| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Carter Dome, Wildcat A, NH |
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 | Trails: |
19 Mile Brook Trail, Carter Dome Trail, Carter-Moriah Trail, Wildcat Ridge Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, January 17, 2026 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
19 mile lot is sheet of ice under dusting of snow, but its nice and flat, just watch your step getting out of car! |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Black, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Drifts, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Well-bridged |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
a few small blowdowns on the route-nothing bigger than a quick handsaw really |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
saw adorable pair of beagles and their doodle bro on 19 mile having a great time. CD and Wildcat A tough peaks for many dogs in winter. steep and loose! |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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|
 | Comments: |
First one up the Dome this morning. lower 19 mile is thin, yet robust layer of crunchy ice with dusting on top-super fast spike conditions. Continued to be great spiking until a quarter-mile from zeta pass. put on snowshoes and once above pass the work began! CM was significantly wind drifted above zeta all the way to the hut. was breaking trail through 3"-15", much of the time on annoying side-hill. Top half of CD descent was great, below pulpit rock was super sketchy. Many rocks showing. Had lots of snowshoe glissading, unintentional butt slides, and a one hard fall. Would probably be safest to put on crampons and just posthole down but I didn't have the heart to wreck the trail so I rode the lightnings and it was definitely not the safest descent I have ever made.
Spent way too much time at the hut drinking hot cocoa and warming up. got a little too cozy and heard A was unbroken and powdery. When I got up to intersection there was a pair of tracks headed up-one with snowshoes and one without. The snowshoe tracks were 6"-12" deep with a bareboot posthole inside each one anywhere from 1'-2' deep. A real hot mess and terrible to try to clean up without wrecking my feet/ankles. I was pretty pissed/fuming and suddenly 1/3 way up a pair of angels in snowshoes came down, who had traversed the ridge. the next 1/3 was a beautiful snowshoe track where they had cleaned up the parasitic postholer's mess. Then the two hikers came down (new hikers/teenage girls-didn't know any better. the snowshoerhad cheap tube-style shoes-amazing they made it up A) and the top 1/3 was trashed again, but not as bad thanks to the other pair. I was able to clean up their mess on the way down, and three more snowshoers were about to start up when I got to the intersection.
Confirmed 6 snowshoe tracks from D-A-hut today by 11AM. One guy at hut was gonna go up CD so minimum two sets of snowshoes up there. Also, there were FORTY guests staying at the hut tonight according to the caretaker, so I imagine all these trails saw more traffic. It was snowing lightly and windy all morning, so there will be some drifting, but the Carters and Cats should be set up nicely for the rest of the weekend. Noted 5-6 cars at Imp parking as well. Go get em! |
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 | Name: |
Silent Running |
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 | E-Mail: |
stormyweatherholt@yahoo.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2026-01-17 |
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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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