August 30, 2014: Carter Dome

I wanted to do another mountain that was pretty far from home base so I found myself driving back to the northeast part of the White Mountains to take another Carter…..this time I was going for the highest, Carter Dome.  The trail started off just like the one from the weak before, probably because it was the same trail to start.

I followed the river trail for a while before getting to the fork with one side going up towards the hut and Carter Dome and the other up towards the ridge trail and Carter Dome.  I was perplexed so I pulled out my trusty White Mountain Hiking Guide(ding,ding) and saw that the trail that just goes up to the ridge trail was a lot shorter so that’s the one I chose!

I continued on this trail for a while until I came across the familiar sight of the bench marking the intersection with the ridge trail.  The only problem with the bench at this altitude was that it was being used.  They offered to share but I decided to move on before things got too crowded….this time heading to the right and towards Carter Dome.

The ridge trail was nice and cool with some glimpses of peaks out the sides of the trail.  There was also a ton of moss which really added to the whole ambiance of the hike.  After some serious laboring, I finally reached the wide open summit which did not have too many wide open views unfortunately.  But alas, 28 down, 20 to go!!