The Feathered Hat
Active member
Trail: Wildcat Ridge. Trailhead: Pinkham Notch.
Trail Condition: Excellent -- well, as excellent as this trail can be up and down the brutally steep section out of Pinkham Notch. But there are no new blowdowns, slides or nastier-than-usual sections. At the bottom, the Ellis River crossing was rock-hoppable, so there was no need to use the bridge and link from the AMC's Pinkham Notch center. Up above about 3,000 feet all of the small puddles and rivulets were frozen solid -- there's a stream of ice covering the trail near the bottom of the deep col between Wildcats D and C that requires care to negotiate -- and the plank walkways up on top of the ridge in various places were all frost-covered and slippery. Typically damp, muddy sections of the trail were frozen hard, so presented no problems.
Equipment: Trekking poles or hiking staff practically a necessity for coming down the steep section of the trail into Pinkham Notch (and good sturdy boots, of course). Also warm clothes -- I was in fleece and gloves for part of the day.
Comments: Wow, what a day. Clear, bright, crisp -- a perfect late autumn day. The views across Pinkham Notch into Mt. Washington's Tuckerman's and Huntington ravines were spectacular, with Mts. Adams and Madison rising high, clear and stoically to the north. But the view from A peak's ledgy viewpoint was no less spectacular: a huge broad sweep from the depths of Carter Notch up to the peaks of the Carter-Moriah ridge across to eastern New Hampshire and into Maine. The day could not have been clearer or brighter.
Met a total 12 people in ones, twos and one group of six. There was also a noisy, happy co-ed high-school outings club group of 13. The usual crowd of tourists hovered around the top of the Wildcat ski area's gondola between E and D peaks. Overall, a quiet enough day on the trail that made me wonder at times: On a day like this, where is everybody?
It's been a wonderful summer-fall hiking season, even with all of the summer rain. Wildcats D and A were the 23rd and 24th of the 48 4,000-footers I've reached the top of this year and nos. 39 and 40 on my overall list (begun last year).
Steve B
The Feathered Hat
[email protected]
Trail Condition: Excellent -- well, as excellent as this trail can be up and down the brutally steep section out of Pinkham Notch. But there are no new blowdowns, slides or nastier-than-usual sections. At the bottom, the Ellis River crossing was rock-hoppable, so there was no need to use the bridge and link from the AMC's Pinkham Notch center. Up above about 3,000 feet all of the small puddles and rivulets were frozen solid -- there's a stream of ice covering the trail near the bottom of the deep col between Wildcats D and C that requires care to negotiate -- and the plank walkways up on top of the ridge in various places were all frost-covered and slippery. Typically damp, muddy sections of the trail were frozen hard, so presented no problems.
Equipment: Trekking poles or hiking staff practically a necessity for coming down the steep section of the trail into Pinkham Notch (and good sturdy boots, of course). Also warm clothes -- I was in fleece and gloves for part of the day.
Comments: Wow, what a day. Clear, bright, crisp -- a perfect late autumn day. The views across Pinkham Notch into Mt. Washington's Tuckerman's and Huntington ravines were spectacular, with Mts. Adams and Madison rising high, clear and stoically to the north. But the view from A peak's ledgy viewpoint was no less spectacular: a huge broad sweep from the depths of Carter Notch up to the peaks of the Carter-Moriah ridge across to eastern New Hampshire and into Maine. The day could not have been clearer or brighter.
Met a total 12 people in ones, twos and one group of six. There was also a noisy, happy co-ed high-school outings club group of 13. The usual crowd of tourists hovered around the top of the Wildcat ski area's gondola between E and D peaks. Overall, a quiet enough day on the trail that made me wonder at times: On a day like this, where is everybody?
It's been a wonderful summer-fall hiking season, even with all of the summer rain. Wildcats D and A were the 23rd and 24th of the 48 4,000-footers I've reached the top of this year and nos. 39 and 40 on my overall list (begun last year).
Steve B
The Feathered Hat
[email protected]
