March
12 - Day 7 - The Wildcats and the Carter-Moriah Range
A ridge of high pressure exiting the region this morning will allow another area low pressure to slide past to our north and west. As the low pressure system approaches, look for clouds to increase and rain showers to move in by afternoon. There will be a brief respite in the showery weather overnight tonight, before a second storm system moves over the region tomorrow afternoon, bringing yet another round of rain showers to the state.
Jim Salge
Observer, Mount
Washington Observatory
After meeting in Gorham for the Moriah Neighborhood car drop, we zipped
over to the Wildcat Ski Area, where the usual flurry of pack stuffing
activity began in earnest.The skies were clear, and had been for most of the night, so we expected pretty firm conditions for our daily range run. We took to the Polecat Ski trail at about 6:45 am.
Sauntering up the sunny slopes in random pairs was another grand opportunity to discuss everything from stories of our wasted youth to the names of the ice gullies glimmering across the valley in Huntington Ravine.
From the deck on Wildcat D, sinister gray clouds were already sneaking across the landscape to the south of the Presidential Range.
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Summit
of Wildcat
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Near
Summit of Carter Dome
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The trail was in great shape, and we barebooted all the way to the 2.7 mile section of the Carter-Moriah trail between the North Carter Trail and Stony Brook Trail junctions, where we put on shoes for the crusty, unbroken trail. A packed trail from traffic coming up Stony Brook allowed us to ditch the shoes for the trip over Moriah and out to Gorham.
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Summit
of South Carter
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Summit
of Middle Carter
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On
the Carter-Moriah Trail
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Breakable
Crust - YUK!
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Descending
North Carter
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Steep
and Icy Bits
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To me, this image taken on the top of Moriah is one of the most precious of the whole 10 day journey. The sun may have not shone through on this wet and dreary afternoon, but the warm glow of friendship kept our souls toasty - I think this picture captured that feeling perfectly. |
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The
Carter-Moriah Trail descending Moriah was a bit of a horror show
- the new rain had washed any trace of snow away, leaving a bitter
harvest of huge sheets of ice which persisted all the way to Mt.
Surprise. Many were the wet butts and tree-thrashed faces as we
carefully picked our way down to Gorham.
Pine Mountain made a brief showing before being swallowed up by heavy clouds. We called it a day and headed home, somewhat dreading the possibilities for the effects of the forecast on tomorrow's peak lineup. |
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Tomorrow...Mount
Isolation and Cabot
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All
images Copyright Tim
Seaver © 2006