BIGEarl
Well-known member
For the third time in the past six months Steve and I are hiking over the Wildcats. I guess we’re in a rut, but again we’re taking the Wildcat Ridge Trail from the Lost Pond Trail to Nineteen Mile Brook Trail. The first time through was a very hot, very humid, windless day last summer. The second time was November 19, a couple weeks after the area was hit hard with heavy, wet, very damaging snow. Now, we’re working with an ice-covered trail in very cold and windy conditions. Personally, I enjoyed this hike best.
We spotted a vehicle at Stoney Brook planning to traverse the Carters and Moriah after coming off the Wildcats. At approximately 6:00am we were leaving the lot at Pinkham Notch Visitor Center to start our hike. We managed to make it across the road without any difficulty. On the other side is where it started. Steve started down the shoulder and nearly fell on the ice. I hiked along the side of the paved road to the trail entry and started toward it. I nearly went down due to the ice. I guess we managed to struggle for another couple hundred yards and decided we needed some traction. We knew the crampons would be required before long and decided to stop delaying the inevitable.
We’re feeling much better now. With crampons in place, the traction problem was behind us and we were hiking. Very quickly we passed the Lost Pond/Wildcat Ridge junction and headed up the ridge. The climb was very surprising. We were able to move at a reasonable pace and made the summit of Wildcat “C” in well under three hours from the time we left PNVC, which for me is moving! Most of the hike to that point was sheltered from the persistent wind except for the area at the top of the ski lift. When we came across this open section we didn’t stop to talk or sightsee, we simply kept moving back into the spruce. Somewhere around midway between the ski lift and Wildcat “A” a group of three from Quebec passed us on snowshoes. We managed to pass, and re-pass them again on the way to the Nineteen Mile Brook trail.
We were adequately warm but it was clearly getting colder as the day continued. Coming across the ridge I stopped to add a layer. We reached the Nineteen mile brook trail and headed straight for the pond and the Carter-Moriah Trail. When we reached the trail junction I hesitated for a minute and Steve asked what was wrong. I asked if he was interested in a brief stop at the hut to warm up a little and have some lunch. He agreed and we headed for the Carter Notch Hut.
When we arrived at the hut we found the three from Quebec there as well. The caretaker inquired about our plans for the day and we filled him in. He strongly encouraged us to consider a change and showed us the latest weather report. Also, we checked the current conditions on the weather station at the hut. We had a snack and thought about the day. Within twenty-five minutes the temperature had dropped from -1 to -5 and the wind seemed to pick up quite a bit. At that point we agreed to come back on another day to finish the hike.
We stayed around for a while longer and met some of the folks coming in for the weekend get-together organized by sli74. The hut was getting crowded and we were starting to get cold so we made a move for the door.
We put the crampons back on and headed for the trailhead parking with the hope of quickly hitching a ride in either direction; we had a vehicle at PNVC and another at Stoney Brook. Quite a few vehicles flew past with no indication of even noticing us on the side of the road. Before too long two of the vehicles that went past had turned around and a third had stopped. We thanked two of the drivers and climbed into car #3 for the ride to Stoney Brook.
Bagging two is two better than bagging none, plus we’ve still got all of our fingers and toes. We’ll come back under friendlier conditions to visit the Carters and Moriah.
We spotted a vehicle at Stoney Brook planning to traverse the Carters and Moriah after coming off the Wildcats. At approximately 6:00am we were leaving the lot at Pinkham Notch Visitor Center to start our hike. We managed to make it across the road without any difficulty. On the other side is where it started. Steve started down the shoulder and nearly fell on the ice. I hiked along the side of the paved road to the trail entry and started toward it. I nearly went down due to the ice. I guess we managed to struggle for another couple hundred yards and decided we needed some traction. We knew the crampons would be required before long and decided to stop delaying the inevitable.
We’re feeling much better now. With crampons in place, the traction problem was behind us and we were hiking. Very quickly we passed the Lost Pond/Wildcat Ridge junction and headed up the ridge. The climb was very surprising. We were able to move at a reasonable pace and made the summit of Wildcat “C” in well under three hours from the time we left PNVC, which for me is moving! Most of the hike to that point was sheltered from the persistent wind except for the area at the top of the ski lift. When we came across this open section we didn’t stop to talk or sightsee, we simply kept moving back into the spruce. Somewhere around midway between the ski lift and Wildcat “A” a group of three from Quebec passed us on snowshoes. We managed to pass, and re-pass them again on the way to the Nineteen Mile Brook trail.
We were adequately warm but it was clearly getting colder as the day continued. Coming across the ridge I stopped to add a layer. We reached the Nineteen mile brook trail and headed straight for the pond and the Carter-Moriah Trail. When we reached the trail junction I hesitated for a minute and Steve asked what was wrong. I asked if he was interested in a brief stop at the hut to warm up a little and have some lunch. He agreed and we headed for the Carter Notch Hut.
When we arrived at the hut we found the three from Quebec there as well. The caretaker inquired about our plans for the day and we filled him in. He strongly encouraged us to consider a change and showed us the latest weather report. Also, we checked the current conditions on the weather station at the hut. We had a snack and thought about the day. Within twenty-five minutes the temperature had dropped from -1 to -5 and the wind seemed to pick up quite a bit. At that point we agreed to come back on another day to finish the hike.
We stayed around for a while longer and met some of the folks coming in for the weekend get-together organized by sli74. The hut was getting crowded and we were starting to get cold so we made a move for the door.
We put the crampons back on and headed for the trailhead parking with the hope of quickly hitching a ride in either direction; we had a vehicle at PNVC and another at Stoney Brook. Quite a few vehicles flew past with no indication of even noticing us on the side of the road. Before too long two of the vehicles that went past had turned around and a third had stopped. We thanked two of the drivers and climbed into car #3 for the ride to Stoney Brook.
Bagging two is two better than bagging none, plus we’ve still got all of our fingers and toes. We’ll come back under friendlier conditions to visit the Carters and Moriah.
