p2piper
New member
STATS:
Date: March 24, 2007
Time: 8.5 hours
Weather: Sunny, calm, temps near 50, clouds in the afternoon
Miles: 11.9
Steps: 33,462
Trails: Nineteen Mile Brook Trail to Carter Dome Trail to Carter Moriah Trail and back
Up early (3:45am) to meet Nancy in Keene by 5am. Loaded the car and we were off. I was coming into this hike with a sore knee and wondered how it would hold out. But I pushed the worry out of my head and turned my attention to the task at hand. The weather forecast was calling for a quick moving storm to hit early evening and drop anywhere from 1-6 inches of wet snow on the area. I was hoping it would hold off until we got home safely.
We parked at the trailhead and started out at 8:38am. It was 27 degrees, cold enough to bareboot our way up the trail. Outside of an icy section close to the trailhead, the rest of the trail was coarse and provided pretty good traction. We weren't sinking into the snow at all, but I knew that was going to be short-lived. Nineteen Mile Brook was much more talkative than it had been last week. More melting and I could feel the difference in the air and hear new bird calls. We walked in good spirits, the sun shining, enjoying the day and each other's company and reached the Carter Dome Trail an hour later.
Last week we had to put on our snowshoes at this point, but the trail was packed and we continued barebooting up toward the base of the mountain. Through the leafless trees we could see Carter Dome looming above us, so daunting and the distance so deceiving. We were glad we were heading to the north and couldn't see where we were going. When we hit the steeper section of the climb the trail started switchbacking up the ridge through mostly coniferous forest. This was territory we had covered last weekend so it wasn't as fresh and new as most trails. Both of us were feeling good, enjoying the day, Nancy was sweating and I was too, although not quite as profusely.
We reached the top of the ridge and the Carter-Moriah Trail at 11:06am. Yes! Virgin territory we had never seen before. I was psyched. No one had been on the trail since last weekend and we started post-holing almost immediately. On came the snowshoes and on they stayed for the rest of the hike. The ridge trail up to South Carter undulated through boreal forest. The sky above the trees was so blue it pierced my heart. Views off to the West showed the eastern side of the Northern Presidentials. Stunning. Views ahead showed the northern Carter Range and behind us Carter Dome and the Wildcats. We felt so lucky and so happy to be up there with the sun shining on our faces. There was really nowhere we would rather be.
We reached the South Carter summit (elevation 4,430) at 11:45 am and took a couple of summit shots before moving on across the ridge and immediately we started a steep downhill climb. I love going up. It is my thing. I get into a rhythm and just go. My muscles hurt, my calves burn, I can feel the power in my quads, my lungs suck air, and I know this is the good stuff. But downhill - downhill sucks for me. I don't like it. My toes want to jam into the toe box of my boots and my knees start their descent into throbbing pain with each downhill step. I can almost feel the microtears that I am told happen in my quadriceps during the constant braking motion going downhill. And in snowshoes, it's even more challenging - my feet suddenly become twice as wide and long and there are crampons on the bottom of my feet. Stub one of those crampons without keeping your weight back and you are a faceplant waiting to happen. On maybe the third or fourth steep downhill pitch I had to run down the last ten feet or fall on my face. I turned back just in time to see Nancy do the same thing but could tell she was going too fast and boom she fell face first into the snow. At least it was soft snow and not a tree - I laughed so hard I cried. The look on her face, her windmilling arms, the out of control descent was a funniest home video in the making.
Half an hour later we came upon a rock where the snow had melted. It was calling to us - sit here and eat your lunch, it said - and so we did. What a view! Northern Presidentials to our right, South Carter, Carter Dome, Mt Hight and the Wildcats to our left and behind us the peak of Middle Carter jutting out into the blue sky. This was the first lunch we have eaten on a cold weather hike where we could actually sit down and eat a sandwich that wasn't half frozen. I love peanut butter and jelly and it withstood the cold really well, but I was tired of eating PB&J and ready for a turkey and Swiss roll up. Yum. We lunched from 12:20pm to 1pm, a much needed and thoroughly enjoyed respite.
We reached the summit of Middle Carter (elevation 4,610) at 1:22pm. The summit sign (yes, two peaks with summit signs!) was buried in snow so we almost walked by it. We took a summit picture and started back down, knowing after 6 miles that this was going to be a long slog back to the car. I was feeling the effects of the climb up and knew we had a few steep uphill sections to go before downhill was all that was left. Although I was tired, I enjoyed the uphill climbs and dreaded the miles of downhill ahead. It took only an hour to reach the Carter Dome Trail intersection and down we went. Mile after mile. The clouds had overtaken the sky and the temps dropped a bit, but it was still in the 40's and comfortable.
My knees were tired and sore, but my feet were the hardest hit. Nancy was also dealing with foot pain - blisters and boot pressure making the last miles closer to torture than pleasure. We were mostly silent - both lost in our own thoughts, dealing with our pain in silence. Maybe a mile and a half from the trailhead, Nancy slipped and went down hard on her hand, over-flexing her knee. She recovered quickly but something was damaged and she felt the effects for the rest of the hike. Both of us were absolutely ecstatic to get to the parking lot and take off the snowshoes. Heaven, bliss, ahhhhhhh. And the bliss kept on coming - sitting down felt like - well, it was wonderful. We drove down to Pinkham Notch and changed clothes and boots, opened our post-hike beverages - Diet Pepsi for me and Diet Peach Snapple Ice Tea for Nancy - and began our 3 ½ hour drive back to our dogs and homes and husbands and day-to-day lives. But not before we spent those 3 ½ hours talking about the hike, reminiscing about other hikes, wondering at the will and the passion and the courage and strength it took to climb 48 peaks in less than a year, anticipating our Rim to Rim to Rim Grand Canyon adventure this June and what new adventures lie ahead. Kilimanjaro in 2008?
48 peaks out of 67
Date: March 24, 2007
Time: 8.5 hours
Weather: Sunny, calm, temps near 50, clouds in the afternoon
Miles: 11.9
Steps: 33,462
Trails: Nineteen Mile Brook Trail to Carter Dome Trail to Carter Moriah Trail and back
Up early (3:45am) to meet Nancy in Keene by 5am. Loaded the car and we were off. I was coming into this hike with a sore knee and wondered how it would hold out. But I pushed the worry out of my head and turned my attention to the task at hand. The weather forecast was calling for a quick moving storm to hit early evening and drop anywhere from 1-6 inches of wet snow on the area. I was hoping it would hold off until we got home safely.
We parked at the trailhead and started out at 8:38am. It was 27 degrees, cold enough to bareboot our way up the trail. Outside of an icy section close to the trailhead, the rest of the trail was coarse and provided pretty good traction. We weren't sinking into the snow at all, but I knew that was going to be short-lived. Nineteen Mile Brook was much more talkative than it had been last week. More melting and I could feel the difference in the air and hear new bird calls. We walked in good spirits, the sun shining, enjoying the day and each other's company and reached the Carter Dome Trail an hour later.
Last week we had to put on our snowshoes at this point, but the trail was packed and we continued barebooting up toward the base of the mountain. Through the leafless trees we could see Carter Dome looming above us, so daunting and the distance so deceiving. We were glad we were heading to the north and couldn't see where we were going. When we hit the steeper section of the climb the trail started switchbacking up the ridge through mostly coniferous forest. This was territory we had covered last weekend so it wasn't as fresh and new as most trails. Both of us were feeling good, enjoying the day, Nancy was sweating and I was too, although not quite as profusely.
We reached the top of the ridge and the Carter-Moriah Trail at 11:06am. Yes! Virgin territory we had never seen before. I was psyched. No one had been on the trail since last weekend and we started post-holing almost immediately. On came the snowshoes and on they stayed for the rest of the hike. The ridge trail up to South Carter undulated through boreal forest. The sky above the trees was so blue it pierced my heart. Views off to the West showed the eastern side of the Northern Presidentials. Stunning. Views ahead showed the northern Carter Range and behind us Carter Dome and the Wildcats. We felt so lucky and so happy to be up there with the sun shining on our faces. There was really nowhere we would rather be.
We reached the South Carter summit (elevation 4,430) at 11:45 am and took a couple of summit shots before moving on across the ridge and immediately we started a steep downhill climb. I love going up. It is my thing. I get into a rhythm and just go. My muscles hurt, my calves burn, I can feel the power in my quads, my lungs suck air, and I know this is the good stuff. But downhill - downhill sucks for me. I don't like it. My toes want to jam into the toe box of my boots and my knees start their descent into throbbing pain with each downhill step. I can almost feel the microtears that I am told happen in my quadriceps during the constant braking motion going downhill. And in snowshoes, it's even more challenging - my feet suddenly become twice as wide and long and there are crampons on the bottom of my feet. Stub one of those crampons without keeping your weight back and you are a faceplant waiting to happen. On maybe the third or fourth steep downhill pitch I had to run down the last ten feet or fall on my face. I turned back just in time to see Nancy do the same thing but could tell she was going too fast and boom she fell face first into the snow. At least it was soft snow and not a tree - I laughed so hard I cried. The look on her face, her windmilling arms, the out of control descent was a funniest home video in the making.
Half an hour later we came upon a rock where the snow had melted. It was calling to us - sit here and eat your lunch, it said - and so we did. What a view! Northern Presidentials to our right, South Carter, Carter Dome, Mt Hight and the Wildcats to our left and behind us the peak of Middle Carter jutting out into the blue sky. This was the first lunch we have eaten on a cold weather hike where we could actually sit down and eat a sandwich that wasn't half frozen. I love peanut butter and jelly and it withstood the cold really well, but I was tired of eating PB&J and ready for a turkey and Swiss roll up. Yum. We lunched from 12:20pm to 1pm, a much needed and thoroughly enjoyed respite.
We reached the summit of Middle Carter (elevation 4,610) at 1:22pm. The summit sign (yes, two peaks with summit signs!) was buried in snow so we almost walked by it. We took a summit picture and started back down, knowing after 6 miles that this was going to be a long slog back to the car. I was feeling the effects of the climb up and knew we had a few steep uphill sections to go before downhill was all that was left. Although I was tired, I enjoyed the uphill climbs and dreaded the miles of downhill ahead. It took only an hour to reach the Carter Dome Trail intersection and down we went. Mile after mile. The clouds had overtaken the sky and the temps dropped a bit, but it was still in the 40's and comfortable.
My knees were tired and sore, but my feet were the hardest hit. Nancy was also dealing with foot pain - blisters and boot pressure making the last miles closer to torture than pleasure. We were mostly silent - both lost in our own thoughts, dealing with our pain in silence. Maybe a mile and a half from the trailhead, Nancy slipped and went down hard on her hand, over-flexing her knee. She recovered quickly but something was damaged and she felt the effects for the rest of the hike. Both of us were absolutely ecstatic to get to the parking lot and take off the snowshoes. Heaven, bliss, ahhhhhhh. And the bliss kept on coming - sitting down felt like - well, it was wonderful. We drove down to Pinkham Notch and changed clothes and boots, opened our post-hike beverages - Diet Pepsi for me and Diet Peach Snapple Ice Tea for Nancy - and began our 3 ½ hour drive back to our dogs and homes and husbands and day-to-day lives. But not before we spent those 3 ½ hours talking about the hike, reminiscing about other hikes, wondering at the will and the passion and the courage and strength it took to climb 48 peaks in less than a year, anticipating our Rim to Rim to Rim Grand Canyon adventure this June and what new adventures lie ahead. Kilimanjaro in 2008?
48 peaks out of 67
