JohnL
New member
After breakfasting at Peg's, Giff and I picked up Hal and Mike and, under dreary skies and a light snow, we headed to Gorham. The skies stayed gloomy until we headed south out of Gorham and we could see blue skies and open slopes on Mt Madison. As we had entered Gorham I suddenly felt an empty feeling in my gut as I could not remember putting my poles into the van. Without poles, this could turn out to be a very long day for me. When we arrived at the trailhead, I confirmed my fears and my poles were not there. Giff had one extra pole and I grabbed that. Hal, just returning from checking out the trail conditions, informed me there was another stray pole lying near the trailhead sign. It wasn't great but it was a pole. Luck is a good thing.
Leaving the trailhead, we headed up the hard packed trail at 8:50. Icy sections interspersed the hard pack and we debated on whether or not to put on crampons. We had negotiated several tricky icy sections and finally we came to one area that would require better traction than Vibram could provide. A hundred yards up the trail we came to the Carter Dome Trail junction and it was here that the ice ended. We kept the crampons on nonetheless until I had made a couple stops to make adjustments to mine. I finally threw in the towel when I could no longer turn the adjustment screw and re-packed my crampons and went ahead barebooted.
After encountering a couple solo hikers, we headed to Carter Dome with an interim stop at Mt Hight. The steep section up to Mt Hight gave me a bit of trouble as a few spots on the hard pack thwarted my best step kicking efforts as my toes bounced back at me. Settling for the edges of the trail often led to a post hole so I had to pick my foot placements wisely. The views soon opened up and so did the exposure and we stopped to layer up for the wind. Soon we were picking our way to the summit platform, me avoiding the ice and the rest of the guys avoiding the rocks. The views were grand and we stayed to enjoy the scenery for a while and chat to another arriving hiker.
Soon, however, we had to leave and we headed south to Carter Dome. The open slopes of the summit gave way to the trees and we stopped to get rid of the wind gear as it was just too warm and calm for that stuff. The sun was out in full force and some parts of the trail were mushy from the solar warmth. The trail was in fine shape and about ten minutes before Noon we were at the sun drenched summit where it was calm and inviting. We had a leisurely snack break and enjoyed the views while having another short conversation with the same hiker we met on Mt Hight.
We headed back toward Mt Hight, playing on top of the snow wall which had been built up from the wind. We could not find a trail that went straight to Zeta Pass so we headed back up Mt Hight where we paused again to take in the sights. Again, we left the summit of Mt Hight and headed north to catch South and Middle Carter. The hike over these summits was relatively straightforward and the footing was excellent. I did not remember the climb out of Zeta Pass to South’s summit to be as steep or as long but my memory, like other things, is fading into my past.
We could tell that there was significantly less snow cover than last year as the summit sign on Middle Carter this year is about a foot and a half above the snow line. Whereas, last year the summit sign needed to be kept dug out of the snow. I also noticed that trail blazes on the trees were easily visible a couple feet above the snow line and in former years they were buried beneath the snow.
We headed north off of Middle Carter and soon caught the North Carter Trail and headed down. The afternoon sun was beating in on parts of the trail and the footing alternated between hard pack in the shadows, oatmeal in the sun, and ice along the seepage areas and streams. The last time I was on this trail I had counted 21 blowdowns on a warm July day. We soon arrived at the Imp Trail and here is where the trail conditions fell apart. The soft snow was pock marked with post holes so snowshoes would have been only marginally acceptable. We continued to bareboot it and we all had a frustrating time with punching into the snow at random times and random depths. Giff, however, was on a tear and we figured he would drop his pack near the trailhead and do the road walk back to the car. I lost sight of him shortly after leaving the North Carter Trail junction. The sound of the cars on the road told me I was close and the soft snow seemed to get some last frustrating steps in for us and I punched my way to the trailhead. It was 3:30 and I was very relieved to be down. Giff was there waiting with the van and he had fortuitously met up with another couple, whom we had met previously, who gave him a ride back to the van. Luck is a good thing.
Photos are here.
JohnL
Leaving the trailhead, we headed up the hard packed trail at 8:50. Icy sections interspersed the hard pack and we debated on whether or not to put on crampons. We had negotiated several tricky icy sections and finally we came to one area that would require better traction than Vibram could provide. A hundred yards up the trail we came to the Carter Dome Trail junction and it was here that the ice ended. We kept the crampons on nonetheless until I had made a couple stops to make adjustments to mine. I finally threw in the towel when I could no longer turn the adjustment screw and re-packed my crampons and went ahead barebooted.
After encountering a couple solo hikers, we headed to Carter Dome with an interim stop at Mt Hight. The steep section up to Mt Hight gave me a bit of trouble as a few spots on the hard pack thwarted my best step kicking efforts as my toes bounced back at me. Settling for the edges of the trail often led to a post hole so I had to pick my foot placements wisely. The views soon opened up and so did the exposure and we stopped to layer up for the wind. Soon we were picking our way to the summit platform, me avoiding the ice and the rest of the guys avoiding the rocks. The views were grand and we stayed to enjoy the scenery for a while and chat to another arriving hiker.
Soon, however, we had to leave and we headed south to Carter Dome. The open slopes of the summit gave way to the trees and we stopped to get rid of the wind gear as it was just too warm and calm for that stuff. The sun was out in full force and some parts of the trail were mushy from the solar warmth. The trail was in fine shape and about ten minutes before Noon we were at the sun drenched summit where it was calm and inviting. We had a leisurely snack break and enjoyed the views while having another short conversation with the same hiker we met on Mt Hight.
We headed back toward Mt Hight, playing on top of the snow wall which had been built up from the wind. We could not find a trail that went straight to Zeta Pass so we headed back up Mt Hight where we paused again to take in the sights. Again, we left the summit of Mt Hight and headed north to catch South and Middle Carter. The hike over these summits was relatively straightforward and the footing was excellent. I did not remember the climb out of Zeta Pass to South’s summit to be as steep or as long but my memory, like other things, is fading into my past.
We could tell that there was significantly less snow cover than last year as the summit sign on Middle Carter this year is about a foot and a half above the snow line. Whereas, last year the summit sign needed to be kept dug out of the snow. I also noticed that trail blazes on the trees were easily visible a couple feet above the snow line and in former years they were buried beneath the snow.
We headed north off of Middle Carter and soon caught the North Carter Trail and headed down. The afternoon sun was beating in on parts of the trail and the footing alternated between hard pack in the shadows, oatmeal in the sun, and ice along the seepage areas and streams. The last time I was on this trail I had counted 21 blowdowns on a warm July day. We soon arrived at the Imp Trail and here is where the trail conditions fell apart. The soft snow was pock marked with post holes so snowshoes would have been only marginally acceptable. We continued to bareboot it and we all had a frustrating time with punching into the snow at random times and random depths. Giff, however, was on a tear and we figured he would drop his pack near the trailhead and do the road walk back to the car. I lost sight of him shortly after leaving the North Carter Trail junction. The sound of the cars on the road told me I was close and the soft snow seemed to get some last frustrating steps in for us and I punched my way to the trailhead. It was 3:30 and I was very relieved to be down. Giff was there waiting with the van and he had fortuitously met up with another couple, whom we had met previously, who gave him a ride back to the van. Luck is a good thing.
Photos are here.
JohnL
