dom15931
New member
8-7-2011
All year I have had luck all over the country with good weather, if not supurb, for hiking. Luck runs out. This was a viewless, foggy time.
Of the eight remaining of the 48 for me (S. Carter, Carter Dome, Whiteface, Passaconaway, Cabot, Owls Head, S. Kinsman, and Isolation) these two peaks were my rainy weather choice. I had been afforded good views from all the other mountains from the wildcats to Moriah in different seasons...so I guess being a half hour drive from my hotel these two just made sense.
The hike took six hours, from 6:40am to 12:40pm. I did a loop with the 19 mile brook trail. Trail conditions were a little wet from overnight rain, but not bad. There were several large groups on the mountain and the parking lot was fairly full.
I moved quickly from the start and tagged South Carter (#41) in about two hours. I wasn't at this point too disappointed with the lack of views. It did not appear the mountain offers the outstanding views many of it's neighbors do.
Things would slow down a bit after encountering large groups and other smaller groups. I took my time and had a few conversations on my way over to Carter Dome. One interesting moment was when I was talking with one of the large groups, one of the guy's spoke up and said "Are you going up Height?" I had planned on it if the weather were nice, but at this point I felt not like doing it because it's not on the list and there would be no views.
I told the man of my plans. He smiled and said "oh you're one of those lists guys". HAHA. I am a bit of a list guy in the Northeast now because I live in Western PA. It's hard for me to do all the cool little stuff that doesn't meet the math, but I guess sometimes you have to stray from just the lists. I decided to head up Height just in front of them and appreciate it's non-list status even in the fog.
Height is the most alpine of the summits. I can see why it would be a must in good weather. Kinda seemed like Skylight in the Dacks on top. I breaked for fifteen or twenty and headed off to Carter Dome.
The trek is very easy. There is very little up and down. I again sat down and soaked up some more water rather than views at the summit before heading down to the lake.
The decent to the lake gets fairly steep towards the end, but I did not find it to be as tough as I had expected. I remember trekking over the Cats in Nov 2005 and looking over at this and thinking "that's steep".
I did not go to the hut and instead took a few shots with my point and shoot camera of the lake. My Pentax DSLR stayed where it belonged all day...in it's case in my pack. The Fuji point and shoot wasn't zooming or focusing from all the water it took on, but it dried out and worked fine later.
The hike back to the trailhead was quick. I trail ran intermittently at times to make up for some sluggish time and breaks between Height, the Dome, and near the Hut. I arrived back at my car six hours on the dot after I left.
Rainy..but still fun. Only six left
Pics:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150275960224795.351052.662784794&l=401de966aa&type=1
All year I have had luck all over the country with good weather, if not supurb, for hiking. Luck runs out. This was a viewless, foggy time.
Of the eight remaining of the 48 for me (S. Carter, Carter Dome, Whiteface, Passaconaway, Cabot, Owls Head, S. Kinsman, and Isolation) these two peaks were my rainy weather choice. I had been afforded good views from all the other mountains from the wildcats to Moriah in different seasons...so I guess being a half hour drive from my hotel these two just made sense.
The hike took six hours, from 6:40am to 12:40pm. I did a loop with the 19 mile brook trail. Trail conditions were a little wet from overnight rain, but not bad. There were several large groups on the mountain and the parking lot was fairly full.
I moved quickly from the start and tagged South Carter (#41) in about two hours. I wasn't at this point too disappointed with the lack of views. It did not appear the mountain offers the outstanding views many of it's neighbors do.
Things would slow down a bit after encountering large groups and other smaller groups. I took my time and had a few conversations on my way over to Carter Dome. One interesting moment was when I was talking with one of the large groups, one of the guy's spoke up and said "Are you going up Height?" I had planned on it if the weather were nice, but at this point I felt not like doing it because it's not on the list and there would be no views.
I told the man of my plans. He smiled and said "oh you're one of those lists guys". HAHA. I am a bit of a list guy in the Northeast now because I live in Western PA. It's hard for me to do all the cool little stuff that doesn't meet the math, but I guess sometimes you have to stray from just the lists. I decided to head up Height just in front of them and appreciate it's non-list status even in the fog.
Height is the most alpine of the summits. I can see why it would be a must in good weather. Kinda seemed like Skylight in the Dacks on top. I breaked for fifteen or twenty and headed off to Carter Dome.
The trek is very easy. There is very little up and down. I again sat down and soaked up some more water rather than views at the summit before heading down to the lake.
The decent to the lake gets fairly steep towards the end, but I did not find it to be as tough as I had expected. I remember trekking over the Cats in Nov 2005 and looking over at this and thinking "that's steep".
I did not go to the hut and instead took a few shots with my point and shoot camera of the lake. My Pentax DSLR stayed where it belonged all day...in it's case in my pack. The Fuji point and shoot wasn't zooming or focusing from all the water it took on, but it dried out and worked fine later.
The hike back to the trailhead was quick. I trail ran intermittently at times to make up for some sluggish time and breaks between Height, the Dome, and near the Hut. I arrived back at my car six hours on the dot after I left.
Rainy..but still fun. Only six left
Pics:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150275960224795.351052.662784794&l=401de966aa&type=1
Last edited:
