Wildcat Mountain (D Peak)

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!”

Trail: Nineteen Mile Brook Trail, Wildcat Ridge Trail, ski trails

Conditions: Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts

“Snowshoes from the start at 19 mile, bareboots had churned the new snow and two pairs of snowshoes on a traverse did little to help. Beyond the carter dome junction trail, only one pair of ski tracks(the caretaker had skied down from the hut earlier in the day). There was no indication that anyone had recently turned onto the wildcat ridge trail, and that should have been enough to call it for another day, but as luck would have it (or lack thereof) we continued, after all it's only .7 miles. We broke trail through 18 to 24" of drifted unconsolidated snow on the steep hillside. Snowshoes were useless, one step forward, 2 steps slipping back, crampons weren't much better. Try changing foot gear in 2ft of snow on a hill slide, soul sucking, doesn't do it justice. Two hours later for .7 miles, we summited Wildcat A. Snowshoes back on, the traverse hadn't seen any traffic either, there is no packed monorail, but the snow depth was more manageable at a foot. On the steep sections of the traverse, the unconsolidated snow just slid off the solid ice, along with anyone standing on it. The best part of the hike was the well groomed ski trail. Coming weather conditions won't improve this trail! So many other to choose from!”

Trail: Nineteen Mile Brook Trail, Wildcat Ridge Trail, ski trails

Conditions: Wet Trail, Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable)

“Well that was interesting for a last day of winter hike. Microspikes door to door. We carried snowshoes (definitely not needed—snow/ice super firm) and crampons (could have worn them up and across Wildcat, would have helped in some of the super icy downhill sections between C and D). Lots of icy sections on both trails and so many snowshoe postholes on Wildcat Ridge. The trail was super firm today, but if it starts to warm up, it’s going to be a mess. Walking down ski trails was a breeze at 5pm.”