Roxi
Active member
I am a fair weather hiker and I make no apologies for that. When Mother Nature provides me with a beautiful day, I go for it. So despite hiking Isolation on Thursday, I wasn't about to pass up a gem of a day today. I headed out with the intention of summiting South Carter and Middle Carter in an out and back hike. Every hike is an adventure, however, and after passing several small groups of people on the Nineteen Mile Brook trail and Carter Dome trails, I saw a lone hiker in a bright yellow shirt with red hair come bouncing down the Carter-Moriah trail just south of South Carter. Geez, I thought, he looks familiar. "Bob? Is that you?" Sure enough it was Hiker Bob! The last time I saw him was when Sticks and I were heading up Washington last year and HB was coming down. HB and I chatted for a bit, he was headed to Carter Dome, and he filled me in on what to expect on the ridge I was doing. He also asked me if I had any ROT stickers. When I said no, he gave me two. What a cool place to receive those! Thank you! 
As we talked it was clear both of us wanted to do a loop, but the cars were each located at the wrong spot....until we realized that we now had a spontaneous car spot! (sort of) The deal was we'd each look for the other as we walked back toward our cars and when we met, we'd both head for the car that was nearest (follow that?). But then Bob said, "If you happen to get to your car first, would you please wait for me?" I agreed, but knew in the back of my head I'd be making it back to my car first. We parted ways. I had a great hike across the Carters with nice views along the ridge in between the peaks. Lots of people were out hiking today. The Imp Face had 24 folks on it, half of which were preteen girls. It was a little crowded. The Imp trail was beautiful! Lots of moss-covered rocks and cascading water. I finished the hike and trekked uphill on Rt 16 back to my car where I waited an hour for Hiker Bob to emerge from the trailhead. He was very appreciative and I gave him a ride back to his car. In the style of P2Piper, lessons learned were: if I want a spontaneous car spot to work for me, either get the other person's car keys, or hike slower!
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As we talked it was clear both of us wanted to do a loop, but the cars were each located at the wrong spot....until we realized that we now had a spontaneous car spot! (sort of) The deal was we'd each look for the other as we walked back toward our cars and when we met, we'd both head for the car that was nearest (follow that?). But then Bob said, "If you happen to get to your car first, would you please wait for me?" I agreed, but knew in the back of my head I'd be making it back to my car first. We parted ways. I had a great hike across the Carters with nice views along the ridge in between the peaks. Lots of people were out hiking today. The Imp Face had 24 folks on it, half of which were preteen girls. It was a little crowded. The Imp trail was beautiful! Lots of moss-covered rocks and cascading water. I finished the hike and trekked uphill on Rt 16 back to my car where I waited an hour for Hiker Bob to emerge from the trailhead. He was very appreciative and I gave him a ride back to his car. In the style of P2Piper, lessons learned were: if I want a spontaneous car spot to work for me, either get the other person's car keys, or hike slower!
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