clothing, folding to the unexpected balmy weather. In short, I couldn't have been happier. Temps ranged from 40-50 degrees throughout the day and sunny the entire time. We were making pretty good headway until the last of the stream crossings. The trail was almost completely clear of downed trees, and the snow was only a couple inches thick in the deepest spots. As we reached the last of the stream crossings, there were footprints going all over the place. We hadn't seen a blaze in a few minutes and weren't positive where the real trail crossing was. We new that we had to cross it and follow the water up, but were turned around none-the-less. 15 minutes later, one of the guys found the "right" crossing and we were on our way again. Despite the delay everyone continued in good spirits and we made our way higher. As we neared the AT intersection, we met up with a group of 12 day hikers that had tried to go up Moriah. They had turned back as it was starting to getlate and they didn't have full packs of gear. It was only about 2:30-3 at this point.
After the AT intersection, we hustled over to the Imp Mountain Shelter and platforms. We chose 3 at the far end and quickly set up camp. We put together day packs with food water, crampons, poles and headlamps, and headed back towards Moriah for a sunset hike. It was starting to get dark and cold(er) when we left around 3:30pm, but I was still amazed by how forgiving the weather had been all day. We made pretty good time up Moriah and enjoyed views of Washington and the Presidentials the whole way up. I wore crampons the whole time, and although not completely necessary, they were a big help (especially coming down in the dark).
On the way back the wind died down completely, I mean no wind at all. We stopped and sat in one of the outlook areas, and enjoyed watching the sunset with Washington silloueted (sp?) in front of us. We all sat there and enjoyed some crazy shooting stars and just being out there in November, not freezing!
Made our way back to camp, cooked up some great meals and then to bed for some rest.
Day 2 went nearly as well. I ended up deciding to boot pack up North Carter, and managed alright, but might have been better off throwing the crampons back on. I had carried them all that way! Snow depth was marginal as it was all well packed out. There were some icey steeps going up North C., but the warm weather had softened things up enough that it wasn't trecherous. From North Carter, the hiking was a breaaze. Cruised over Middle C and South Carter, and then into Zeta Pass where we picked up Carter Dome Trail. This is where the smooth ride ended!
We started down Carter Dome, and it became very clear that the quick hike out was going to be not-so-quick. Every 5-10 feet there were downed trees of various sizes. Going was tough, and we all crawled climbed and fought our way to the 19 Mile Brook Trail. This all of course would have been horrible in a driving freezing rain, or sub-zero temps, but the weather held out and we enjoyed sunshine and warm weather (high 40s again all day!). By the time we reached 19 mile Brook, we were all covered in sap, branches and mud from crawling and climbing over the downs. I enjoyed it, but as I said, any sort of weather would have had me cursing the trail. This section is going to need a tremendous amount of work to get back in order. 19 mile Brook Trail was a bit better, but continued to have a number of downed trees. The sun was starting to set as we made it to the road, and back to our cars.
Sorry for going on so long, but the trip was amazing. I can't remember a time when weather, trail conditions, and company all came together so perfectly. If anyone hasn't done this stretch of trail, it is well worth the trip. On a clear day like we enjoyed, the views of the presidentials are amazing.
Happy hiking this weekend, off to Holland to visit friends for a few days.
Some pics as well:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLa...e=fromshare&Ux=1&UV=254959141125_201275964106
