Date: 2014-07-29
From: Carter Notch Hut

To: White Mountains Hostel via US 2
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Today turned out to be a much longer day than expected - the three inches of rain from yesterday made the trail, rocks, and roots pretty slippery but we made it back to Gorham - only one section of the Whites left!Nice night to be inside - it poured all night but stopped in time for breakfast this morning! The breakfast consisted of oatmeal, bacon, eggs, and cornbread with hot chocolate and coffee - delicious! The croo also performed a funny skit after breakfast spotting "birds" whose names and calls told the guests what to do before leaving - the croo did a good job!A cold and cloudy start to the morning but at least it wasn't raining! The trail greeted us with a long climb up from Carter Notch - it was fairly steep at times and we rested as needed but overall it wasn't too bad - better if it was dry but one cannot be too picky out here! The trail led up to Carter Dome and then onto Mount Hight - cloudy summits but every so often the clouds would clear and we had some nice views of the Presidential Range and Mt. Washington - we will finish you up tomorrow Presidentials! It was also pretty darn cold on Mount Hight because of the wind - I had to put my coat back on!From Mt. Hight we dropped down quickly to Zeta Pass where we rested and met a day hiker planning to go over the Wildcats - we wished him luck since everything was so slippery! The trail today required us to take our time to prevent ourselves from falling - and it worked out well until the boot grip decided to stop working and I ended up falling on my butt five times - my backside and pride hurt! Must be all the hat pins weighing me down! We tackled the remaining Carters and then ate lunch atop North Carter Mountain - a nice flat spot near the top below treeline made a fine place to rest since the wind made it really cold! Soon after lunch we began a long steep down from North Carter Mountain - made tougher by the trail acting as a river and waterfall - tons of water flowing down the trail! Not surprising since the area got three inches of rain! Lots of standing water and mud pits mixed with rock scrambles and broken bridges made it an adventure all day! (Play Indiana Jones Theme here).No boulders chased after us and soon we were approaching the last mountain of the day - Mount Moriah. We started up it slowly and it started playing games with us - tricking us into thinking we were at the top when we were not! Darn you false summits!The summit conquered we turned our gaze to the long down into Gorham - hoping to make good time since the trail before was making us take our time! The trail started out wet and slippery and rooty on the initial descent but near Rattle River the trail became a lot nicer and less like a waterfall. Soon we were making great time on the home stretch - passed the last shelter and ran into an old friend from back in Virginia - Fiber One! We chatted with him and SOBOs Little Fox and Big Fox before burning the trail down to the road - made it back in good time!Greeted by familiar faces at the hostel - Sharp Knife, Hiccup, and Pooh Bear came in from Pinkham Notch. They were enjoying the hostel after walking on the Presidentials in the thunderstorms - glad they made it!Settled in and rested up to prepare for Mt. Washington tomorrow - finishing up the White Mountains tomorrow! We should be good to go with it since Hass, DFI, and Shroomer made their long slack from Crawford to Pinkham - very impressive since it is 26 miles or so! A nice night at the hostel - what a great place to stay! Sleeping well tonight for sure - lots of hiking makes one sleepy!