South Carter Mountain

Trail: Nineteen Mile Brook Trail, Carter Dome Trail, Carter Moriah Trail, North Carter Trail, Imp Trail

Conditions: Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Ice - Blue, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Snow - Wet/Sticky

“The weather today was *chefs kiss*. We didn’t use traction until almost 3 miles in. Loads of ice - snow shoes were overkill. We encountered an extremely aggressive grouse going up to Carter dome as an fyi. The ice going down north Carter trail to Imp was very thick for extended periods of the trail (traction definitely needed!). We did Imp face which was a delight! Adds a few miles and a lot more fun.”

Trail: Nineteen Mile Brook Trail, Carter Dome Trail, Carter Moriah Trail

Conditions: Dry Trail, Ice - Black, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Wet Trail, Ice - Blue, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable)

“Got an early start (5:30am) today after dealing with the sticky snow on Pierce and Eisenhower yesterday. I wanted to get most of this hike done without having to dig the snow out of my spikes every few steps. 19 Mile Brook was mostly clear with some black ice and ice floes which could be traversed with care. The snow started showing up on Carter Dome Trail, but was relatively minor, at the most 2-3 inches. However, lurking under it, especially up high, were ice floes which had to be carefully traversed. At Zeta Pass, the snow deepened. The monorail on Carter Moriah Trail is stable and the amount of snow is melting every day. The ice on the south side of South Carter is navigable with care, and on the north side of Carter is worse. Going up to North Carter wasn't too icy. The snow didn't get sticky until about 10:30 on the ridge, and descending Carter Dome Trail the icy sections were softening. By the afternoon, 19 Mile Brook Trail had lost a lot of the ice and snow that was there in the morning. With the warming weather, the snow will go fast!”

Trail: Camp Dodge Cutoff, Imp Trail, North Carter Trail, Carter-Moriah Trail, Wildcat Ridge Trail, ski trails

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

“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!”