McAfee Hikes

Date Written: 8/27/2024 | AT Mile 314.6 | Day Total: 16.2 miles | Gain: 7316 ft

Woke up earlier than I expected to this morning. I was having trouble getting comfortable in the middle of the night. My shoulders had a very dull ache that wouldn’t go away. Once I was moving I didn’t feel it at all.

There’s a fair amount of condensation in my tent so I went into the house and grabbed a rag to soak it up. There was already coffee made so I grabbed a cup while I was there. I went into the covered picnic table near my tent and spent some more time looking at what’s ahead on FarOut and scheduling more journals.

At 7 there were pancakes put out for all to enjoy so I grabbed a few. I also got a second round of coffee. I ate my the fire pit with a few other hikers. I also finished off the box of Cheese It’s I started yesterday.

Afterword I started packing up and getting ready for the day of hiking ahead of me. I checked out around 8:30 and went right to the trail. This place is conveniently located right on trail.

Just down the street there’s a parking lot and a board with “White Mountain National Forest”.

I start the day with a long 3300 foot ascent to the top of Mt Moriah. The beginning was graded well and fast but after a few miles it went up fairly steeply. I passed a lean-to by the Rattle River on my way up.

The views on top of Moriah were amazing. I could see what I was about to climb and the buildings on Mt Washington.

Weather was great today the cooler morning was nice then it was mostly sunny with a high of 84. The breezes felt good at the top of these peaks. I ate lunch at a view under a mile after Mt Moriah.

Next up were the 3 Carter peaks: North, Middle, and South. The tallest being the Middle. I had to descend Mt Moriah then go back up ridge walking for the most part. The climb up to North Carter Mountain was super steep and rocky. There was a thru hiker slackpacking that was cussing at the rocks and saying “I signed up to hike a National Scenic Trail not rock climbing” I felt a bit bad for her partner…

Next up we’re Mount Hight and Carter Dome. There were a few nobo hikers that blue blazed past Mount Hight but I stuck to the AT. It was well worth the climb. There were 360 views and it was the best I’ve had so far in the whites.

Carter Dome was a wooded summit. It used to have a fire tower but it was taken down a few years ago.

I started to descend to the first hut, Carter Notch Hut. The huts are stationed throughout the whites and act as housing for hikers in the whites. They generally require a reservation but sometimes thru hikers can do a “work for stay”. The general rule of thumb is be there at 4 o’clock and you’ll have a chance to do work for stay (they only accept 2 hikers each day).

It was a little after 6 when I pulled up to the hut. They have water available so I filled my bottles and talked with the three croo (crew) members. As I was filling my water bottles I asked them about stealth camping and they said there’s a good site on top of Wildcat mountain (the next mountain sobo). I walked out to grab my other water bag to fill for tonight because I won’t have access to water at the top. Jared walk out and handed me a note and said to call him when I’m in Vermont for trail magic! I went back inside and filled my badder and told them that I heard that they occasionally like to send letters to other huts, so I offered. They don’t see many sobos so a lot of the messages are one way. Two of the crew members jumped on the offer and I now have two letters going to Madison Spring Hut and another to the last hut, Lonesome Lake Hut (63 miles away).

I began my 1000ft ascent up to Wildcat mountain. It was steep but not too technical rock wise. It was around 7:15 when I got to the top. The view looked down on the Carter Notch Hut.

I found the stealth spot and setup my tent and hung my bear line before it was too dark. I went over to the view again and cooked some mac and cheese. I decided to go back to my tent after cooking as it was getting fairly dark. I hung my food then steeled into tent to eat my mac and cheese. I set aside a few Hersey kisses for desert.

It was a big elevation day today, lots of ascent so I’m really tired. Looking at staying at Madison hut tomorrow. I’m going to try to get there at 4 and see if I can do a work for stay.