woodsxc
New member
I had been eying Carter Dome since my trip over the Wildcats in February. I found a partner in (soon to be) Myxomatosis. After some email exchanges and one cancellation due to illness, we settled on Saturday.
We left western Maine early on Saturday and made it to Nineteen Mile Brook Trailhead by 8:30. Hoping to stay ahead of a large group headed for the hut, we took off and covered the first two miles in 40 minutes, stopping only when M realized that, with proper side zipper manipulation, he looked like an old school film producer.
We slowed down a bit as the trail got steeper, but stayed above 2 miles per hour. I quickly ditched my shell and went with a thin hat, liner gloves, and my base layers. M was ever vigilant in keeping his Camelbak hose ice-free.
The Notch itself was incredibly windy, so naturally I decided that the lake was a perfect place to stop to change gloves and put on crampons. My fingers were too cold and I was too busy saying unkind things about the wind to take any pictures there. However, the snow and rocks were quite beautiful, so here's a picture from the relative cover of the trees.
We moved fast to get out of the wind. A couple hundred yards in, we passed a group of women setting out from the hut. Once we got up onto the flank of Carter Dome, the wind subsided and we were able to enjoy the "views" a little more.
We fell into a good rhythm on the steeper sections. Heck, I even smiled.
![195985_10150466701715454_793720453_17870795_3281176_n.jpg\]](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/240/240b56a71afcfd8023f0232ed601e049)
Carter Dome doesn't have any false summits, but it does seem to recede at a rate that would put Larry David's hairline to shame. The monochrome gray sky didn't help much. However, we persevered and when we reached the summit, there was much rejoicing.
Then it was time for some shameless product placement.
We started across the ridge toward Mount Hight, but the wind and drifts were a bit much. After a quick foray to the north, we turned around and started our descent (sorry Bruce, next time we'll go the distance).
We made good time coming down. In fact, we were feeling so good, that we paused at the lake to check the rock formations on Wildcat A for potential routes.
From there, it was an easy walk back to the car. We saw a lot of people heading up to the hut for the night. We passed one group we'd passed on the way up and if you're on here, Wilson is a great dog.
Thus concluded my first mountain with Myxomatosis and I'm excited for more in the future.
We left western Maine early on Saturday and made it to Nineteen Mile Brook Trailhead by 8:30. Hoping to stay ahead of a large group headed for the hut, we took off and covered the first two miles in 40 minutes, stopping only when M realized that, with proper side zipper manipulation, he looked like an old school film producer.
We slowed down a bit as the trail got steeper, but stayed above 2 miles per hour. I quickly ditched my shell and went with a thin hat, liner gloves, and my base layers. M was ever vigilant in keeping his Camelbak hose ice-free.
The Notch itself was incredibly windy, so naturally I decided that the lake was a perfect place to stop to change gloves and put on crampons. My fingers were too cold and I was too busy saying unkind things about the wind to take any pictures there. However, the snow and rocks were quite beautiful, so here's a picture from the relative cover of the trees.
We moved fast to get out of the wind. A couple hundred yards in, we passed a group of women setting out from the hut. Once we got up onto the flank of Carter Dome, the wind subsided and we were able to enjoy the "views" a little more.
We fell into a good rhythm on the steeper sections. Heck, I even smiled.
Carter Dome doesn't have any false summits, but it does seem to recede at a rate that would put Larry David's hairline to shame. The monochrome gray sky didn't help much. However, we persevered and when we reached the summit, there was much rejoicing.
Then it was time for some shameless product placement.
We started across the ridge toward Mount Hight, but the wind and drifts were a bit much. After a quick foray to the north, we turned around and started our descent (sorry Bruce, next time we'll go the distance).
We made good time coming down. In fact, we were feeling so good, that we paused at the lake to check the rock formations on Wildcat A for potential routes.
From there, it was an easy walk back to the car. We saw a lot of people heading up to the hut for the night. We passed one group we'd passed on the way up and if you're on here, Wilson is a great dog.
Thus concluded my first mountain with Myxomatosis and I'm excited for more in the future.
