Sept 7

Get to the choppa!

Up early with the sunrise, and out on the trail by 8am.  It was slow going though, over the rest of the Wildcat range.  Peak C and going to Peak A had some really rugged and difficult trail, but offered nice views as a reward for the strenuous work.  Then there was the task of getting off the ridge, down into Carter Notch.  Absurdly steep and dangerous.  It's incredible that these are 'hiking' trails.  It's about 21 miles through this section, in between the two highways into Gorham.  It'd even be tough to do this as a day-long slackpack.  We reached the AMC hut, after circling around two beautiful ponds at the bottom of the notch.  Just as we were walking up to the hut, we heard a helicopter flying in.  It flew in just above the tree tops, and delivered to the hut, a load of supplies on a cable, with pinpoint precision.  Donned in hard hats, the hut crew attached spent propane tanks to the cable, and the chopper whisked the load away.  We stood and watched as the chopper made several more trips to and from the hut, dropping off more supplies, and taking away refuse.  It was funny to see the reactions of the hut crew members.  It was like Christmas for them.  Exclaiming with joy opening a box full of scrub sponges.  We took a break at the hut for a bit, filled up on water, then headed back out on the trail.  Climbing out of the notch, up to Cater Dome, was more ridiculously steep, fir tree lined trail, with amazing views.  Looking back down the the hut, there were boulders scattered in the notch below that dwarfed the hut buildings.  We learned that the ponds down in the notch were formed long ago when rocks fell off the tops of the surrounding mountains, blocking the water from escaping.  It's such an odd juxtaposition seeing the structures of the modern hut and these ancient mountains.  The whole time through the Whites, I've been amazed by how these mountains can look so static, massive, rugged, and timeless, and at the same time see how dynamic the environment can be, constantly changing and shaping the granite with wind, water, and gravity.  We stopped for lunch on the appropriately named Mt. Height, at almost 4700 feet.  We enjoyed the 360 degree views, and clear, sunny skies.  The trail going down from Height to Zeta Pass was another steep, rocky and rooty descent.  Making our way to Middle Cater Mountain, we had views back to the Presidential Range.  Immediately after that we climbed up North Carter Mountain, with views to the North and East.  We weren't exactly sure what the names of the peaks in front of us were.  All we knew is that they were peaks in Maine!  Unbelievable.  I was so thrilled to be this close to the last state on the trail.  It's tough to wrap my thoughts around the fact that I've walked through 13 states, and over 1800 miles so far.  We hiked on, for a couple of miles, and ended up at a trail junction at the Imp Campsite.  It was late in the afternoon, so we checked the book to help us make a decision on weather or not to stay here.  We were all spent from the hike today.  The Carters weren't quite as bad as the Cats, but definitely in the same ballpark.  Probably the toughest two days of hiking so far.  Our excitement had turned to exhaustion, and according to the book, we had only made it 10 miles today.  We had already been hiking for 9 hours.  Insane!  The mood turned to deflation and defeat.  Not satisfied with that number, we pushed onward.  The trail over Mt. Moriah, although not as steep as the hiking was earlier today, offered its own obstacles.  Mud, mud, and more mud.  Great.  After a couple more twists and turns past more trail intersections along the way, we made it to the Rattle River Trail.  I stopped to fill up on water at a stream.  These 3 miles or so to the Rattle River shelter were a welcome change.  Just a gradual loss of elevation, and not too rocky.  However, it was now dark, as we crossed the Rattle River.  The water was up, and we had trouble finding where the blazes were on the opposite bank.  Totally spent, we finally made it to the shelter, after a physically and mentally draining day.

The Presidential Range viewed from the Cater Range.