Date: 2005-07-23
From: Northern Peaks Motor Inn

To: Imp Campsite
Miles today: 14.3

Miles hiked today : 14.313.1 AT miles + 0.2 mile of side trail + 1.0 wrongway mileI woke up this morning at 7:00 a.m. and begin packing. Michael and Sean were still sleeping when I finished, so I gently woke them and suggested that we get moving. Opa had decided to stay at the hotel for a couple of days to rest his knee and I told him that I'd see him back at the hotel tomorrow after I hiked the 21.1 miles between Pinkham Notch (NH16) and US2. While Michael and Sean were packing, I found that the liquid crystal display on my camera was no longer working. Grr! I believe that it is still taking pictures, though I cannot view them. I also am unable to change settings. I hope that the last 319.0 miles of my trip are not pictureless. At the least, I am planning to summit Katahdin with a pair of disposable film cameras, as I would greatly regret not having a summit photo. At 9:00 a.m., Michael, Sean, and I headed to the road to hitch back to Pinkham Notch and, at 9:30 a.m., we were picked up and delivered to the trailhead at 9:45 a.m.The weather was great today and while I had been worried that the climb up Wildcat Peak E would be difficult, it was actually quite fun with the rock scrambles that required hands. Along the way to the summit, Michael spotted a "cave," which was actually several boulders that had fallen to form a narrow tunnel. I briefly explored it and found that it winded left and right for about 50 feet before it tapered off to a very tight squeeze. Michael might have made it through, though he didn't care to try. I can't say I blame him, as it didn't look very safe.Hiking on, after covering 2.7 miles I reached the summit of Wildcat Peak E at 12:15 p.m. and stopped for a 15 minute break to drink and eat a snack. Moving on, I passed over Wildcat Peaks D, C, and B without incident, though somwhere around Wildcat Peak A, at 1:10 p.m., I tripped and fell, rolling onto my back. Cha-ching, fall #32. Fortunately, I didn't hit my left shin, which is still sore from the lacerations I sustained yesterday. After Wildcat Peak A, I descended 1,090 feet to Carter Notch, arriving at 2:20 p.m., only to immediately climb 910 feet to reach the site of a spring at 3:00 p.m. The spring was down a steep side trail, so I opted to ration my water and took a 15 minute rest break. Interestingly, at the site of the side trail, the trees blowing in the wind caused the soil to move in such a way that it appeared that the ground was breathing.After my break, I hiked another 0.5 mile to reach Carter Dome at 3:30 p.m. and began descending to Zeta Pass. On the way, the trail branched and I didn't realize my mistake until 4:00 p.m., when I reached the point where the split trails converged, just before Zeta Pass. I stopped for 10 minutes to eat lunch, then told Michael I had to backtrack and that I'd probably return in 30 minutes. It turned out that I had to backtrack 0.5 mile with a 670 foot elevation gain. I took the correct path and was amazed by the strength of the wind as I crossed over Mount Hight. The view was great, though it was too chilly to stay for long. Continuing along the AT, I reached the path convergence point at 4:50 p.m. and found that Michael had continued on.Hiking on, I only had the Carters to cover before reaching Imp Campsite. I reached South Carter summit at 5:20 p.m., stopped for 5 minutes for a call of nature at 5:45 p.m., reached Middle Carter summit at 6:00 p.m., and reached North Carter summit at 6:25 p.m. Pushing on, I dropped 1,230 feet over 1.7 miles to the 0.2 mile Imp Campsite side trail and arrived at the shelter at 7:30 p.m. I gathered and treated water, made dinner, then crawled into bed to journal. I'm quite tired tonight and will sleep well. For tomorrow, I'm looking forward to an 8.0 mile hike to US2 followed by another stay at the Northern Peaks Motor Inn.Bedtime at 10:00 p.m.