| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
South Carter, Middle Carter, North Carter, NH |
|
 | Trails: |
Nineteen Mile Brook Trail, Carter Dome Trail, Carter-Moriah Trail, North Carter Trail, Imp Trail, Dodge Cutoff, Route 16 |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, December 27, 2020 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Mine was vehicle number five in the 19MBT lot @ 7:45 AM. A few cars along the road when I returned mid-afternoon. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Ice - Black, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Wet Trail, Ice - Blue, Wet/Slippery Rock, Ice - Breakable Crust, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Snow/Ice - Monorail (Unstable), Snow/Ice - Postholes, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
|
 | Water Crossing Notes: |
The crossings on Carter Dome Trail can be done with care. It seemed there was one "good" line at each. |
|
 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Two blowdowns each on 19MBT, CDT, CMT and NCT. The most significant of these are 1) maybe 100 yards in on 19MBT and 2) a few feet south of the South Carter summit. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Saw two on NCT. |
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 | Bugs: |
Didn't see any. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
FOUND: two different gloves, in the vicinity of Middle Carter. One was a grey Head-branded glove and the other was a black OR glove. I left both at the kiosk. |
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|
 | Comments: |
Trail conditions are all over the place as evidenced by the thirteen (13!) boxes I checked above. Here we go...
Nineteen Mile Brook Trail: I barebooted until just after the bridge where some hard packed and icy stretches were mixed in with bare wet trail. At that point I put on a set of rock spikes.
Carter Dome Trail: same as beyond the bridge, though the hard pack became more frequent. Rock spikes remained on.
Carter-Moriah Trail: hard packed and supportive to North Carter Trail - but take a step just off center and you will posthole about a foot. Trail was less supportive beyond the junction to North Carter but solid enough. Rock spikes stayed on.
North Carter Trail: basically this trail is a tributary - mostly running water over and around rocks with some icy spots here and there. I envisioned that at least the upper part would be something more solid so I donned crampons thinking it would help descending but they were useless. Really there is no good footwear option to descend this trail right now. Whatever you choose make sure your boots are waterproofed.
Imp Trail: first .75 mile or so south of the junction is pretty much another tributary - lots of running water over and around rocks with some icy spots. Beyond this the trail dries out. I switched back to rock spikes at the junction and left them on until Dodge Cutoff (only because I didn't want to stop again) but they were overkill as I got lower.
Dodge Cutoff: nice and dry...yay!
Road walk: no snow on either shoulder.
Not too many people on the Carters today: I think I saw 9 others all day. I headed over to the North Carter outlook for a nice and quiet lunch, spending about a half hour there. Some decent directional views along the way but surrounding skies were mostly in the clouds. Not much wind and fairly comfy temps made for a good spring...uhh, I mean winter...hike ;) |
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 | Name: |
HMJ |
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 | E-Mail: |
trailsntrees(at)gmail(dot)com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2020-12-27 |
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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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