South Carter Mountain

Trail: Camp Dodge Cutoff, Imp Trail, North Carter Trail, Carter-Moriah Trail, Carter Dome Trail, Nineteen Mile Brook Trail

Conditions: Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Wet Trail, Ice - Blue, Ice - Breakable Crust, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow - Spring Snow, Snow/Ice - Postholes, Slush

“Plan was to do a Carter-Cat traverse N to S...so parked at Wildcat and did the easy 3 mile bike ride down to Camp Dodge. Left bike and put on snowshoes, which I wore from trailhead to trailhead. The snow is not very deep below 3500', but after that it quickly got deep and unsupportive even in snowshoes. It looked like 2 sets of snowshoe tracks were ahead of me, and they had gone deep. I found the only way to not do the same was to step in the holes, but I added many holes of my own. I hoped it would get better once I hit the ridge, but it got worse...the trail took a beating from the snowshoe postholes and is in rough shape. By the time I got to S. Carter, I was pretty spent and considering heading down when I got to Zeta, but luckily some people had out/backed S. Carter from Zeta Pass and the trail was much more manageable, so I decided to head up to Carter Dome but skip the 'Cats. was somewhat consolidated, but is mostly side-slope and straying from the center of the packed trail would add another thigh deep posthole to the many already there. Headed back to Zeta and down Carter-Moriah Trail to 19 Mile Brook. There is a ton of water, slush, and ice, and the snow depth ranges from 0" to 20". Every time I thought of switching to spikes I'd hit a stretch of deeper snow. 19 Mile Brook Trail could also be called 19 Mile Brook as there is a lot of running water on top of ice/slush on the trail. You could use spikes or snowshoes, but you will need some traction as there are large stretches of ice flows (usually with water on top). The biggest bummer about bailing on my original plan was I ended up at 19 Mile Brook Trailhead where my bike was...and the bike from there back to Wildcat to get my car is anything but easy! Good luck to anyone hiking the next few days until it gets colder, you will definitely need snowshoes and a lot of patience...expect your pace to be quite a bit slower than normal.”

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

Conditions: Ice - Blue, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Spring Snow, Snow/Ice - Postholes

“Spikes on 19 mile brook; solidly packed, areas of ice, some bare rocks. Put on snowshoes for Carter Dome which was a mix of postholes, mashed potatoes and sadness. Carter Moriah in much better shape; very soft in places but free of postholes. Enjoyed the winter view from South Carter. Lucked out with the weather today.”

Trail: Camp Dodge Cutoff, Imp Trail, North Carter Trail, Carter Moriah Trail, Carter Dome Trail, Nineteen Mile Brook Trail, Wildcat Ridge Trail

Conditions: Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular

“Snow conditions were perfect, almost no ice on Imp, easy to avoid. I bareboot from car to jct with Carter-Moriah trail, then snowshoes all day. Trail to North Carter is filled with snow drifts. The steep pitch down to Carter Notch is free of ice, no problem going down. Didn’t go across the pond. Great day to be outside, saw only one person doing a similar itinerary but opposite direction (came up from Wildcat ski slopes).”