Carter Ridge in February

7:55am, just north of Pinkham Notch. The drive up had been incredible, alpinglow bathed Chocorua and the Presidentails in amazing salmon pinks. Poison Ivy (Amy) had planned on the Carter Ridge for this late February morning. I needed the Carters for my winter-48 so I asked her if she wanted company. She said "Sure" and we met at 19-mile trailhead and drove in her car to the northern of the Imps. I planned on doing this as a dayhike, she would stay the night at Carter Hut. Her pack was heavy with a sleeping bag, food and what she needed for a comfortable overnight in an unheated bunkhouse. My pack had my typical winter dayhike essentials.

I started right off with snowshoes which I quickly wished I'd left on my pack. Bang-pop-Bang they went over the barely snow covered rocks. I was glad for the crampons through, it was slippery underneath! We wound through the open forest and saw a bunch of great tracks in the new dusting of snow. One small creature had gone through the 1 inch deep snow like a plow truck. Another had tiny paw prints with a tail dragging behind. "Shrew" Said Amy. Another set were funny. Fairly large but side by side not the typical predatory tracks--------------------------->

They were identified later as the loping run of a Fisher. He was probably out hunting the small creatures whose tracks we saw. We left the Fisher tracks behind and walked at a good clip up the moderate slope. There were one or two slick spots over rocks.

Zig-zagging through the woods we passed a frozen over brook, the crossing was easy. There was a tricky spot beyond and Amy decided to put on the snowshoes for traction. The higher we went, the better the snow conditions. The trail turned again and climbed moderately to a place where you could see Madison through the trees. In another spot nearby I looked back and could see what looked like Starr King and Waumbek. Chickadees, a Nuthatch and busy Downy Woodpeckers kept us company.

As it got steeper there were a set of stairs. Stairs in the summer are great, in winter, wearing snowshoes....not so great.

The trail turned again and got steeper. One minute you were hiking through close in evergreens and the next you came out to the most amazing views. It would be our best views of the day. Clouds from the West were moving in quickly and soon would obsure everything.

A few minutes later Amy arrived with the same words of amazement. Storm clouds were really moving in quickly, the antennas on Washington would come in and out of view. We saw little black dots on Jefferson and I could swear they were moving. We wondered if it was Bob and Geri hiking up the summit. There were supposed to be up there that day.

Adams and Madison----->

We'd come 2.2 miles according to the guide and had about another mile to the junction with the North Carter Trail. The snows got deeper but was well broken except for some wind-blown drifts.

I reached the junction and waited for Amy then headed off again at a moderate pace. It said 5.2 to Carter Dome...not too bad, I felt great and thought "no problem."

<--The North Carter trail must have an interdimensional time shift or could be renamed the Alfred Hitchcock trail. That ridge never seems to get closer. It said 1.2 on the sign. There were serious drifts in places where yesterdays tracks were completely erased and I had to break through. Finally I arrived at the cold, windswept Carter-Moriah trail.

I heard the familiar crunch of snowshoes soon after I sat on a log to eat my sandwich. He looked familiar but I didn't say anything. It was SpongeBob! I remembered him from a Moosilauke hike back in June when we celebrated Sarah's 48. We talked for awhile and then more footsteps and two more guys arrived. I was getting cold so while I chatted with them I took off my soaked fleece jacket and got into the dry winter jacket. My gloves were soaked too from the heavily laden trees. There was a ton of snow up here, flakes began to fall.

Amy joined the three of us and it looked like she wanted to keep moving. I was glad, it was cold at that forlorn trail junction. I ripped open some chemical handwarmers which heated up quickly and warmed my wet gloves. Spongebob went on and I followed close behind. The C-M trail climbed up moderately and then fairly steeply over some ice covered ledgy bumps. We reached one place called Mt Lethe which would've had good views East and West but the clouds had swooped in and masked our views. Very quickly we reached Middle Carter. Amy joined us moments later. We didn't pause much more than to snap a picture and then it got cold again so we headed off. There was another ledgy area which climbed very steeply over sheer ice. I pulled myself up while holding onto trees and then very near the top lost my grip and slid-WHOOSH-almost all the way back down. I rolled onto my hip and the impact was taken mostly with my pack...ouch! When I climbed back up it I was breathing pretty heavily when I reached the top. Soon after that we reached South Carter at 4,430'.

Amy wasn't far behind, she said later that she'd fallen in a spruce trap. It was a long way down and I kept seeing the Dome get higher and higher. Maybe it was the fall but I was having doubts about Carter Dome. As we climbed down into gloomy Zeta pass I glissaded in places and was pretty tired. At Zeta I thought how easy it would be to head down from here and reach the 19-mile brook trail then get back to the car well before dark.

When Amy joined us she was thinking the same. Problem is, she'd have to climb back UP 19 mile about 2.5 miles to the hut. We decided on the Carter Dome trail which wasn't far from Zeta, I would stay with her on this journey, my goal was for the three Carters, not two. I know Amy is an experienced winter hiker but somewhere deep inside of me I would've felt bad if I retreated. So we went up to the junction where you can go left (over Hight) or straight to the Dome. I liked the idea of bypassing Hight on this cloudy windswept day and she did too. We met up with a couple heading down from the Dome who also must've bypassed Hight on their descent. They asked if we were going over the top. "Yep" I said.

As we climbed up, I took it slow and Amy wasn't far behind. She was clearly exhausted but what a determined woman! Reaching the junction of Carter-Moriah again was a relief. I could look back and see Hight all clouded in and the sign there was almost buried in snow. I hadn't seen so much snow all winter, it was drifted in high along the trail and in some places the banner trees caught it so it made 6 and 7 foot high drifts! I was glad not to have to break trail through that. Now I know why there is often snow here well into June. The snow which had been coming down heavy seemed to take a little break.

The snow was astonishingly deep here but a tunnel trail carved through it so the footing was good. It was getting late into the afternoon as we hiked up the snowfields just below the summit. Bundled up against the weather, I felt like an arctic explorer. There was nobody else up here.

Here is (Amy) arriving on the summit of Carter Dome. It would be her 34th in winter and my 32nd. I gave her a high five and we tromped around looking for the summit cairn. It must've been buried as was that square concrete platform. I must say I like the appearance of the Dome in winter rather than summer. I looked forward to the downhill. Bolstered by some oatmeal cookies I headed downhill through the close-in woods. At the outlook it got steep and we did some butt-sliding as usual. There were some obstacles and I was breathing pretty heavily when I got to the bottom of it. Only a tenth of a mile to the hut from here. I shook hands with a tired Amy, I was tired too. I said goodbye then hiked the 3.7 miles out. Just before it got pitch dark I took a nasty tumble but managed to grab a birch tree before I fell into the brook--oops. After that the headlamp came out...I love my tri-led lamp! 4 hours to drive home in a snowstorm but I made it safely....a day of pitfalls and triumph. Thanks Amy for inviting me.

I should really thank SpongeBob for breaking the trail from the North Carter and C-M trail junction to South Carter. There were some deep snowy places. 13.7 miles travelled, 4,700' approx elevation gain.