Hiking in the White Mountains: Ice

Date of Hike: 4/17/16

NH 16: 0.5 miles / Camp Dodge Cutoff: 0.3 miles / Imp Trail: 2.0 miles / Carter Moriah Trail: 5.2 miles / Wildcat Ridge Trail: 2.6 miles / Polecat Ski Trail: 2.4 miles
Total Miles: 14.0 miles (5,969 feet elevation gained) Garmin Forerunner 910XT

Trip Report
- Sunday's weather rose well over 50 degrees above 4,000 feet with plenty of sunshine. The continued warm up made the ice rink trails a little easier to contend with, although I still had to step off trail a few spots to down-climb monkey style!
- I parked my car at Nineteen-Mile Brook trailhead and road walked up Route 16 and cut through Camp Dodge on my way to the Imp Trail, which was mostly bare ground until a quarter mile below the junction with the North Carter Trail. The North Carter Trail was almost one continuous ice flow, but with the warm temps and moderate grades it was a walk in the park considering what it must have been like a week prior in colder conditions. I also like to think I have become accustomed to the different kinds of ice on the trail, some I can walk right up, some I have to be very careful and be balanced, while others I shake my head and immediately head off into the woods.
- I took my time gaining the ridge as I was tired from Saturday's yummy Sandwich Range big mile hike. Once I hooked onto the Carter-Moriah Trail the conditions improved, there was some decent snow mixed in the the ice, with even a few bare spots along the way. I had been reading reports of a very territorial male grouse 'attacking' hikers between Middle and South Carter. I spotted him between Mount Lethe and North Carter. He made buffoonish clucking noises while he paralleled me off trail in the woods about teen feet away for a good fifty feet or so. I said out loud "What, I'm not good enough for you??!!". About six years back I remember hearing about a grouse on the rocky Branch Trail 'attacking' people, must be a relative!
- The Carters are not much to write home about, there are some decent outlooks here and there and a beautiful mini alpine meadow but the hiking for the most part is in the woods and not that attractive. What makes up for the trek in the woods is the the short and steep side trip up and over Mount Hight which has expansive and fantastic 360 degree views.
- After Mount Hight I headed up to Carter Dome then made the steep drop down to Carter Notch. Luckily, this side of the mountain gets a lot of sun so it was relatively tame compared to other icy spots. There were only two times I had to veer off trail because I couldn't handle the ice, and once past the Outlook the trail was bare ground until the last two hundred feet.
- Once I bottomed out at Carter Notch it was time to head straight back up again for the 1000 plus feet elevation gain in just 0.7 miles to Wildcat A Peak. I was so happy that it was very warm out or it would have been crampon time. The awkward steep side hill sections must have been pretty tough going up and tougher going down in the colder temps. Luckily, the snow and ice was soft and my microspikes where biting pretty well considering they are becoming a tad worn down from the abuse they have taken over the past three weeks.
- Upon reaching the summit of Wildcat A I took a short break and prepared myself for the sh!t show that was ahead of me. Conditions started off fine between A and B peak and then things got very interesting to down right comical between B-C-D peaks. I have never in my life seen the ice flow that was taking up not only the trail but basically the side of the mountain heading into the Wildcat Col between Wildcat C and D. It was a bout 100 feet of ice that must have been a foot thick. It was really freaking cool and once again I really lucked out, it was close to sixty degrees in the col and the ice monster was easy to bite into, and while I had to go off trail a few times I was able to carefully make my way down most of it. I don't think I'll ever see that kind of ice again on a stretch of trail in the woods for a long time so I'm happy I got to see it and hike it, although once is enough for me!
- After passing through the ice castle I made my way up to the observation deck on Wildcat D's summit where I relaxed for a little while before dropping down the ski slopes where I go picked up by Whitney.
- Not a bad way to finish up my April Grid, 554 down 22 to go over the next three months!

The Imp Trail just before the North Carter junction

The North Carter Trail looked mostly like this, but with the warm temperatures it was a breeze with my microspikes

A nice little alpine bog area heading up to Middle Carter

Moriah and Shelburne Moriah

Mount Washington

The Great Gulf with Jefferson, Adams, and Madison

Looking towards my goal for the day the Carter to the Cats

Along the Appalachian Trail

Ice flow going up Mount Hight

South and Middle Carter as seen from Mount Hight

The Northern Presidential Range

Mount Washington

Next up, Carter Dome

Carter Dome summit

Ice flow down off Carter Dome

Carter Notch, the hut, and Wildcat A Peak

Cater Notch Pond and Wildcat A Peak

Hiking across the small slide on Wildcat A

Looking back down the small slide

Nice little ice flow just below A Peak

Cater Dome riding high above Carter Notch

Decaying snow and blowdowns just off trail

This was incredible to hike through!

gnarly ice flow descent!

Ice flow trail in the Wildcat Col

Mount Washington from Wildcat D Peak

Snow melting away from the Polecat Ski Trail

Elevation over distance profile (click here for more info)

Date of Hike: 4/16/16

Livermore Trail: 3.8 miles / Scaur Ridge Trail: 1.1 miles / Pine Bend Brook Trail: 0.8 miles / Mount Tripyramid Trail: 1.3 miles / Kate Sleeper Trail: 3.0 miles / Rollins Trail: 2.2 miles / Dicey's Mill Trail: 1.6 miles / Rollins Trail: 2.2 miles / Kate Sleeper Trail: 3.2 miles / Mount Tripyramid Trail: 2.3 miles / Livermore & Big Pines Trails: 2.7 miles
Total Miles: 25.8 (7,945 feet elevation gained) Garmin Forerunner 910XT

Trip Report:
- An amazing weather pattern came strolling through the northeast over the weekend so I took advantage of the abundant sunshine and warm temperatures to get in a pretty brutal hike in and out of the Sandwich Range Wilderness. The hike began and ended at the Livermore trailhead, and from mile four through twenty the hike was filled with up and downs over bare ground, breakable ice, snow, ice flows, and ice bulges ranging from an easy to very difficult.
- Knowing it was going to be a long day I got an early start at 6:45AM and easily made my way up the old Livermore Road to the Scaur Ridge Trail. The Scaur Ridge Trail is probably the easiest way up to North Tripyramid, the footing is good and the grades are easy to moderate. The ice started around 3,000 feet but was easy to walk up with my microspikes.
- Once gaining the ridge I hooked a right onto the Pine Bend Brook Trail where things got really interesting, especially over the last quarter mile below the summit. The trail became steeper and filled with 'bullet proof' ice, it was impossible to get any bite in the ice with my spikes so I headed into the woods and monkey climb paralleling the trail. Since it was very early in the morning and still cold out the ice had yet to soften up, so I spent most of the last 0.2 miles in the woods off trail hugging trees and carefully making my way up to the summit.
- From North Tripyramid I headed over Middle and South. There was another small section just below Middle where I had to veer off trail but compared to North it was easy, and heading up and down South was a cakewalk.
- Below South Tripyramid I hooked onto the Kate Sleeper Trail from the top of the south slide. The Kate Sleeper Trail has a very secluded feel to it even though two trails where it begins and ends at, Mount Tripyramid and the Rollins Trail are heavily used, this trail sees very little use and is often overlooked. It's too bad it is because it is one of the most beautiful stretches of trail in the White Mountains. While there are no views, the pathway is very scenic and beautiful with abundant moose activity, lots of poo on the trails! I got lucky on this day as I almost walked right into a mommy moose and her calf. I came around a corner and startled them and then they startled me, they both went scurrying off into the open woods.
- The trail was easy for travel through the Sleeper Ridge, it was a mix of soft ice and corn snow, these great conditions changed as soon as I stepped onto the Rollins Trail. There was more ice to deal with again, and three or four times I had to venture off trail a couple of feet and use trees to descend, however it was getting warmer by the minute so my spikes were biting in better and better.
- After a few miles I reached the junction with the Dicey's Mill Trail and made the relentless climb up to the summit cone of Mount Passaconaway. I really lucked out here as conditions have improved drastically over the past week and I was able to easily make my way through the steeps without having to leave trail while ascending and descending as there were enough rocks above the ice and tree branches on the side of the trail to help me out.
- All the summits for this hike are wooded, but Passaconaway, North and Middle Tripyramid have nice outlooks near the true summit. At the outlook for Passaconaway I ran into a hiker and his little dog Otis who looked to be having a ball. During this icy April the little dogs have had a definite advantage over the bigger ones, they can maneuver up and down the ice or off in the woods easier than the big dogs where it can become dangerous for them.
- Now it was time to backtrack over the Rollins and Kate Sleeper Trail. I felt really strong heading back over Whiteface and down the Kate Sleeper Trail to the Whiteface / East Sleeper Col, and then all of a sudden I started to get that bonking feeling. Stupid me, I forgot to bring an electrolyte drink, and delayer so I started to overheat and become sluggish. I haven't felt this bad on trail since my 2014 H2H run. I made sure to slow down and carefully make my way through the Sleepers until I popped back out on the South Tripyramid Slide where the rest of the hike was all down hill. Once reaching the slide I immediately felt better again.
- The slide was in summer conditions, no snow or ice, making this probably the best way to do the Tripyramids right now as an out and back to avoid the ice on the northside of North Tripyramid.
- Once below the slide I enjoyed the last few cushiony miles over the lower end of the Mount Tripyrmid Trail before leaving the Sandwich Wilderness and back onto the Livermore Trail.
- On my way out I made a side trip on the Big Pines Trail which lead me to three huge White Pines. These pine trees dwarf all other pines and and are quite the site to see. There are not many left as they where harvested in the mid 1700's by King George who used the trees to build his ships for his navy fleet. The White Pines where marked with the King's Broad Arrow (click here for more info). I wonder if there are any White Pines with the mark still around in the White Mountains, it's been 250 years so if one still stands the bark from the tree would probably have overtaken the King's Broad Arrow marking.

First car in at the Livermore Trailhead. Mount Tecumseh in the background

Hiking up the old Livermore Road (trail). Great footing with numerous trails leaving this road throughout its length

The Scaur Ridge Trail. Dry in the sun, icy in the shade!

Pine Bend Brook Trail was rotting snow transitioning to all ice

Hiking along the icy trail. This was one of the easier spots!

Looking north from North Tripyramid downlook

Waterville Valley with Mount Tecumseh and an obstructed view of the Osceola's from Middle Tripyramid's outlook

Looking over to where I'm heading, Mount Passaconaway

Heading down the top of the South Slide and the Sleeper Slide

West Sleeper Summit, with a tiny cairn...of moose poop!

Hiking along the Kate Sleeper Trail, spotted a tree with an old yellow blaze. There are a few spots along here with faded old yellow blazes. I wonder when and why it changed over to blue?

The Kate Sleeper / Downs Brook Trail junction. I always enjoy this spot, there are a couple of old yellow blazes near it and a little open marsh area near here just off trail.