The Carters are known for making people re-visit them, to be grueling, to be annoying, to be in the way, and they lead to some hikers spouting expletives. Sometimes coining new ones along the way like the oft-heard “Effing Carters.” This trip’s returning guest had some previous experience with those peaks and asked us for company and moral support. We put Redline Guide Debra McCown on this project and together they succceeded. Her words and photos follow…
The guest requested Middle Carter for today’s hike. She had previously hiked South Carter but, on a miserably cold day and abandoned by her hiking buddy, had stopped and turned around there rather than attempt to add Middle.
I thought it would be a good idea, on a nice fall day, to traverse both peaks — Middle Carter for her list and South Carter to experience the ridge in between and add a happier perspective to the location of a past negative experience.
That turned out to be a good call! She was happy for the extra sunshine and to descend the familiar Nineteen Mile Brook Trail back to the car, having bagged both peaks with zero misery. —Debra
