McRat
New member
The plan was to go up Carter Dome via 19 mile, Carter Dome, Down to the hut, and out over the Wildcats if things worked out well. The recent heavy snowfall and trail reports suggested some unbroken trail on Carter Dome trail. The backup thought was to take 19-mile brook straight to the hut and go for Carter dome, or the Wildcats, though we had reservations about crossing the slide on Wildcat A.
We were meeting Dougeh for a car spot at Wildcat, and since he had the same concerns, the decision was made to go for the low hanging fruit - Wildcat D via the Polecat ski trails, and the walk out to Wildcat A and back if conditions allowed. With four left in my NH48, I figured I'd get at least one.
We started up the Stray cat enjoying comfortable temps, low winds, and the crunch of snowshoes on groomed trails. It wasn't until we hit the junction with the Polecat trail that we were finally outnumbered by skiers.
It was truly a unique hike. As we marched up along the left side of the trail, we were treated to open views and the antics of skiers and snowboarders, most of whom reacted with friendliness or at least courtesy towards the merry trio heading up. A couple of skiers decided to show off and slalom between us and the narrow strip to our left, but given that it is a beginner-rated slope, there's no telling how deliberate that was. We were treated to light snow at times, and it drifted down gently in near-windless conditions.
Dougeh summed the overall experience best near the summit - we were like fish going upstream.
We walked past the lift and up the Wildcat Ridge trail. The trail was lightly packed with a few postholes, and (fmr)Scoutmaster Gary got to get a little more practice for his first trip in snowshoes. The light powder tended to collapse pretty easy, and after a little adjustment we were at the small observation deck on Wildcat D for a quick lunch and celebration of my 45th and Gary's 12th NH4K peak.
The trail along the ridge was not broken out, and we decided to give it a try. This exuberance continued for the first tenth of a mile, but as the rate of descent increased, the thigh-deep snow collapsed and took us for a few small spills and a view towards Wildcat C. We assessed our speed and figured at the rate we were going, we'd make it to A in about 4 hours, 1-2 hours back.
In the immortal words of Socrates*, we said "&*$% it". (* I'm just assuming that any wise man would say the same thing in the same situation.)
We headed back and did some glissading down Wildcat D to the chair lift, sometimes even intentionally.
It was here that Dougeh discovered he had lost his thermos and headed back to look for it. In accordance with Murphy's Law, he found it at the very end of our packed trail.
The extra delay worked out well. By the time he returned there was a brief clearing in the clouds and a moment of bluer skies. While the summit of Washington was hidden in the clouds there were dramatic views of the Ravines and Boott Spur.
We were skipping another peak, but happy as we took the easy trip back down the Polecat.
It was a fun hike. This was arguably the easiest of the NH48 peaks I've done, and the conditions and company were great... But I'm looking forward to returning to the area soon for Carter Dome and Wildcat A - and the familiar embrace of trees on the narrow trails of Carter Notch.
Our early return to the car meant one thing. Time for a victory beer! Thanks to Dougeh for his company and introducing us to the Moat Mountain Brewery. It is safe to say we'll be returning there again.
Some days a trip doesn't go as planned - but can still be a great day in the mountains.
(pictures soon)
We were meeting Dougeh for a car spot at Wildcat, and since he had the same concerns, the decision was made to go for the low hanging fruit - Wildcat D via the Polecat ski trails, and the walk out to Wildcat A and back if conditions allowed. With four left in my NH48, I figured I'd get at least one.
We started up the Stray cat enjoying comfortable temps, low winds, and the crunch of snowshoes on groomed trails. It wasn't until we hit the junction with the Polecat trail that we were finally outnumbered by skiers.
It was truly a unique hike. As we marched up along the left side of the trail, we were treated to open views and the antics of skiers and snowboarders, most of whom reacted with friendliness or at least courtesy towards the merry trio heading up. A couple of skiers decided to show off and slalom between us and the narrow strip to our left, but given that it is a beginner-rated slope, there's no telling how deliberate that was. We were treated to light snow at times, and it drifted down gently in near-windless conditions.
Dougeh summed the overall experience best near the summit - we were like fish going upstream.
We walked past the lift and up the Wildcat Ridge trail. The trail was lightly packed with a few postholes, and (fmr)Scoutmaster Gary got to get a little more practice for his first trip in snowshoes. The light powder tended to collapse pretty easy, and after a little adjustment we were at the small observation deck on Wildcat D for a quick lunch and celebration of my 45th and Gary's 12th NH4K peak.
The trail along the ridge was not broken out, and we decided to give it a try. This exuberance continued for the first tenth of a mile, but as the rate of descent increased, the thigh-deep snow collapsed and took us for a few small spills and a view towards Wildcat C. We assessed our speed and figured at the rate we were going, we'd make it to A in about 4 hours, 1-2 hours back.
In the immortal words of Socrates*, we said "&*$% it". (* I'm just assuming that any wise man would say the same thing in the same situation.)
We headed back and did some glissading down Wildcat D to the chair lift, sometimes even intentionally.
It was here that Dougeh discovered he had lost his thermos and headed back to look for it. In accordance with Murphy's Law, he found it at the very end of our packed trail.
The extra delay worked out well. By the time he returned there was a brief clearing in the clouds and a moment of bluer skies. While the summit of Washington was hidden in the clouds there were dramatic views of the Ravines and Boott Spur.
We were skipping another peak, but happy as we took the easy trip back down the Polecat.
It was a fun hike. This was arguably the easiest of the NH48 peaks I've done, and the conditions and company were great... But I'm looking forward to returning to the area soon for Carter Dome and Wildcat A - and the familiar embrace of trees on the narrow trails of Carter Notch.
Our early return to the car meant one thing. Time for a victory beer! Thanks to Dougeh for his company and introducing us to the Moat Mountain Brewery. It is safe to say we'll be returning there again.
Some days a trip doesn't go as planned - but can still be a great day in the mountains.
(pictures soon)
