A Snowy Hike to North and Middle Carters 10/23/08

[Jimmy Legs and Little d]

On our way to the Imp trailhead, we stopped at the Glen House and snapped this picture of Mount Adams and Mount Madison; realizing we would be hiking in the snow sometime today.


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We started at 8:30 am on a leaf covered trail.


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After a mile of steady ascent we encountered an increasing amount of snow.


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Along the way we came upon more fungi; these being covered in snow.


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We were in pre-winter conditions


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We seemed to be following some type of critter along the trail.
Any ideas what made these prints?


http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr257/jimmylegsandlittled/DSC05893.jpg

Snow covered rocks were slippery and caution was needed. One fall did occur when Little d slipped on a rock and landed on her upper left thigh, resulting in a nasty softball sized bruise.


http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr257/jimmylegsandlittled/DSC05894.jpg
We reached the junction of the North Carter trail and the Imp trail at 10:50 am.


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Looking up and seeing the snow covered trees against the deep blue sky was awesome.


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Since the tree limbs were covered with snow, one had to be careful that they would dislodge it and have a cold icy clump fall down someone’s neck.


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As we climb higher views back towards the Presidentials would appear.


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We reached the junction of the Carter-Moriah trail at 12:15 pm.


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In this view you can see Mount Washington peeking above the trees.


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We reached a viewpoint (just before the summit of North Carter) looking east into the Wild River valley.


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The summit of North Carter was reached at 12:40 pm.


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After a brief stay on the viewless summit we worked our way back to Middle Carter where we had many views of the snow covered landscape.


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The log bridges had at least 5 to 6 inches of snow on them.


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Here are some examples our winter wonderland.


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On some open ledges you could get a good view of Mount Washington.


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We reached the summit of Middle Carter at 1:15 pm; which was marked by a small cairn.


http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr257/jimmylegsandlittled/DSC05920.jpg

On our way back to the junction we met up with a hiker named Daniel who was going to hike over to the Carter hut. We wished him well and proceeded on until we stopped for a snack and were greeted by two Gray Jays who were looking for a handout.


http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr257/jimmylegsandlittled/DSC05932.jpg

We shared our snacks with them and then were ready to start our descent when we once again saw Daniel. He had changed his mind (about staying at the shelter) and decided to hike along with us and we would give him a ride back to his car, which he left in Gorham.

Good conversations made the long hike back go quickly.
We reached the trailhead at 5:20 a little sad because this was the last hike of our Fall trip. :(


http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr257/jimmylegsandlittled/DSC05940.jpg

We drove Daniel back to his car and occasionally caught glimpses of the mountain we just climbed and wondered; did we really do that?

[TrishandAlex]

I like your TR, but photobucket isn't allowing you to post the pictures....don't know what happened there, hope you can fix it, sounds like you have some really nice shots.

[Jimmy Legs and Little d]

:
I like your TR, but photobucket isn't allowing you to post the pictures....don't know what happened there, hope you can fix it, sounds like you have some really nice shots.

Hopefully, we can correct the problem soon. :eek: So check back again.
Donna

[TrishandAlex]

I will, I look forward to seeing them.

[KD Talbot]

What I can see of the pictures are gorgeous! You guys had a really full vacation! Awesome!

Those tracks are... wait for it... Emma's! No, not really. My best guess would be fox.

http://www.dickestel.com/images/animaltracks.jpg

KDT

[CHRIS]

Great TR and wonderful pictures. Looks like you guys had a terrific hike. I am dying to get back out there but I have to finish my renovation of my kitchen and dining room almost doneb thank god. Thanks for sharing .

[Jimmy Legs and Little d]

What I can see of the pictures are gorgeous! You guys had a really full vacation! Awesome!

Those tracks are... wait for it... Emma's! No, not really. My best guess would be fox.

http://www.dickestel.com/images/animaltracks.jpg

KDT

Kevin,
Take another look; the rest of the pictures are up. We think it could very well be a fox. Looking forward to our Winter Trip. Also, wanted to let you know, SmugMug looks great for your reports. We actually like Phanfare the best, but they had there issues last year with there setup.
Donna

[TrishandAlex]

Beautiful pcitures. What great views! I like that picture of the incoming gray jay -- you know, we still haven't seen any on the trails! I guess we will in time.

[laudizen]

A wonderful telephoto shot of Washington, including the Alpine Garden above Huntington Ravine.