| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Middle Carter, South Carter, Carter Dome, Wildcat A, Wildcat B, Wildcat C, Wildcat D, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Camp Dodge Cutoff, Imp Trail, North Carter Trail, Carter-Moriah Trail, Wildcat Ridge Trail, Ski Trails |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Wednesday, April 8, 2026 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parked at Wildcat, road a bike down to Camp Dodge. Shoulders a bit icy this AM so rode in travel lane and pulled over whenever a car came by...still beats walking. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Ice - Blue, Ice - Breakable Crust, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow - Spring Snow, Slush |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction, Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Walked across the pond in Carter Notch if that counts... |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Parked at Wildcat, rode my bike down to Camp Dodge to start the hike.
Monorail was very solid all day, it will take quite a warm up or decent snow storm to need snowshoes at this point, but there is a lot of ice out there lurking under the snow.
Bare booted in ~1" of new snow through Camp Dodge and up Imp trail for 1.5 miles. At that point, there started to be significant ice flows under the snow so switched to microspikes, which worked well up to Carter-Moriah Trail. Very narrow monorail under ~2-3" of fresh snow keeps you on your toes but microspikes still the way to go. S facing sections started to get slushy which added to the challenge. Some hard ice under the snow in places, especially coming down from S. Carter.
Met another hiker near Zeta pass coming back from Carter Dome, he had started up to Hight but turned around as he felt it was a bit sketchy. I was gridding out the Carters today, and it was a clear/no wind day so I wanted to give it a shot and the climb ended up being not bad...packed monorail but not icy and my microspikes held well. I've been fortunate to have some great days on Hight and it is one of the best peaks in the Whites on a clear day.
More elevated monorail from Hight back to Carter Dome trail and up to Carter Dome. Still crazy amounts of snow which means you get views you won't get in the summer as you can see over the scrub. Coming down from Carter Dome to the Notch had a lot of Slushy Side Slope of Doom. Spikes were balling up, but they were necessary with the new snow on top of the side slope. The steep section down into the notch after the lookout had enough rocks that you could mostly downclimb, but there is still enough ice that whatever your best traction is, you will be glad you have it. Crampons and an ice axe wouldn't be crazy.
Heading up Wildcat Ridge Trail from the Notch was more Side Slope Shenanigans...mostly grippy with microspikes but you would not be sad with crampons...there are sections with solid ice under the snow which could become very exciting quickly if not careful. Once I got to A I was glad to see a lot of people had done an out/back from the ski area and the trail was pretty broken in (the ski area was closed Mon-Thurs this week, so people could climb/descend the trails all day as opposed to the usual "not when the lifts are operating". I didn't get to the ski trails until 4:15pm, so it didn't help me.
Remembered to retrieve my bike down at Camp Dodge, one of these days I'm going to forget! |
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 | Name: |
Borealis |
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 | E-Mail: |
kdwelch1@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2026-04-08 |
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 | Link: |
 https://www.strava.com/activities/18035035658/overview |
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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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