Trip/Event Location: Gorham, NHUS
Trip Leader(s): WalkaboutBrian , markus24
Max # People: 15
Trip Guiding / Event Fee: No, I will not be asking participants for money
Difficulty Level: Strenuous
Join us for an 11 mile hike which will summit South Carter Mountain (4430ft.) and Middle Carter Mountain (4610ft.), two 4K Footers in the White Mountains National Forest.
From the junction of Route 302 and Route 16 in Bartlet follow Route 16 north for 15.8 miles to a parking lot on the right side of the road for the Nineteen Mile Brook Trail / Carter AMC Lodge. Please allow additional time for traffic you may encounter if you approach through the towns of Conway and North Conway. If traveling from the south it may be better to use Interstate 93 to Route 3, to Route 302 to avoid the Conway area.
Five of us met at the parking area off of Route 16 on a beautiful blue sky day with a moderate temperature. We had one chronic no show and two other hikers who tried to make it, but ran into some navigation issues.
We hit the trail after spotting a vehicle a mile up the road where we intended to finish. Our hike up to the first summit started off with a light incline for a few miles which gave an opportunity to warm up the muscles. Almost the entire assent was along the side of rolling mountain streams.
Our traverse between the two summits was the reward for the hike. Sub-alpine forest alternately broke open to various views into the mountains of Maine, then to the Presidential Peaks in New Hampshire. We even had an occasional panoramic view.
The hike down was very steady and long on a trail which needed brushing back and was quite wet in some locations. We did notice many discrepancies in the mileage and trail names posted on the junction signs. There were also many mismatches between what the signs stated and what was published within the AMC guidebook we used. But, this only added up to a few tenths of a mile difference and an occasional bemuse.
Overall we had a great hike on a perfect day with some great people.
Outdoor Fitness Level: Moderate to Strenuous
Outdoor Fitness Level: Moderate
