START LOCATION: Pinkham Notch/Gorham, NH
FINISH LOCATION: Carter Notch Hut
TODAY'S MILEAGE: 5.9
TRIP MILEAGE: 1,866.0
MILES TO GO: 313.1
I shared a room at Hikers Paradise in Gorham with Krispy Kritter and Red. Smokestack and Panda were in a cottage next door. We all had some cobwebs in the morning after a late night of catching up with a few beers. We discovered the laundry room was out of order at HP, so we decided to grab breakfast and hit up the laundromat. We hooked up with Capt. Slick at Welsh's Restaurant and had a decent breakfast. We loaded up our laundry, checked out and I got my final Panda trail magic shuttle out of Gorham. It was so great to see the Double Stack one last time and especially fresh off of their Katahdin experience. I'm looking forward to reuniting with them again after my time on the trail has concluded. We already have something in the works.
I had a turkey sandwich at Pinkham Notch as Krispy, Red and Capt. Slick started their hike up Wildcat Peak E. I followed a few minutes behind around 1PM. It was a nice smooth walk for about a mile and then shot straight upward 2,000' to the E summit. The ascent was not without some nice payoff vistas of Huntington Ravine, Tuckerman Ravine, Pinkham Notch and Mt. Washington. The weather was gorgeous today... A world of difference from the monsoon we endured as we exited the Presidentials yesterday.
Atop the Wildcat E peak was the Wildcat Express gondolas carrying tourists to the top. I shot the breeze with the operator there and he told me they run the gondola year round, but swap out the gondolas for chairs in the ski season. It's been cool to see all the little things the whites have to offer.
The trail rolled along around 4,000' ASL for the next couple miles. I managed to catch up to Capt. Slick and we hiked together the last couple miles into Carter Notch Hut.
Carter Notch hut is the oldest and one of the smallest huts in the AMC system. It was built in 1911 so it will be celebrating 100 next year. Its nestled between the Wildcat A peak and Carter Dome and there's a nice pond right outside. The "croo" told us there were only 4 paying guests and 7 thru hikers... A stark difference from Lakes Of The Clouds... 78 guests and 6 thru hikers. They had their dinner work taken care of but needed cleanup help in the morning as the hut will be closing for the season in early September, so there's things to be cleaned in anticipation. With weather expected to be rainy tomorrow, this will make for a long tough day into Gorham. But, it's all good... The dinner we had justifies it. It was lasagna with peas, salad, potato vegetable soup and oatmeal cinnamon peach cobbler for dessert. I'm thoroughly stuffed with food as I type this.
Krispy, Red, Capt. Slick and I have our own bunkroom tonight since the hut is so vacant... Such a nice touch especially with rain forecasted in this full moon evening.
-natedog
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