BIGEarl
Well-known member
April 30, 2011: Wildcats and Carter Dome
Trails: Polecat ski trail, Wildcat Ridge Trail, Nineteen Mile Brook Trail, Carter-Moriah Trail, Carter Dome Trail
Summits: Wildcat “A” Peak, Wildcat “D” Peak, Carter Dome
Hikers: Peakbagger (Dennis), Trail Trotter (Sue), and me
Here’s another case of “never say never”. We have always preferred to hike on hiking trails and leave the ski trails for the skiers. Well, this time around, the ski trail was possibly our only choice. Along with saving over an hour and a half on the climb to Wildcat D, it kept us dry. There was a concern Lost Pond Trail (our usual route) had large sections of it under water due to the heavy rain and spring runoff. Sue and I have hiked the area when sections of Lost Pond Trail were flooded – it isn’t pleasant. Dennis suggested we consider Polecat and that’s all it took.
We got an early start from the Wildcat Base Lodge, crossed the bridge, and started our climb – no warm-up on this one. The Lower Polecat starts off relatively tame but quickly starts to gain elevation, and steepness. Along the climb we saw a section of trail called Tomcat Schuss was bare but pretty steep. Bare ground won out and we got steeper for a while. Soon we hit Middle Polecat and kept climbing. Funny thing about climbing a ski trail, you never get a break – it’s always climbing. Eventually, Middle Polecat became Upper Polecat. Along the way the snow conditions became more difficult with increasing amounts of ice. We pulled out the light traction to help with the poor footing and continued up. While climbing Upper Polecat we managed to climb into a cloud and blowing snow. Finally, we reached the top of Upper Polecat and the Wildcat Express Quad lift line. Climbing Polecat is a fast way up but it will take a few more visits before I decide if it’s an enjoyable way up.
With only a brief hesitation for pictures at the top of Polecat we made the turn and headed to the nearby summit of Wildcat “D”. From the rebuilt observation deck to Carter Notch was going to be a lot of work. Hiking Wildcat Ridge Trail is always more difficult than the trail specs would suggest. The current conditions of very deep and unsupportive snow with a narrow monorail make matters worse. We left the Observation Deck and immediately started with the postholing – on snowshoes! All of the way from “D” to “A” was a test – a test of our patience. We expected tough hiking and a very hard day so there was no real surprise in the conditions. Anybody planning to hike this area should be sure to bring along a good sense of humor and some friends that can keep working on it. I think we all worked to keep a positive outlook to the day.
Wildcat Ridge Trail from “D” to “A” has several very tight sections that tend to make hiking the ridge a little tougher than it needs to be. All you can do is plow through the tight growth and hold your line on the trail – monorail. Even then, plan on some really nice postholes. We all managed some along the way. Eventually, we reached Wildcat “A” and wandered into the trees to reach the actual summit for a couple pictures. After the summit shots we headed to the outlook for the views. While we were there a couple other hikers came in. They had followed us across the ridge and I think were planning to u-turn their way back out. We continued on Wildcat Ridge Trail to descend Wildcat “A” to Carter Notch.
Most of the descent from Wildcat “A” was on unbroken trail. We slowly made our way down the very steep trail pushing the traction we had to its limit, and a few times beyond. As we were approaching the Wildcat slide we met Lou Dow ascending. We stopped for a few minutes and exchanged trail information. Soon we were all on our way. The descent was tough nearly all the way to the trail junction with Nineteen Mile Brook Trail. A short distance before the trail junction we all stopped to re-group and then continued to Carter Notch.
Dennis was burned-out and decided to call it a hike. He suggested Sue and I continue on our planned hike and at least get Carter Dome. Another couple hikers arrived while we were discussing our next move and we filled them in on the trail conditions of the climb to Wildcat “A”. They decided to skip Wildcat “A” and head to Carter Dome instead. Dennis set off for the trailhead, Sue and I set off for Carter Dome, and a short distance behind us the other pair also set off for Carter Dome.
At the Carter-Moriah Trail junction Sue and I made the turn. The televators were up and we were climbing. It’s a short climb to Carter Dome – only 1.2 miles, but it’s a steep one – roughly 1550 feet. The first half of the climb goes above the ledges and is particularly steep. By now the sky was clear with a light breeze and mild temperature. We just took our time and climbed to the summit of Carter Dome. The other pair that was behind us passed early on the climb. They were bare booting the hike and managed a significant amount of postholing on Carter-Moriah and Carter Dome Trails between Carter Notch and through Zeta Pass down to Nineteen Mile Brook Trail. No snowshoes can tear up the trail and that’s pretty much what was done. It’s unfortunate.
Sue and I hit the summit of Carter Dome around mid-afternoon and stopped to enjoy the views, great conditions, and Sue had some summit cookies (Nutter Butter Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies). Yum! While we were there another pair of hikers came in and one was registering Carter Dome as his 31st. 4K peak – congratulations!
After a while we were done with our break and need to go. The trail leaving Carter Dome was tough in more than one way. The snow is extremely deep – quite a surprise. Along with deep snow it is really ripped up from postholing. The monorail that does exist is pretty solid and we had little trouble staying on top – but it’s rough.
On the descent to Zeta Pass we met another pair ascending in the general direction of Carter Dome. Soon we passed the Carter Dome – CMT trails junction and a little further we reached Zeta Pass. After checking the time it was clear we were too late to include South and Middle Carter in the hike. As it was, the long drive south would have Sue getting home well after midnight. We’ll finish these off on a return visit.
The hike from Zeta Pass to the trailhead was generally uneventful. At the final crossing, Sue came close to taking a swim but managed a great recovery. She dropped one of her poles but I was downstream from her. I was caught between get the pole or get the picture. I didn’t know what was going to happen but I didn’t want to miss this Kodak moment – if it happened. Then I realized if it happened and I got the picture, I couldn’t use it – so I decided to get the pole and managed an okay recovery. We both reached the far side of the stream dry but entertained. A short distance before reaching the Nineteen Mile Brook trail junction we changed to MicroSpikes. Roughly half way to the trailhead we were bare booting again and that’s the way we finished the final mile to the trailhead.
This was a really tough day – but very enjoyable.
Thanks to Dennis for joining the fun. He is always a pleasure to hike with. I’m looking forward to our next time out together.
Thanks Sue for sharing another of your seemingly endless vacations. This one came up a little short on peak count but we still put a nice dent in the April list.
Now, it’s May – new month, new list. I’ll bet we still have an old monorail for a while longer. We’ll just pick the fights we can win and go for it.
I’ve posted some pictures from the day.
BIGEarl's Pictures
Straight to the slideshow
Trails: Polecat ski trail, Wildcat Ridge Trail, Nineteen Mile Brook Trail, Carter-Moriah Trail, Carter Dome Trail
Summits: Wildcat “A” Peak, Wildcat “D” Peak, Carter Dome
Hikers: Peakbagger (Dennis), Trail Trotter (Sue), and me
Here’s another case of “never say never”. We have always preferred to hike on hiking trails and leave the ski trails for the skiers. Well, this time around, the ski trail was possibly our only choice. Along with saving over an hour and a half on the climb to Wildcat D, it kept us dry. There was a concern Lost Pond Trail (our usual route) had large sections of it under water due to the heavy rain and spring runoff. Sue and I have hiked the area when sections of Lost Pond Trail were flooded – it isn’t pleasant. Dennis suggested we consider Polecat and that’s all it took.
We got an early start from the Wildcat Base Lodge, crossed the bridge, and started our climb – no warm-up on this one. The Lower Polecat starts off relatively tame but quickly starts to gain elevation, and steepness. Along the climb we saw a section of trail called Tomcat Schuss was bare but pretty steep. Bare ground won out and we got steeper for a while. Soon we hit Middle Polecat and kept climbing. Funny thing about climbing a ski trail, you never get a break – it’s always climbing. Eventually, Middle Polecat became Upper Polecat. Along the way the snow conditions became more difficult with increasing amounts of ice. We pulled out the light traction to help with the poor footing and continued up. While climbing Upper Polecat we managed to climb into a cloud and blowing snow. Finally, we reached the top of Upper Polecat and the Wildcat Express Quad lift line. Climbing Polecat is a fast way up but it will take a few more visits before I decide if it’s an enjoyable way up.
With only a brief hesitation for pictures at the top of Polecat we made the turn and headed to the nearby summit of Wildcat “D”. From the rebuilt observation deck to Carter Notch was going to be a lot of work. Hiking Wildcat Ridge Trail is always more difficult than the trail specs would suggest. The current conditions of very deep and unsupportive snow with a narrow monorail make matters worse. We left the Observation Deck and immediately started with the postholing – on snowshoes! All of the way from “D” to “A” was a test – a test of our patience. We expected tough hiking and a very hard day so there was no real surprise in the conditions. Anybody planning to hike this area should be sure to bring along a good sense of humor and some friends that can keep working on it. I think we all worked to keep a positive outlook to the day.
Wildcat Ridge Trail from “D” to “A” has several very tight sections that tend to make hiking the ridge a little tougher than it needs to be. All you can do is plow through the tight growth and hold your line on the trail – monorail. Even then, plan on some really nice postholes. We all managed some along the way. Eventually, we reached Wildcat “A” and wandered into the trees to reach the actual summit for a couple pictures. After the summit shots we headed to the outlook for the views. While we were there a couple other hikers came in. They had followed us across the ridge and I think were planning to u-turn their way back out. We continued on Wildcat Ridge Trail to descend Wildcat “A” to Carter Notch.
Most of the descent from Wildcat “A” was on unbroken trail. We slowly made our way down the very steep trail pushing the traction we had to its limit, and a few times beyond. As we were approaching the Wildcat slide we met Lou Dow ascending. We stopped for a few minutes and exchanged trail information. Soon we were all on our way. The descent was tough nearly all the way to the trail junction with Nineteen Mile Brook Trail. A short distance before the trail junction we all stopped to re-group and then continued to Carter Notch.
Dennis was burned-out and decided to call it a hike. He suggested Sue and I continue on our planned hike and at least get Carter Dome. Another couple hikers arrived while we were discussing our next move and we filled them in on the trail conditions of the climb to Wildcat “A”. They decided to skip Wildcat “A” and head to Carter Dome instead. Dennis set off for the trailhead, Sue and I set off for Carter Dome, and a short distance behind us the other pair also set off for Carter Dome.
At the Carter-Moriah Trail junction Sue and I made the turn. The televators were up and we were climbing. It’s a short climb to Carter Dome – only 1.2 miles, but it’s a steep one – roughly 1550 feet. The first half of the climb goes above the ledges and is particularly steep. By now the sky was clear with a light breeze and mild temperature. We just took our time and climbed to the summit of Carter Dome. The other pair that was behind us passed early on the climb. They were bare booting the hike and managed a significant amount of postholing on Carter-Moriah and Carter Dome Trails between Carter Notch and through Zeta Pass down to Nineteen Mile Brook Trail. No snowshoes can tear up the trail and that’s pretty much what was done. It’s unfortunate.
Sue and I hit the summit of Carter Dome around mid-afternoon and stopped to enjoy the views, great conditions, and Sue had some summit cookies (Nutter Butter Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies). Yum! While we were there another pair of hikers came in and one was registering Carter Dome as his 31st. 4K peak – congratulations!
After a while we were done with our break and need to go. The trail leaving Carter Dome was tough in more than one way. The snow is extremely deep – quite a surprise. Along with deep snow it is really ripped up from postholing. The monorail that does exist is pretty solid and we had little trouble staying on top – but it’s rough.
On the descent to Zeta Pass we met another pair ascending in the general direction of Carter Dome. Soon we passed the Carter Dome – CMT trails junction and a little further we reached Zeta Pass. After checking the time it was clear we were too late to include South and Middle Carter in the hike. As it was, the long drive south would have Sue getting home well after midnight. We’ll finish these off on a return visit.
The hike from Zeta Pass to the trailhead was generally uneventful. At the final crossing, Sue came close to taking a swim but managed a great recovery. She dropped one of her poles but I was downstream from her. I was caught between get the pole or get the picture. I didn’t know what was going to happen but I didn’t want to miss this Kodak moment – if it happened. Then I realized if it happened and I got the picture, I couldn’t use it – so I decided to get the pole and managed an okay recovery. We both reached the far side of the stream dry but entertained. A short distance before reaching the Nineteen Mile Brook trail junction we changed to MicroSpikes. Roughly half way to the trailhead we were bare booting again and that’s the way we finished the final mile to the trailhead.
This was a really tough day – but very enjoyable.
Thanks to Dennis for joining the fun. He is always a pleasure to hike with. I’m looking forward to our next time out together.
Thanks Sue for sharing another of your seemingly endless vacations. This one came up a little short on peak count but we still put a nice dent in the April list.
Now, it’s May – new month, new list. I’ll bet we still have an old monorail for a while longer. We’ll just pick the fights we can win and go for it.
I’ve posted some pictures from the day.
BIGEarl's Pictures
Straight to the slideshow
