| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Carter Dome, South Carter, Middle Carter, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Nineteen Mile Brook Trail, Carter Dome Trail, Carter Moriah Trail, North Carter Trail, Imp Trail, Camp Dodge Cutoff, NH 16 |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, February 11, 2023 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Plenty of room at 7:30, but full in the afternoon. Plowed, but very icy. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Drifts, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
On Carter Dome Trail, first crossing was rock hoppable, while the second was snow bridged. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Quite a few duckunders and stepovers. I cut out one particularly annoying one on the way to Carter Dome. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Snowshoes everywhere except Route 16, and will be particularly needed with warmer temperatures in the forecast. Despite the subpar winter, snow has accumulated quite well on these peaks.
First ones up Nineteen Mile Brook this morning, dusting of snow on top of a frozen granular base with some postholes installed in the warmer weather yesterday. 2+ feet of snowpack down low.
No one had been up the Carter Dome Trail since Thursday's storm. Looks like there was a nice snowshoe footbed underneath, with plenty of drifted powder from this morning's trace accumulation. We left the trail in good shape, but I suspect some parasitic postholers did some damage later.
No traffic on the ridge since Thursday's storm either. The sideslope above Zeta pass on the way to Carter Dome was tricky, but our snowshoes (plus Hiker Ed's) helped established a footbed. Plenty of snowpack, as the trail signs on this stretch were partially buried. Probably five feet of snowpack in places. Seems like on the ridge Thursday's storm left an inch or two of granular/crust. With that and the fresh powder from this morning, snowshoes were needed, but still weren't consolidating the trail due to the granular nature of snow. No signs of any tracks from the hut.
By the time we reached Zeta Pass again, we were greeted with postholes heading northbound. Indeed, two sets of Microspikers were doing a lot of damage in places. One couple turned around a little beyond South Carter due to the deep postholing (some postholes as deep as my trekking pole). The other couple didn't seem well equipped either and I suspect didn't get their three planned peaks. Needless to say, real winter hikers will be using snowshoes on these peaks for the foreseeable future.
One set of snowshoe tracks north of South Carter, going to Middle Carter, then turning around at the north view. They did a good job of trail finding, only losing the trail briefly a couple of times (due to blowdowns and leaners). Active drifting in places.
We were the only ones to go between Middle Carter and the North Carter Trail. Footbed is also not well defined in places due to the storms and drifting. Snowshoes very much needed.
Fresh snowshoe tracks on North Carter Trail (turning north toward North Carter). No Microspikers! As a result, apart from the brush, North Carter Trail was about as nice as it gets. Hopefully everyone else continues to snowshoe this so that it can be enjoyable well into the spring.
Imp Trail was also solely snowshoed, so there weren't many postholes to contend with. The south facing stretch in the hardwoods was getting a little sticky, but snowshoes were fine and needed. Camp Dodge Cutoff had more of a narrow trough from prior use, but hopefully a few more snowshoe users will be enough to widen and consolidate it. Not much activity in Camp Dodge.
Nice quiet day on the trails. Brisk start with stiff winds, but blue skies were welcome. Winds dropped off in the afternoon, making the descent through the hardwoods welcome sunny walk. |
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 | Name: |
rocket21 |
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 | E-Mail: |
rocket21@franklinwebpublishing.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2023-02-11 |
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 | Link: |
 https://www.franklinsites.com/hikephotos/ |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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