Wildcats, Carters, Moriah traverse direction...

I'm planning on doing a Wildcat, Carter and Moriah traverse this June and I was wondering if there was any preference on which direction to go in. Thanks.

I've seen this question many times on Facebook and it seems like one of the biggest considerations people debate is whether or not you want to start from Pinkham Notch and do that very steep and awkward vertical early to get out of the way or leave for the end when you might be pretty tired from the hike (especially for those who do as a day hike or 1 overnight and carry a lot of overnight gear where possible darkness and fatigue might lead to a mistake on that descent). Probably less of a consideration as the number of days planned to be out goes up and the miles/day goes down. If I'm not mistaken, there is also a vertical ascent advantage to starting from the Notch versus Moriah but I didn't break out the maps to calculate.

I think the disadvantage to starting at the Notch is the availability of water as the hike progresses. This is probably a good thing as a day traverse (your load lightens as the miles pile up) but a disadvantage as you travel over multiple days.

SherpaWill said:

I'm planning on doing a Wildcat, Carter and Moriah traverse this June and I was wondering if there was any preference on which direction to go in. Thanks.

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One day or multi day?

All in one day, or camping? You've got Imp Shelter near one end, Carter Notch Hut (bunk beds only, no camping) near the other, plus some "stealth" sites.

Snow and ice will most likely be gone by mid-June.

My preference would be south to north, saving my favorite views and terrain for the end of the trip (with photogenic evening light).

Don't skip Mt Hight.

TJsName said:

One day or multi day?

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Sorry I left that out. More than likely a one day but I haven't ruled out an overnight at Imp. If it's an overnight I think starting at Pinkham makes the most sense.

SherpaWill said:

Sorry I left that out. More than likely a one day but I haven't ruled out an overnight at Imp. If it's an overnight I think starting at Pinkham makes the most sense.

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For a day hike I would suggest starting at Pinkham as it saves about 1000' of climbing (depending of if you go out Stony Brook or CMT) and get's most of the climbing out of the way in the first half of the hike. If you've bad knees then going N-S would help as you can descend via Polecat, so the only steep descent is CMT from Carter Dome.

For an overnight the bigger challenge is water and where to sleep. You can get water from Imp (but I think you lose 200' to get it) and I think there is also a spring near Zeta Pass. You might be able to bag a stealth site somewhere along the ridge but it's generally fairly rough. A really neat spot to camp if the weather is nice would be off SE Carter Dome (via Rainbow) but that probably adds ~600' of vertical to the next morning. If you make it past that, then there are some good sites on the Wildcat River Trail south of the FPA for the hut that would be less out of the way. Just some thoughts.

Most thru hikers slack this in a day and many start at Pinkham as the elevation gain is 1100 feet less than starting in Gorham. Unless you are redlining, start at Wildcat Ski Area and take the Polecat up. Hard to beat the grade. The AT up from Pinkham is fun but best saved for a loop hike.

The other reason for the thru hikers to go North is that they would rather get ride in the AM and hike back to town.

The thing to remember is that in warm weather water has to be planned. There is zero reliable water on Wildcat once you go past the so called spring about half way up the steep section. The next water is Carter Notch Hut. There is water down off the ridge trail be heading down the Carter Dome Trail from Zeta Pass. Make sure you treat the water as it drains quite popular area. The next water is down near the base of the North Carter ledges or at Imp Shelter. From there it dry all the way up over Moriah most of the way down the CM trail.

We did it S-N in a day and a half (overnight at Carter). The spring on Wildcat Ridge was dry, so left the hut with 5L of water (no joke) and had to refill at Imp...it was around 85 degrees and not a breath of wind.

I am moving more firmly into the rather go up than down camp, but coming off Moriah into Gorham is so gentle and Wildcat Ridge is so brutal that it more than compensates for the extra downward knee-banging. The exception is if you do a bike spot; always worth doing the down on the bike. (Don't forget the Libby Pool shortcut if you do.)

Probably a minor issue but the sun will be more in your face as the day progresses if you go north to south which is why I prefer starting in Pinkham Notch.
Full disclosure, I actually did this as multiple hikes. I like the area.