Wildcat River Trail

It’s hard to believe this is the last day of August already.  Where has this month gone?  They say, “time flies when you’re having fun.”

Carter Notch Pond for lunch

Yesterday, we made a return trip to Carter Notch Hut.  We approached from the back side this time; we hiked up Wildcat River Trail.  The trailhead is at the very end of Carter Notch Road in the small community of Jackson.  Our guidebook suggested driving another mile along a forest service road which intersects Carter Notch Road to reduce the hiking distance by a mile.  However, that road was gated when we arrived so we got to walk the mile after all, making it an eight mile day instead of six.

Crossing Wildcat River

The trail was nice--mostly dirt with some areas covered in pine needles and relatively few rocks.  There were several boggy areas and a few streams to cross.  The boggy areas had logs for crossing, even if they were mostly rotted.  What little was left still kept our feet dry.  All the streams were rock hops.  Some of the rocks were a little far apart for my short legs, but I managed not to fall.  Trekking poles really come in handy when crossing streams.  The last half mile of the trail up to Carter Notch Hut was very steep, but no rock scrambles.

We had our lunch down by the pond.  The pond was still very nice, but the water level was down about a foot from our previous visit a month ago.  There were still a few pond lilies, but not nearly as many as before.  The trees are starting to take on the yellows and reds of fall.  It won’t be long before the snow flies.

Wildcat River Trail is the easiest trail to Carter Notch Hut (in my opinion), but we didn’t see any other hikers either going up to the hut or coming down.  At the hut, we only saw one other couple (besides the hut croo) who were there to spend the night.  You can definitely tell the vacation season is winding down.

Today will be devoted to chores--grocery especially.  The food supply is getting dangerously low.  The Peanut has enough food for only one more meal.

That’s it for now.  Have a great day.