I went from work to my friends cabin in NH on Thursday after work - it took an extra 45 min to get there because of traffic, but it was well worth it! My friend told me no one would be there, but I was welcomed to crash. I got to the place and the ceiling fan was going and the water was on, which was weird. I was suspicious that someone else was there, and they were! My friend's husband's parent's were staying - they are so much cooler than my parents. Anyhow, we chatted for a while, but I went to bed at 10 pm. I woke up at my usual time, 6:30, and got to the trail head by 7:30. My plan was to do a loop, parking my car at 19 Mile Brook trailhead, walk to Camp Dodge, cut through, and take the trail there to the Imp trail. Then, take the Imp trail to North Carter trail, Carter Moriah trail over Middle and South Carter, and then turn down at the Zeta pass, taking Carter Dome Trail to 19 Mile Brook trail. The advantage of doing the loop in this direction was that I knew I would be able to find Camp Dodge from this way, and wasn't sure I would be able to in the other direction, which would mean a long road walk, either at the start or end of the hike. Also, I knew that the trail down has switchbacks, and that it 19 Mile Brook is lovely, and I thought that would be good at the end. And, I would climb the taller mountain first, with stronger legs. The downside was that there aren't a ton of views on this hike, and they were earlier on going in this direction.
Well, I'm very sure I wouldn't have found the cut through from Camp Dodge from the woods, because I missed it the first time from Camp Dodge, and wound up bushwalking to where I thought the trail was. For 30 minutes before I decided I was being stupid, could get lost out there and die, and should go back. And then I tried again and found the trail. So I started on the hike at 8:30. The killer was that I was like 6 feet away. Lesson for self: I am not a person who bushwhacks. This is something I already knew, but I am re-reminded. The first half hour or so up the trail I stewed at myself, before deciding that I had to let it go, I couldn't believe that I wasted so much time, when I was at the trail early!
Because of the bushwhack I'm not totally sure how long the hike was, but I think the uphill was about 3.5 miles or so. It was all a steady uphill, but none of it was super steep. I stopped a few times to breathe and let my heart slow dow, but for the most part it was fine. I kind of like hikes where it's not directly uphill, but more a gradual thing. I stopped at a trail junction because I remembered I had coffee jelly beans, and to eat a cheese sandwich. I don't remember when I stopped with the cheese sandwiches on egg bread and started taking healthy bread with peanut butter, but I was so glad I went back to cheese. It was so good! I felt reenergized and headed up! There where some nice views going up Middle Carter, the top was more one of those mountains where you are like, "ok, it's going down, that must have been it." Maybe somewhere there's a cairn, but I could it if I walk over.
I particularly loved the fact that there was a 2.7 mile ridgeline! It was so nice. There was some bog, and a nice view where I ate the rest of my cheese sandwiches. There are these birds called Grey Jays that will eat out of your hand - I'm not really into feeding the birds like that, but a couple of them came by to see if I would give them some treats. One puffed up his chest at me - I think he was flirting! After my rest, I headed on to South Carter, which wasn't that much elevation gain, and had one limited view. As I was walking, I thought about doing Mount Hight as well, just so I could get the view, and have a perfect hike - I was really feeling good, nothing hurt and I had a lot of energy!I got to the Zeta Pass and there were several through hikers there! The are so cool. One of them told me it took him 30 minutes to get down from Hight, and I decided I should just finish so I could shower and head home. It was still 3.8 miles down, even if there were switchback. It was again a really nice hike down, a little buggy in parts, but not too bad. A lot of the hike was pretty overgrown, and I did extra scrubbing for ticks in my shower.
All in all, a good day!
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