ctsparrow
New member
This was number 45..NH48.. for my son..age 12. Our original plan was to ascend the challenging Wildcat Ridge Trail, but rain overnight that lasted until approx 10am, thwarted that idea. Fortunately, it is the last rain in the area for this whole week. We made these last minute plans based on the prediction of some much awaited dry, sunny days.
Signs of clearing became obvious, so after hanging out at PNVC and chatting up some thru hikers we drove to Wildcat Ski area. They were just opening up, so we walked around and checked out the area and decided to proceed with route plan B...ski trails. First, we bought my son a ticket to ride the ZIPline ride at the bottom, for 3pm as a reward to him for his hard work with his hikes lately.
We wore long pants for anticipated long grass, and had gaiters on to reduce buggage etc into boots, up pantlegs etc. While it had been wet, the weather also took a pronounced turn to very cool mornings and the expected clearing winds i hoped would keeps flying bugs at bay.
We started off..i believe on the lower polecat..mowed....at its first hard turn to the right, i thought it was doubling back to the more central, steeper ski trails, so we opted to head into the grass straight ahead. Other boot tracks/paths were seen here as well. It wasn't bad, but let's say it was tolerable. At the top of this trail section wah-lah...we emerged back onto the mowed path. Looking at the ski signs here (none below) it turns out we were on Stray Cat...so i guess you can say we strayed off the path!! No harm done. The rest of the way was on the mowed grasses of the Polecat trail...except it follows Catnap (straight and more left..ascending) which eventually rejoins the Polecat trail. Before you know it you're at the top! Less than two hours climb.
By now the skies were incredibly blue, with shocking white clouds hung up on the presi's...conditions there were 10-20 degrees windchill..i believe it. Our temps were probably in the mid-upper forties, with wind chills down to forty. Tourists didn't stay long on top (via the gondola) as there wasn't any good places to hide from it. It seemed to come from all directions.
The white blazes of the AT were easy to find, but i couldn't remember from my 2000 ascent whether the true summit was right or left of the buildings, we went left (northeast) and were correct. The observation tower is now barricaded, and as you walk around it you can see obvious signs of gross decay...too bad! There was one very nice wind protected side path with more southerly views that would have been excellent for our lunch spot, but my son wanted a view of the presi's. We returned to the ski slopes, went slightly down the upper Wilcat Trl and lay down in the grass to avoid a good portion of the wind and ate.
The winds increased to such a point that the tourists were being called back to the gondola to ride down. One boy in a family came up to us and warned us we might have to walk down...I said..."that's okay darlin" we walked up!"
. The evident change in weather patterns made the blue skies, sunshine and wind a most welcome day on a summit.
We quickly made our way down...BTW..we forgot our camera at home in CT, bought a disposable digital, but left that ON TOP OF THE CAR!!!...i found it when we got to the parking lot!!..so the only pictures i snapped were from the base .
Unfortunately, because of the increase in winds, my son no longer met the weight requirment to ride the ZIPLine..it went from 80lbs to 90lbs, so they refunded our ticket price....had i let him ride before we started our hike, he would've met the weight requirement, so i felt bad for him 'cause he was really looking forward to it.
ctsparrow
Signs of clearing became obvious, so after hanging out at PNVC and chatting up some thru hikers we drove to Wildcat Ski area. They were just opening up, so we walked around and checked out the area and decided to proceed with route plan B...ski trails. First, we bought my son a ticket to ride the ZIPline ride at the bottom, for 3pm as a reward to him for his hard work with his hikes lately.
We wore long pants for anticipated long grass, and had gaiters on to reduce buggage etc into boots, up pantlegs etc. While it had been wet, the weather also took a pronounced turn to very cool mornings and the expected clearing winds i hoped would keeps flying bugs at bay.
We started off..i believe on the lower polecat..mowed....at its first hard turn to the right, i thought it was doubling back to the more central, steeper ski trails, so we opted to head into the grass straight ahead. Other boot tracks/paths were seen here as well. It wasn't bad, but let's say it was tolerable. At the top of this trail section wah-lah...we emerged back onto the mowed path. Looking at the ski signs here (none below) it turns out we were on Stray Cat...so i guess you can say we strayed off the path!! No harm done. The rest of the way was on the mowed grasses of the Polecat trail...except it follows Catnap (straight and more left..ascending) which eventually rejoins the Polecat trail. Before you know it you're at the top! Less than two hours climb.
By now the skies were incredibly blue, with shocking white clouds hung up on the presi's...conditions there were 10-20 degrees windchill..i believe it. Our temps were probably in the mid-upper forties, with wind chills down to forty. Tourists didn't stay long on top (via the gondola) as there wasn't any good places to hide from it. It seemed to come from all directions.
The white blazes of the AT were easy to find, but i couldn't remember from my 2000 ascent whether the true summit was right or left of the buildings, we went left (northeast) and were correct. The observation tower is now barricaded, and as you walk around it you can see obvious signs of gross decay...too bad! There was one very nice wind protected side path with more southerly views that would have been excellent for our lunch spot, but my son wanted a view of the presi's. We returned to the ski slopes, went slightly down the upper Wilcat Trl and lay down in the grass to avoid a good portion of the wind and ate.
The winds increased to such a point that the tourists were being called back to the gondola to ride down. One boy in a family came up to us and warned us we might have to walk down...I said..."that's okay darlin" we walked up!"
. The evident change in weather patterns made the blue skies, sunshine and wind a most welcome day on a summit.We quickly made our way down...BTW..we forgot our camera at home in CT, bought a disposable digital, but left that ON TOP OF THE CAR!!!...i found it when we got to the parking lot!!..so the only pictures i snapped were from the base
.Unfortunately, because of the increase in winds, my son no longer met the weight requirment to ride the ZIPLine..it went from 80lbs to 90lbs, so they refunded our ticket price....had i let him ride before we started our hike, he would've met the weight requirement, so i felt bad for him 'cause he was really looking forward to it.
ctsparrow
