Wildcat A – 4,422 ft. G’s #47 / J’s #26

Wildcat D – 4,062 ft. G’s #48 / J’s #27

Trails = 19 Mile Brook | Wildcat River Trail | Wildcat Ridge Trail (AT) | Polecat Ski Trail | (car spot)

Mileage = 9.5 Miles

Elevation Gain = 3,970 ft

Elapsed Time = 7 hours 15 mins

Pulling up to the 19 Mile Brook trailhead after the familiar drive up Rte. 93 and getting one of the final spots at 7:30AM seemed like the start of any other hike for Jen and me. The forecast had called for off and on clouds for most of the day with highs in the low to mid 60’s by afternoon. It was the Sunday of Columbus Day so we anticipated seeing quite a few people on the trails and summits even though the Wildcats are considered to be some of the less popular on the NH48 list. I had purposely held off on hiking Wildcat D as I wanted my parents and non-hiking children (see post on Osceola) to be there to celebrate with me on my final summit of a five and half year journey as they could take the chairlift up to the summit. This added a little bit of logistical challenge as we had a ~7 mile hike up to Wildcat A for my 47th and a ridge hike on the Wildcat Ridge Trail (AT) up and over Wildcat B & C and then finally over to D for around 3,800 feet of elevation. We had a pretty good idea on what our pace would be and planned to meet them at the summit sign and chairlift around 12:30 thinking we would have plenty of time.

We started out on the gradual and very picturesque 19 Mile Brook Trail, this trail was quite familiar to us as this would be our 5th time on it in the last year as we used it to hike Carter Dome as well as Middle and South Carter and Mount Hight. It has become one of our favorite trails in the White Mountains as it follows the bank of the 19 Mile Brook and provided a nice warm up for what we new would be a pretty steep ascent up to the Wildcat A Ridge. The sky was overcast and the light was perfect to bring out the explosion of color of what was peak foliage. We made very good time as we hustled along to the junction of Carter Dome Trail and we happily continued straight into unchartered territory for us on the upper end of 19MB – Carter Dome Trail is not a favorite (see previous post for M & S Carter). The trail became a bit more rugged although still not steep and was pretty wet from the stretch of rain we had recently. Jen and I were both pretty quiet at this part of the hike just enjoying being in beautiful woods together with surprisingly very few other people around. This is something that I really love about Jen, we can both just be around each other without feeling the need to chit chat and fill the silence with words, we can just enjoy the silence and enjoy being in each other’s company in an unspoken beauty. I was reflecting on all the hikes that I had taken that has brought me to this point but I was also worried about the weather (which seemed to be getting worse by the minute) and having my 70 year old parents and my teenage girls begrudgingly waiting in miserable weather at the summit for hours as we had mistakenly calculated wrong. I often fill my time hiking with (fuzzy) mental math of mileage and elevation gain by using my constant stream of data from my Garmin Solar Instinct which has proven to be both a blessing and a curse. As we got to the junction of of Wildcat River and Wildcat Ridge Trail we had an option to hike .3 down to the Carter Notch hut which was the only hut in the Whites I had yet to visit with a side bonus of seeing the Carter Lakes and since I’m a sucker for alpine lakes and my fuzzy math calculations seemed to put us a bit ahead of schedule (and we had to use the privy) so we made the decision to go check it out.

The hike down to Carter seemed a bit longer than .3 and it was pretty rocky and rugged, but we made it down and it proved to be well worth it as the lakes were in the mist which made them both (there are two) look a bit eerie. We had the inside of the hut to ourselves which we used for a quick snack and to warm up a bit as we were both a little cold and damp. There are actually a few different buildings that make up Carter Notch Hut with the kitchen and woodstove which is open year round (no caretaker in the winter) and bunkhouses and a privy in the back. Jen and both commented on how “nice” the privy was which really underscores how much our standards have dropped since we’ve been doing so much hiking this past year, but we appreciated the cleanliness and the cold running water of the sinks and best of all no woodchips! This has become a bit of a running joke of ours after our experience at the 13 Falls tent site’s privy and the woodchips which you use to cover your “leavings” – but they also double as a air freshener as you smell the fresh wood chips before you drop them into the abyss. Anyways I digress, A+ on the Carter Notch privy which was well worth the side trip! We decided to get going as we knew we had some of the steepest terrain ahead on the Wildcat Ridge Trail.

Wildcat Ridge Trail to the summit of Wildcat A is only .7 miles but we knew we had ~1000 feet of elevation to gain. We had done this many times before and we went into it thinking it was going to be like the Twinway from the Galehead Hut to the summit of North Twin which I still think is one of the steepest (non-slides) I’ve been on in the Whites to date! I not sure if it was because we had a nice little break at the hut or the weather, aside from being inside a cloud, was absolutely ideal hiking temperature but we both commented on how it really wasn’t as hard as the maps made it look. There were a few lookouts that would’ve given us amazing views looking back into Carter Notch but we new views were not in the cards for us today. We’ll just have to come back! We made pretty quick time up the trail and almost walked right by the summit of Wildcat A as there was a small clearing which again would’ve had amazing views and small spur path heading to the height of land with one of the smallest, saddest summit cairns we had ever seen. The pitifulness of the small pile of rocks sitting hidden in some scrub on one of the wildest, rugged peaks in the Whites actually made it one of my favorite summits ever! Every summit in the Whites is so unique and Wildcat A is like the quiet kid in high school who is cool without trying. We also found a great stealth site right on the summit that we made mental note of to visit again for a sunrise/sunset backpacking trip in the future!

We had a quick snack and it was onto Wildcat D via Wildcats B & C which provided to be a pretty nice ridge walk up and over both. The descent off C was steep rugged and slippery as everything was wet from the mist and drizzle of the day which was not burning off at all. The ascent up D was also pretty steep but before we knew it we hit the observation deck which is the true summit of Wildcat D. There were a few groups of people up there and it actually proved to be very anti-climatic for my final peak as I ascended the steps of the observation deck and had stunning views of the inside of cloud. Jen followed and congratulated me with our traditional summit kiss. We stood there for a bit and it still hadn’t really sunk in for me yet as I knew that my parents and the girls were waiting for us about .1 mile down a steep and rocky trail at the chairlift. We slowly made our way down and found them waiting in the wind and mist. I was very happy to see them and so grateful that they decided to spend their Sunday in the clouds and cold to celebrate on top of my 48th peak. We sipped some champagne and blew some noisemakers (which Jen had coordinated with my parents the day before) and in typical fashion my mom had gifts to give us in the form of really cool NH48 shirts. On a nicer day we would’ve hung out at the top longer but it was cold enough for hats, gloves and puffy jackets so we decided that Jen, Caitlin and I would start heading down Polecat (green circle ski trail) down to the lodge where they had parked and we would go out to lunch somewhere in the area. I was so happy that Caitlin wanted to hike down with us and she pushed the pace for us as we made it down in record time. Ski trails can be a bit boring and tedious to hike on but we found Polecat to be a nice break from our normal boulder hopping descents which are brutal on the knees. As we were descending the clouds started to burn off and the sun started peaking out giving us the best views of the day. It was about 60 and sunny as we made our way to the base lodge and we saw a wedding party on the way up to the summit for photos – we wished them congrats and hoped the clouds at the summit also burned off.

I wasn’t quite sure how I would feel after I touched my final 48 4000 footer which ended a five and half year journey to hike them all but the overwhelming feeling I got standing at the top of Wildcat D is knowing that this hike certainly doesn’t mark the end of anything for me, its just the first chapter in my hiking career. I’ve learned a lot about myself and my capabilities in these mountains the last five+ years and I’ve done a lot of growing. What started as bit of whim on my 40th b-day has become a passion and a way of life for me. I can literally spend hours reading trail guides, looking at maps, creating routes on Guthooks/Far Out, watching numerous hiking vloggers on You Tube and generally just thinking about hiking, gear and high summit forecasts. I love this stuff! Jen and my relationship has really grown in these mountains and I will forever be grateful for that and the fact that we can share these beautiful fun adventures together. My immediate plans are to help Jen finish her 48 sometime next year and then work on the NE 67 and then perhaps tackle a long thru hike like the Long Trail. The best is yet to come!