Double Bow
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So this TR is about a hike that happened a few weeks ago, but I've been away from the board so at least I'm back posting now.
My girlfriend (Jen) wanted to climb the Wildcats for her birthday as they were two of the four peaks she needed toward her 48. I said sure and proceeded to try to make a plan that ivolved backpacking them and that spiced up the climb of these peaks that I've done so many times.
Looking at my map, I almost immediately saw a route that seemed like it would give us everything we both wanted. We'd approach from the east and make a loop using the Wilcat River trail and a ski trail called the Wildcat Valley trail. I did a google seach on that ski trail, due to the fact that the map also shows the old WODC camps, and read a little bit about it, so it appeared legit.
We drove up Carter Notch Road and parked in a little space just before the gate. The people who live in house across the road there warned us that there was high water and stream crossings could be tricky. No problem for us pros we thought. As we geared up, I foolishly left my crocs behind in favor of my lighter and more compact flip flops.
We hiked in on Bog Brook trail and soon came to the first of many stream crossings. Jen danced across in her crocs while I went more slowly with my toes curled under tightly to keep my flip flops on. We actually hiked for a good ways in our non-traditional footware. The climb was pretty moderate and the only other person we saw was a guy doing trailwork a little below the hut.
At the hut, I saw a banner on the fridge that said "Happy Birthday". Since it was Jen's birthday, I totally took credit for it and told her I had the hut croo put it up for her. Her careful eye kept me from eating a moldy piece of hut break they were selling. No thanks! After a little break there, we headed up to Wildcat A.
The climb was uneventful as always, but enjoyable. We saw a new sign at the true summit so that was cool, even though there was no view from the viewpoint. As we continued along the ridge, we actually got some view of the northern Presis, even the summit buildings on Washington.
We got to D and dropped down to the area where the tram comes up and set up the perfect camp. We had dinner and got views of the twon lights and even stars for about five minutes before the clouds got thick again. After we went to bed, it rained for a long time and some of our stuff which we had stashed in a place we thought would stay dry got wet.
In the morning I did the old plastic bags in boots thing and we headed out to find the ski trail down which was shown to be pretty much at the summit of E. We went a long ways past that and didn't see anything that looked like any kind of a trail. Then we doubled back and still didn't find it. Back at the tram, we did the only thing we could do. We went down the Polecat ski trail.
Once at the bottom, we walked the mile to Pinkham where they gave us a sheet of taxi and shuttle service numbers. We called an old hiker who likes to give hikers rides. When Jen asked him how much the lift would be he said, "$20 sounds about right, but I won't say anything bad about you if you want to give me more." We gave him $25. We were glad to be done with a wet rainy hike and celebrated at the Moat.
A warning to others who might have the same loop idea. The Wildcat Valley ski trail is at best very hard to find and at worst no longer visible!
My girlfriend (Jen) wanted to climb the Wildcats for her birthday as they were two of the four peaks she needed toward her 48. I said sure and proceeded to try to make a plan that ivolved backpacking them and that spiced up the climb of these peaks that I've done so many times.
Looking at my map, I almost immediately saw a route that seemed like it would give us everything we both wanted. We'd approach from the east and make a loop using the Wilcat River trail and a ski trail called the Wildcat Valley trail. I did a google seach on that ski trail, due to the fact that the map also shows the old WODC camps, and read a little bit about it, so it appeared legit.
We drove up Carter Notch Road and parked in a little space just before the gate. The people who live in house across the road there warned us that there was high water and stream crossings could be tricky. No problem for us pros we thought. As we geared up, I foolishly left my crocs behind in favor of my lighter and more compact flip flops.
We hiked in on Bog Brook trail and soon came to the first of many stream crossings. Jen danced across in her crocs while I went more slowly with my toes curled under tightly to keep my flip flops on. We actually hiked for a good ways in our non-traditional footware. The climb was pretty moderate and the only other person we saw was a guy doing trailwork a little below the hut.
At the hut, I saw a banner on the fridge that said "Happy Birthday". Since it was Jen's birthday, I totally took credit for it and told her I had the hut croo put it up for her. Her careful eye kept me from eating a moldy piece of hut break they were selling. No thanks! After a little break there, we headed up to Wildcat A.
The climb was uneventful as always, but enjoyable. We saw a new sign at the true summit so that was cool, even though there was no view from the viewpoint. As we continued along the ridge, we actually got some view of the northern Presis, even the summit buildings on Washington.
We got to D and dropped down to the area where the tram comes up and set up the perfect camp. We had dinner and got views of the twon lights and even stars for about five minutes before the clouds got thick again. After we went to bed, it rained for a long time and some of our stuff which we had stashed in a place we thought would stay dry got wet.
In the morning I did the old plastic bags in boots thing and we headed out to find the ski trail down which was shown to be pretty much at the summit of E. We went a long ways past that and didn't see anything that looked like any kind of a trail. Then we doubled back and still didn't find it. Back at the tram, we did the only thing we could do. We went down the Polecat ski trail.
Once at the bottom, we walked the mile to Pinkham where they gave us a sheet of taxi and shuttle service numbers. We called an old hiker who likes to give hikers rides. When Jen asked him how much the lift would be he said, "$20 sounds about right, but I won't say anything bad about you if you want to give me more." We gave him $25. We were glad to be done with a wet rainy hike and celebrated at the Moat.
A warning to others who might have the same loop idea. The Wildcat Valley ski trail is at best very hard to find and at worst no longer visible!
What map do you use that showed it wrong, the USGS shows it at the col?
