Paradox
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The Carter Range Overnighter 11/17-18/07
Chip, Zippy (the dog) and I met Early Bird at the Imp Trailhead at 6:40am and headed to the 19 Mile Brook Trailhead. We headed up to the Carter Notch Hut over an easily traversed trail. It was wet in a few spots but easy footing. Just a 1” of snow at the trailhead increased to 6” by the time we reached Carter Notch Lake. We were overtaken by a young woman in cotton sweat shirt/pants and wearing down booties who had come up behind us. Initially fearing for her health, we quickly found she was well taken care of at the hut by the caretaker (hence the job title, but you shouldn’t expect the same treatment.) After a 20 minute break, the three of us headed up the steep but reasonably sure footed Carter-Moriah Trail. Arriving at the Carter dome summit about 11:45 and meeting Ed Hawkins with a group of about 6 or 7 on top. We all (save Zippy who always hikes in crampons) put on traction near the summit, small snow shoes or crampons. The trip across the ridge was quite pretty and fast and was broken out by Ed Hawkins group. Early Bird left us about 2:45 pm at the North Carter Trail and made her way down to her car safely at the Imp Trailhead. Chip, Zippy, and I proceeded over North Carter and picked our way down the steep, icy section to the Imp shelter reaching it about 4:45 pm. We both had close to 50# packs making for a rather grueling experience.
Chip set up his tent and made us both dinner of MRE’s and Reeses Peanut butter cups. Zippy was very content with twice her usual ration of kibble. Both of us brought booze but didn’t have the wherewithal to have more than a couple sips of rum and turn in around 7pm. The shelter was unoccupied save for us and the tent fit reasonably within the shelter, sheltering us from the rather strong winds throughout the night (Chips thermometer read about 17 degrees for an outside low.)
Getting up around 7am, we broke camp and headed out via the Stony Brook trail reaching the car about 12:30. A nice trip, made possible by Chip's gear and crampons. We didn’t take them off until the last stream crossing as the rocks were ice covered.
pictures
Chip, Zippy (the dog) and I met Early Bird at the Imp Trailhead at 6:40am and headed to the 19 Mile Brook Trailhead. We headed up to the Carter Notch Hut over an easily traversed trail. It was wet in a few spots but easy footing. Just a 1” of snow at the trailhead increased to 6” by the time we reached Carter Notch Lake. We were overtaken by a young woman in cotton sweat shirt/pants and wearing down booties who had come up behind us. Initially fearing for her health, we quickly found she was well taken care of at the hut by the caretaker (hence the job title, but you shouldn’t expect the same treatment.) After a 20 minute break, the three of us headed up the steep but reasonably sure footed Carter-Moriah Trail. Arriving at the Carter dome summit about 11:45 and meeting Ed Hawkins with a group of about 6 or 7 on top. We all (save Zippy who always hikes in crampons) put on traction near the summit, small snow shoes or crampons. The trip across the ridge was quite pretty and fast and was broken out by Ed Hawkins group. Early Bird left us about 2:45 pm at the North Carter Trail and made her way down to her car safely at the Imp Trailhead. Chip, Zippy, and I proceeded over North Carter and picked our way down the steep, icy section to the Imp shelter reaching it about 4:45 pm. We both had close to 50# packs making for a rather grueling experience.
Chip set up his tent and made us both dinner of MRE’s and Reeses Peanut butter cups. Zippy was very content with twice her usual ration of kibble. Both of us brought booze but didn’t have the wherewithal to have more than a couple sips of rum and turn in around 7pm. The shelter was unoccupied save for us and the tent fit reasonably within the shelter, sheltering us from the rather strong winds throughout the night (Chips thermometer read about 17 degrees for an outside low.)
Getting up around 7am, we broke camp and headed out via the Stony Brook trail reaching the car about 12:30. A nice trip, made possible by Chip's gear and crampons. We didn’t take them off until the last stream crossing as the rocks were ice covered.
pictures
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You didn't mention she was out for the night with no pack. "I have a headlamp in my pocket," she tells us. I'm still in shock over that. I hope to hike with you again and look forward to hearing about Rainier when that goes through.
