The “Effing Carters,” at least that’s what Redline Guide Mike Maciel calls them (as do many). For those whom we’ve already lost we’ll back up a little bit. The Carters refers to three connected mountains on the Carter-Moriah Range: South Carter, Middle Carter, and North Carter (and then there’s Carter Dome which was bagged on the first attempt). These mountains, at least the South and Middle peaks, were this hike’s objective, they were needed by a many-time returning guest for her 48. North Carter doesn’t actually count as a mountain due to its lack of prominence. Wonder why no longer. What follows is a bullet point synopsis of the day from Mike along with some photos.
The Effing Carters, Round II
- They spotted a car, just in case, and got an early start to beat the heat. Smart.
- They took the south branch of Imp Trail to avoid the potentially spicy crossing on the north branch, even though it costs them the best views of the day, missing out on the Imp Face. (A semi peak touted on the 52 With a View list.)
- Mike took our guest to Mt Lethe for her first (very quick) off-trail adventure.
- These majestic piles of Carter Rocks, for her, were #33 and #34 of the 48. Congratulations!
- They decided at the end they’d rather just get their feet wet and work their way down to the spotted car at 19-Mile Brook Trail trailhead than to backtrack as planned.
- But first… “Show me your car keys!“
- And last but not least, our guest’s favorite new joke: “We can stop if you need a break, Mike.“
