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Ski
Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks Imp Face, Middle Carter, NH
Trails
Trails: Imp Trail, North Carter Trail, Carter-Moriah Trail, Camp Dodge Cutoff
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Saturday, November 19, 2022
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: Parked at Great Gulf, which was plowed. Afternoon sun took care of the last dregs of snow that remained.  
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Ice - Breakable Crust, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment: Light Traction, Traction 
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: Crossing the brooks on the upper reaches of north Imp Trail was pretty unremarkable with traction. If I were bare-booting it, maybe sketchy on a good day, horrendous on a bad one. On the southern half of Imp, the trail gets quite wet in more than a few spots. If you don't have Gore-Tex boots, you'll be miserable; I'd stick to the northern route in that case.  
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: Trail was fine. A couple blow-downs that right now are inconsequential, but when there's a couple more feet of snow on the trail, might amount to a duck-under.  
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes:  
Bugs
Bugs: Saw a snowfly on Thursday's test-run. Nothing on Saturday. 
Lost and Found
Lost and Found:  
 
Comments
Comments: Went up on Thursday, hiked up the south side of Imp and a little bit of North Carter Trail before running out of daylight. Came back on Saturday, and bagged Middle Carter as hoped. Woo-hoo! Weather was lovely, and the views from Imp were magnificent. This is a fine destination in and of itself.

On the ridge, I broke out the snowshoes because it seemed traction might be nicer on the greasy snow. Trouble was the rocks and stuff weren't covered sufficiently to know whether I was doing more than just breaking even. The snow was much less slippery with snowshoes, but dancing around rocks was more of a problem. Crampons v snowshoes? No clear winner yet. If I were on Cabot or Waumbek, it would be more of a no-brainer. Thursday's hike was in Micro Spikes, which were OK, but I think lightweight crampons did a better job.

Trip report and photos are on my blog as always. Share and enjoy!  
Name
Name: Protean Wanderer 
E-Mail
E-Mail: hiker@proteanwanderer.com 
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2022-11-22 
Link
Link: https://www.proteanwanderer.com/2022/11/21/trip-report-its-a-long-time-to-get-to-middle-carter/ 
Bookmark and Share 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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