Ascent of Carter Dome on 2011-11-05| Others in Party: | Stéphanie Beauregard
Éric Deschênes | | Date: | Saturday, November 5, 2011 | | Ascent Type: | Successful Summit Attained | | Peak: | Carter Dome | | Location: | USA-New Hampshire | | Elevation: | 4832 ft / 1472 m |
Ascent Trip ReportWhen we reached Zeta Pass, we stopped for a snack break. The whole day was starting to make itself felt and the pause was welcome. We stayed there 15 minutes until at 5:00pm we put our packs back on. The plan was for me to surge ahead and reach Carter Dome as quickly as possible and take pictures before it was dark, but I wasn't too optimistic about this. The sunset was scheduled for 5:35pm and there was now way I'd make it to the summit that fast. Still, I left at my fastest pace possible. When I reached the Mt. Hight trail junction, I waited for Stéphanie and Éric, but when they reached me I resumed at my speed for the rest. I joined with the Mt. Hight trail again at 5:35pm. The sun was now officially set. There was still a nice penumbra and neat color bands towards the Presidentials, but it wasn't going to last. I kept going as fast as possible and 15 minutes later I reached the summit. It was now 5:50pm. At the summit post, I dropped my pack, drank some water and took out my down parka. After taking some pictures, I stuffed the camera back in the pack before strolling south to a clearing that gave nice views of the northern Presidentials and the whole Carter range. As I was coming back up to the trail I heard Stéphanie and Éric. It took them no more than 10 minutes more to reach the summit. We quickly took more pictures in the darkening sky before resuming the hike at 6:05pm.
We would be hiking in the dark for sure so we took out the head lamps. Stéphanie had forgotten to change the batteries in hers so we had to rely on Éric and mine. The way down on the first part was easy and we told ourselves it wouldn't be that hard. Stéphanie was starting to suffer much more from her knee and we had to go very slow and carefully in the dark. After a while, we reached the top of the last pitch. The trail became extremely steep and the ice was making everything much more difficult. We could see the lights at Carter Notch hut now and I knew we didn't have too long ahead of us to hike. At some point to lighten Stéphanie's burden I took her pack and slung it over one shoulder in front of me so I could still light the way for Éric. At intervals I read the altitude reading on the GPS and we were still going quite fast losing 200 feet every 10 minutes or so.
Finally, we reached the ponds and only had to cross in the middle to find the hut. It was now 7:30pm. We checked in with the caretaker and went to find our bunks in the lower bunkhouse. We got back to the main hut and prepared our dinner among the other guests.
|
| Summary Total Data | | Elevation Gain: | 1031 ft / 314 m | | Elevation Loss: | 1643 ft / 500 m | | Distance: | 2.1 mi / 3.4 km | | Grade/Class: | Class 2 | | Quality: | 9 (on a subjective 1-10 scale) | | Route Conditions: | Maintained Trail, Snow on Ground | | Weather: | Cold, Calm, Clear | | Ascent Statistics | | Elevation Gain: | 965 ft / 294 m | | Extra Loss: | 33 ft / 10 m | | Distance: | 1.1 mi / 1.7 km | | Route: | Carter-Moriah trail | | Trailhead: | Zeta Pass 3900 ft / 1188 m | | Time Up: | 50 Minutes | | Descent Statistics | | Elevation Loss: | 1610 ft / 490 m | | Extra Gain: | 66 ft / 20 m | | Distance: | 1.1 mi / 1.7 km | | Route: | Carter-Moriah trail | | Trailhead: | Carter Notch hut 3288 ft / 1002 m | | Time Down: | 1 Hours 25 Minutes | Ascent Part of Trip: White Mountains (November 2011) (1 nights total away from roads)
Complete Trip Sequence:
| GPS Data for Ascent/Trip
 GPS Waypoints - Hover or click to see name and lat/long
Peaks:  climbed and  unclimbed by Gabriel Couët
Click Here for a Full Screen Map
Note: GPS Tracks may not be accurate, and may not show the best route. Do not follow this route blindly. Conditions change frequently. Use of a GPS unit in the outdoors, even with a pre-loaded track, is no substitute for experience and good judgment. Peakbagger.com accepts NO resposibility or liability from use of this data.
Download this GPS track as a GPX file |
This page has been served 120 times since 2005-01-15.
Questions/Comments/Corrections? See the Contact Page
Copyright © 1987-2013 by Peakbagger.com. All Rights Reserved.
|
