| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Carter Dome, South Carter, Middle Carter, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Carter-Moriah Trail, Carter Dome Trail, North Carter Trail, Imp Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Tuesday, March 19, 2019 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
19 Mile Brook Trailhead plowed and wide open |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Several unbridged on Imp Trail. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Lots of duck-unders on Carter-Moriah and North Carter. Lots of overhead hangups throughout. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Trails mostly well packed down. Some sections of North Carter trail had lots of boot and snowshoe postholes despite being solid enough that we did the whole route in microspikes.
Heading north, we missed the junction where the Black Angel trail leaves the Carter-Moriah trail (CMT) and the fork soon after where the Carter Dome trail (CDT) heads directly towards Zeta Pass and the CMT heads for Mt. Hight. Since others report missing them, I am pretty sure the signposts were under the snow. The signpost where CMT rejoins CDT just south of Zeta Pass was visible.
After Middle Carter, we could see the open col between Middle Carter and relatively higher ground further north. We mistakenly figured the North Carter Trail (NCT) turned off there, and assumed the trail junction signpost was buried. We still believe the signpost is buried, but now realize that the actual CMT-NCT junction was ~15 minutes north of the open col so easily seen as one descends from Middle Carter. Luckily for us, NCT was so well packed down that the junction was obvious in the snow.
NCT well packed down to the Imp Trail (IT) junction where the signpost was easy to see. I am 6’2†with a pack almost as high and I repeatedly struggled against overhead branches for much of the CMT and NCT, with not a few crawl-unders.
AMC Map #5 shows the IT turning sharply to the north [right next to the red letters denoting 3.2 miles] and then heading pretty directly toward the southernmost IT trailhead on Rt 16. At that point, a well-packed-down trail leads to the left and almost due south towards AMC Camp Dodge. We took that trail and got to Camp Dodge in about 15 minutes, from which it’s a short walk to RT 16. Even so, 11 hours under a 46 pound pack was too long and we should have stopped near the NCT-IT junction -8 hours into the hike, put up the tent, and spent the night. We were lucky, so no injuries. But lucky is not the same as wise.
By the way, my hiking partner Kevin from Falmouth (like me, Swarthmore ’72; unlike me, not USMC 0302 72-75) was the guy who got to spend some time with the jay on his hand, Strider (no honeybee) and Extreme Erica on Carter Summit while waiting for me to arrive. Lucky duck.
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 | Name: |
Marshall Hoyler |
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 | E-Mail: |
marshall.hoyler@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2019-03-21 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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