3rd annual White Mountain hut trip

This year featured two nights at Carter Notch Hut, next to Wildcat Mountain (the one on the right of this map). We took a relatively gentle climb of about 1200 feet. We went for the scenic route on the way out, via Wildcat Mountain and the gondola which worked out beautifully. The weather, for the first time EVER, was spectacular although a bit warmer than we might have liked. On the other hand, it was the perfect excuse to go jumping into the many streams and pools along our route and at the hut.



A few highlights. The kids, especially Natalie who gets extra points for doing this trip with a case of vaccine-induced measles, got to show off their rock climbing skills. There is a boulder field at Carter Notch from an old rockslide that proved inviting.







This is one of the ponds near Carter Notch Hut. It was a godsend - imagine coming back from a hot sweaty hike and jumping right on in! The water was clear and cold because of springs feeding the pond from beneath, although the rocks were pretty slippery with algae.

That's George sitting on the water. Really. Well actually there's a conveniently placed rock.
















And now for the moose story...the day between our two nights at the hut, everybody day hiked to the summit of Carter Dome Mountain (4400 feet). The kids were bushed after this so they returned to the Hut with Val and Mark. George, Kate and I decided to push on to Mount Height, which is a bit shorter but has a better view. On the way we almost walked into the big fellow with the antlers pictured above. He just watched us while we took pictures and tried to figure out what to do aside from the obvious (turning back). Along came Luke, a through hiker from Virginia, who eventually led us into the trees to go around, just before a large group of woefully inexperienced and over-noisy hikers came up on the other side of the moose and spooked him into running right through the spot where we'd been standing. Thank you Luke, and if you find this send one of us an email and we'll send you photos. And, good luck with your hike!