The Wildcats and Carters Provide the Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything

We had an incredible two day hike over the Wildcats and Carters with a stay at Carter Notch Hut on Monday and Tuesday. It was a great trip and we 'notched' 5 more peaks to bring us close to the end of our 48. To find out the significance of the title (and check out the amazing views) you're going to have to read the blog post...


http://theramblingsblog.blogspot.com...answer-to.html


Just a sneak peak..


Mt Washington over Lost Pond
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7...2/IMG_3155.JPG


Carter Dome over the Ramparts from Carter Notch
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-d...2/IMG_3286.JPG


Upper Carter Lake
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/--...0/IMG_3264.JPG

Nice pictures. Looks like a great hike. It was a fun read having just been there a couple days earlier. Having gone up (and back down) Wildcat that same way, I can attest to what the guidebook says about the trail being stepper than it looks on the map. I am sure the meals at the hut were good. When I stopped by to check it out, I could smell the hut before seeing it and it smelled great. How would you compare the steepness/difficulty of the two trails coming down into the notch from Wildcat and going up out of the notch to Carter Dome?

THanks for this post.. I've been putting of The Wildcats since I've heard such great things about it...A steep, rocky, long slog. We are considering adding Carter Dome, since we apparently like to torture ourselves just a bit and didn't want to add it to the Carters when we did them. It was nice to see the pics, you can never fully tell what a trail is really like by reading the words. Can't wait to conquer these as well!

Great photos Mark! Congratulations on bagging five more peaks. Thanks for bringing us along on what looks like a wonderful two days.

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Originally Posted by sdways01

Nice pictures. Looks like a great hike. It was a fun read having just been there a couple days earlier. Having gone up (and back down) Wildcat that same way, I can attest to what the guidebook says about the trail being stepper than it looks on the map. I am sure the meals at the hut were good. When I stopped by to check it out, I could smell the hut before seeing it and it smelled great. How would you compare the steepness/difficulty of the two trails coming down into the notch from Wildcat and going up out of the notch to Carter Dome?

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Thanks Adam. It was definitely great! Boy is it hard to go by a hut near dinner time and not be staying. The trail up to Carter Dome is definitely a lot steeper than the one coming down from Wildcat (and longer). 1500' in 1.2 miles going up Carter Dome. The switchbacks on the Wildcat trail also help.

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Originally Posted by Addicted

THanks for this post.. I've been putting of The Wildcats since I've heard such great things about it...A steep, rocky, long slog. We are considering adding Carter Dome, since we apparently like to torture ourselves just a bit and didn't want to add it to the Carters when we did them. It was nice to see the pics, you can never fully tell what a trail is really like by reading the words. Can't wait to conquer these as well!

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I wouldn't call the Wildcats a slog. It felt longer than the actual distance, but it was a great hike. The hike up to Wildcat E from Pinkham is really spectacular. Great being on the side of the cliffs and having the views across the notch to Washington. You'll really like it - I promise (particularly if you get a weather day like we had).

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Originally Posted by Snow Miser

Great photos Mark! Congratulations on bagging five more peaks. Thanks for bringing us along on what looks like a wonderful two days.

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Thanks Bob. Glad you came along for the ride ;)

Great pics and trip report! The Wildcats have a me a bit nervous in my quest for the48s.

You remembered to pack your towel, right? ;)

Thanks Mel. You shouldn't be nervous about the Wildcats. The Wildcat Ridge Trail feels longer than it is, but it's also really beautiful and not nearly as long as many of the others. If you do it with a stay at the hut like we did it's really a perfect two days.

And of course we packed our towels. And the towels that we packed were in fact pack towels. We found them to be massively useful. :D

nice pictures Mark