Each hike, and sometimes each portion of a hike, leaves an indelible mark in my mind. I remember the often gradual start at the beginning of the trail and the distance before the trail starts to climb steeply; the arduous climb through the steepest and most unrelenting portion; the remarkable vistas that show themselves among breaks in the forest and then open up before me, taking my breath away and giving me pause to soak in the beauty of the mountains.

Often times when I’m hiking, and especially during last summer’s quest to summit as many New Hampshire 4,000 footers as I could, I’m so focused on reaching the summit and my goal that I push myself through the first part of the hike without paying much attention to what is going on around me. Sometimes, that attitude persists until I’ve achieved my goal. This was certainly true last July when I hiked the Wildcats (A through D), Carter Dome and Mt. Hight.

I knew it was going to be a long day. I was hiking solo and didn’t have a car spot to make the day’s venture a traverse, so I was starting out where I would end — in the parking lot of the Nineteen Mile Brook Trail. I planned to follow the trail to its intersection with the Wildcat Ridge Trail and follow that over Wildcat peaks A through D and then back again, stop for lunch at Carter Notch Hut and make my way to Carter Dome, down the Carter Dome Trail and back out on the Nineteen Mile Brook Trail. Mt. Hight, not considered an official 4,000 footer even though it rises to 4,675 feet, was not on my goal list, not even on my summit radar. At that moment, as I started the hike, all I could think of was the very steep ascent up Wildcat A, which I’d read about in blog posts, trail reports and the White Mountains Guide.  Also on my mind was the equally steep ascent to Carter Dome from the hut.

Start of the Nineteen Mile Brook Trail

I got to the trailhead early, around 7:30 a.m., and already the parking lot was full, so cars were beginning to line the side of Rt. 16. I followed suit, paid the national forest parking fee, made minor adjustments to my pack and started to walk. Hiking the Nineteen Mile Brook Trail brings back so many memories for me. I’ve hiked it more than a half a dozen times since high school and remember many good and challenging times at the hut, including the time during self-service season, that my friend Nicole packed in an angel food cake for our group’s dessert, but her husband, who was actually the one carrying it, kept referring to it as a pound cake, a very heavy pound cake. Then there was the hike during November of my senior year of high school when a portion of our group erroneously turned onto the Carter Dome Trail, hiking nearly an hour out of our way in the quickly approaching darkness before we realized our mistake.

The Nineteen Mile Brook Trail is beautiful in its simplicity. It’s not steep or particularly challenging. It follows the brook as it meanders through the forest. It’s a gradual ascent, one that lets your body adjust to the work ahead. The perfect introduction to a long day of hiking.

And, it really was a long day of hiking.

View to Carter Dome from Wildcat A. Carter Notch Hut is visible looking down into the notch.

The hike up Wildcat A (4,422 feet) was when the real fun began with a quick elevation gain in very little hiking trail distance. But, it wasn’t nearly as difficult as I had braced myself for and I was so focused on what I hoped to accomplish that day that I pushed on, moving quickly over B and C peaks. I hiked through the Wildcat Col up to D peak (4,062 feet), and then back again, over B and C, up to A and back down the steep Wildcat Ridge Trail, this time making my way, around 2:30 p.m., to Carter Notch Hut. It was here that I relaxed a little – just one more summit to go.

One of the lakes in Carter Notch with a view to Wildcat A

I ate a quick lunch inside the hut and then sat outside on the wooden benches near the hut’s entrance to take a moment to change my socks. I exchanged greetings with an older hiker who asked if I was on my way down the Nineteen Mile Brook Trail. “No,” I told him. “I’m planning to hike up to Carter Dome and then hike out.” “You’re crazy,” he said. “You’ll never make it out before dark and that’s not a trail to be on in the dark.”

His words gave me pause. I pulled out my map again and checked the distance I would need to do to complete the hike. By my estimate, I would be off the trail around 7ish. I had two headlamps with me, extra batteries and all the extra clothes I’d need if the temperature dropped.

“I’ll be OK,” I assured him. “I’ve got the gear I need if I’m still on the trail after dark.” He shook his head as he pulled his pack on. “Well, good luck,” and he was off.

He did spook me. I checked the map again and contemplated heading out, but I was so close to Carter Dome and I couldn’t pass off knocking another summit off the list. The Carter-Moriah Trail to Carter Dome (4,832 feet) is steep and tiring. I was in my typical focused-on-my-goal mode, stopping only occasionally to look back and down to the hut and the beautiful Carter Lakes that add to the beauty of the notch. Occasionally, I’d run into people hiking down to the hut who asked if I planned to go to Mt. Hight. I didn’t. It’s only .4 miles off the Carter Dome Trail and while it’s higher than 4,000 feet, it doesn’t have the required topographic prominence to be considered an ‘official’ 4,000 footer.

But, when I got to Carter Dome’s summit, around 4 p.m. or so, and yet another person asked and then encouraged me to make the detour if for no other reason than the 360-degree views, I was convinced, especially since Carter Dome’s summit offers limited views.

That detour was the best decision I had made all day. Only one other person was on Mt. Hight’s summit (4,675 feet.) And he was as awestruck as I by the views. It’s impossible to photograph or describe 360-degree views like that and give them any sort of justice. Within about five minutes, the other hiker began his climb down and I had the summit to myself.

It’s not often on a clear day that you get a summit like that to yourself and I took advantage of it. I sat on the highest point to eat a snack and write in my journal. One of the biggest pulls I feel in the White Mountains is to the northern Presidentials, and there they stood before me, dominating the western view. I spent an hour on the summit, soaking up everything I could and then began the long hike back to my car.

I stayed that night at the White Mountains Hostel in Conway and was too tired to even think about dinner. It took every ounce of energy I had left to shower and then gratefully collapse in my bunk. But before I fell asleep, I did what I always do after a hike; I looked back through all my pictures from the day. What I kept going back to was the video I took from the top of Mt. Hight. It may not have been one of my goals, it wasn’t on ‘the list’, hell, it wasn’t even on my radar, and yet, Mt. Hight impacted me the most. I realized that sometimes you have to veer off course, away from your goal, to experience something amazing and to find that you are truly living in the moment.

Panoramic view from Mt. Hight

Here’s a link to that video, sorry it’s so choppy. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10204624388392439&l=3838344662552164589