Wildcat A via Nineteen Mile Brook, Wildcat Ridge Trail
Date of Hike: Thursday, April 23, 2009
Trail Conditions: Bare ground, spring snow, ice, powder
Special Equipment Required: Crampons
Comments:
Nineteen Mile Brook Trail to Carter Dome junction - I found light traction helpful. 2/3rds of this segment is bare (not too muddy either), the other 1/3rd is mostly ice monorail.
Nineteen Mile Brook Trail from Carter Dome junction to Wildcat Ridge Trail junction - Light traction helpful. 2/3rds was spring snow monorail, the other 1/3rd bare and wet.
Wildcat Ridge Trail - 1-2" of powder (from drifting) on top of spring snow and blue ice. This afternoon/evening, crampons were necessary, as well as an ice axe to safely cross the slide (iced up base, very narrow sidecut to walk in, with powder over the top).
Beyond the slide, things can get confusing, as there are multiple sets of tracks ascending...of them, the only kosher ones are my descending prints, which are probably already windblown over. On the ascent, I bailed too early (saw a blowdown and was concerned I had already missed the previously hard to see turn, and didn't want to end up on the well travelled incorrect tracks from a few weeks ago) and ended up bushwhacking up to the trail.
Anyways, there is a blowdown, but continue straight past it. Shortly thereafter, someone stuck a bunch of sticks in the footbed, blocking what eventually goes to the bushwhack route a bunch of people (me included a few weeks ago) took. If you take a left just before the sticks, you'll end up on the trail.
The monorail is getting pretty wacky in places on the WRT, but was still firm enough to support my crampons without any postholing.
All measurable water crossings on this hike have wood bridges. There are blowdowns on each of the three trail segments, none tough to get by.
Your name: rocket21
Your E-mail address: [email protected]
Date of Hike: Thursday, April 23, 2009
Trail Conditions: Bare ground, spring snow, ice, powder
Special Equipment Required: Crampons
Comments:
Nineteen Mile Brook Trail to Carter Dome junction - I found light traction helpful. 2/3rds of this segment is bare (not too muddy either), the other 1/3rd is mostly ice monorail.
Nineteen Mile Brook Trail from Carter Dome junction to Wildcat Ridge Trail junction - Light traction helpful. 2/3rds was spring snow monorail, the other 1/3rd bare and wet.
Wildcat Ridge Trail - 1-2" of powder (from drifting) on top of spring snow and blue ice. This afternoon/evening, crampons were necessary, as well as an ice axe to safely cross the slide (iced up base, very narrow sidecut to walk in, with powder over the top).
Beyond the slide, things can get confusing, as there are multiple sets of tracks ascending...of them, the only kosher ones are my descending prints, which are probably already windblown over. On the ascent, I bailed too early (saw a blowdown and was concerned I had already missed the previously hard to see turn, and didn't want to end up on the well travelled incorrect tracks from a few weeks ago) and ended up bushwhacking up to the trail.
Anyways, there is a blowdown, but continue straight past it. Shortly thereafter, someone stuck a bunch of sticks in the footbed, blocking what eventually goes to the bushwhack route a bunch of people (me included a few weeks ago) took. If you take a left just before the sticks, you'll end up on the trail.
The monorail is getting pretty wacky in places on the WRT, but was still firm enough to support my crampons without any postholing.
All measurable water crossings on this hike have wood bridges. There are blowdowns on each of the three trail segments, none tough to get by.
Your name: rocket21
Your E-mail address: [email protected]
