Date: 2015-07-20
From: AMC Carter Notch Hut

To: US 2
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: broken clouds

As I reported yesterday, the sky cleared a little in the afternoon and partially dried some of our wet clothes, but the rain came back in the early evening with lightning and thunder. The AMC Carter Notch hut is in a great location, a notch at the base of Carter Mtn. There are twin lakes in the notch and several of the guests went swimming. A part of the lake is covered with water lilies and they sported beautiful yellow blossoms, perfect for Monet. The Carter ridge towered above the hut, reminding us of tomorrow's task. We were the first to arrive so we had our pick of bunks. The hut capacity is 40 and the bunks are divided into small individual rooms with 4 bunks each. We each took a lower bunk and no one else showed up to claim the other 2. The rain started again just about dinner time, and it rained for an hour or so. Several soaking wet thru-hikers with full backpacks came by hoping for leftovers and maybe a work-for-stay slot. The rain quit for several hours, but came back with a vengeance and we went to sleep with rain splattering on the roof and a lightening display in the distance. The weather was much better this morning, the skies were clearing. Breakfast was at 7 and we headed out immediately after. Just before we left, Princess read a text that Focus sent the night before. He and Spartacus continued on yesterday and did the hike that we plan today. He reported that the downhill from Mt. Carter was very, very difficult and dangerous and his 'unsolicited' advice was that we find a safer side trail back to Pinkham Notch. We respect Focus' advice, but he did it in a rainstorm (+ lightning) so we decided to go ahead and do it as planned. Focus was right of course, the uphill to Carter Dome, Hight, Middle Carter and Carter North peaks was endless and tiring, and the wind gusts at the open peaks were almost enough to knock us over. The reward was that there were some incredible views from the open points on the trail up, especially near the peaks. I was surprised at the number of plank walks across wet, boggy spots all along the trail and even at higher elevations. Some of the planks were in the sun and had dried, but planks that were still wet were extremely slippery. And often the planks were sloped uphill, downhill or even sideways. Then came the ugly downhill. We were fortunate that the sun had dried many of the rocks and we carefully crept over the tough spots, often on our butts. I kept my head down most of the way. If I looked up, it seemed that we were scaling straight down a cliff, so I chose to approach it one step at a time. It was one challenge after another, but eventually we made it - some scratches and bruises, but no major damage. A couple of miles later we headed up Mt. Moriah, the climb was not as steep as the previous peaks, but it was long. Then came a very long downhill to finish the hike. Later Focus told us that this was the point (the long downhill) where he & Spartacus got caught in the worst downpour and lightening. It was long, but it wasn't hard. We did rock hop the Rattle River twice before we were done. When we finally came out of the woods at US 2, we walked a few hundred feet down the road to the White Mountain Inn & Hostel where we had left our backpacks. We signed in for another night at the hostel and got cleaned up. Earlier, Spartacus generously offered to pick us up and take us to his Maine house (about 50 min away) for dinner, which sounded great. So a couple of hours later we were at his house and cruising the lake in his pontoon boat. And a little after that his wife, Janelle, treated us to a fabulous dinner of scallops and haddock with a fresh garden salad, saut©ed chard, butternut squash, cherries, broccoli, roasted potatoes, and a blueberry bread pudding with ice cream. His neighbors, stopped by and we talked briefly, but it was time for us to head back to the hostel. The challenging hike had worn Princess and I out and we needed sleep to recuperate.