25 August 2017: Carter Dome, Mount Hight

This was my first trip out with Bob The Lovegoat this season. we had tried a few times to plan this hike but the weather or my headaches kept interfering. Mr Lovegoat had not yet done Hight, if i recall correctly, as he skipped it on his trek to do the NH48 List since it is not an official 4000 foot peak per the AMC standard. You can see Lovegoat's trip report here

History: Carter dome is the pinnacle of the Carter-Moriah Range. The range is name for a homesteading family in the early settling years of the area. Mt. Hight is a sub-peak of Carter Dome, touted to offer the best views on this range. One source i found attributes the name of this peak to a man named James Hight from Jefferson NH. Another tells a more folky story of a pair of hunters - named Hight and Carter - who get separated and ascend two different peaks to find one another. These peaks were named after each man. The peak Hight is said to have ascended was renamed by Guyot to what we now know as Wildcat (A), but to preserve the name the northern subpeak of Carter Dome was named in Hight's honor.


Peak Elevation: 4832 ft (Carter Dome); 4675 ft (Mt. Hight)
Elevation Gain: 3400 ft
Trail: 19 Mile Brook Trail, Carter Dome Trail, Zeta Pass, Carter-Moriah Trail.
Length: 11.9 mi.
Time on Trail : 0930
Time off Trail: 1630

I showed up around the same time as Lovegoat, and we go since he had some childcare time conflict he needed to avoid at the end of the day. Boomer was with us. The Nineteen Mile brook was pleasant but eventually mundane trail to ascend and descend. The weather was supposed to be OK but was overcast with some rain drops during the day. Finicky weather patterns off the Presi's sometimes. Once we got to the Carter Dome Trail, we found some rougher terrain as we worked towards Zeta Pass to head to Mt. Hight first. The views from Hight are phenomenal:

via GIPHY

After this we saw some of the looming clouds in the higher peaks nearby, and moved on to Carter Dome in case there was some stronger winds inbound. making quick work of the col between the two peaks we found Carter Dome populated with a few groups when we arrived. Ok, when I arrive,d because Boomer and Lovegoat are faster than I am on inclines. I found him trying to entice Boomer into taking some photos.After a snack and some time chatting with some people, I snapped a quick set of pictures up there to commemorate the peaks bagged, and we began descending towards Carter Notch Hut. We saw Carter Lake and a handful of fast-moving AT kids after their descent from Wildcat. Making no time for stops we trucked on to finsihe the day returning to the Nineteen Mile Brook TH.


Photos:

Carter Dome, Mt Hight 25AUG17

Slightly backdated entry from later in 2017