We were up and out by 6:45 after a nutritious candy bar breakfast. Wanted to make an early assault on Wildcat Ridge, and its five peaks, uniquely named: A, B, C, D & E (or for the Northbounders, E, D, C, B & A). Worked up quite a sweat with the 2000 foot climb, but came over E, and then to D, where the gondola is, by a bit after 9:00.

We remembered there was a snack bar and gift shop at the top with the observation tower, but didn't realize it had closed years ago. The sight is now bleak and depressing. The gondola is old and run down. There are no services at the top at all, not even bathrooms or water. The building is in sad need of replacement. It looks like they're getting ready to do some major improvements, because there were bulldozers, and all manner of heavy equipment making noise and belching out smelly diesel smoke into the morning air. We were able to get water, only because the lift operators were kind enough to give us some from their own water jugs. Couldn't get out of there soon enough. Later, Easy 8 told us that when he came through there the day before, they made him wait for three hours, because they were getting ready to blast in the area. How frustrating! Glad that didn't happen to us.

Peaks C, B & A came and went with some more quick, steep ups and downs. That was followed by a very steep 1000 feet descent in about a mile to Carter Notch Hut. When we first got there, the place was deserted, but in a few minutes the caretaker came back from packing in a week's worth of his supplies. Carter Notch is a self-service hut, so they don't serve meals, but they have drinks and snacks, and you can use the kitchen to cook your own food. Within another few minutes, Swamp Donkey came in, plus other thru-hikers, Lopey Lobo, and a young couple from Alabama named Rareback and Honeybear.

We fixed a hot lunch, since it was chilly and windy by now, and we still had a lot of climbing to do this afternoon. We still had the four Carters: Carter Dome, South, Middle and North Carter ahead of us. The climb over Carter Dome, as expected, was steep and rocky. We passed a couple Southbounders who told us the descent from Mt. Hight (a blip between the Carters), was a messy rock scramble down to Zeta Pass. So, when we came to a blue-blazed side trail that bypassed the top, we cheerfully took that instead. It came back to the AT at Zeta Pass, and cut off .4 mile. One advantage of a section hike is you don't have to feel guilty for the occasional blue blaze. As long as you get there…

Coming over the last three Carters I mentally checked them off, one by one. Once up on the ridge, the trail was mostly up and over one rock ledge after another, followed by long sections of new bog bridges. There seem to be miles and miles of bog bridges in the Whites. Coming down to Imp Shelter from North Carter was the last 1000+ drop for the day. I was thrilled to see the sign to the shelter, I don't believe that it was only 300 yards to the shelter like the sign proclaimed. It seemed more like 1,000 yards of rocks.

The walk to the shelter was worth it, though. Imp is a huge, double decker shelter, built from massive timbers, with a huge log chair which doubles as a step to the top sleeping platform, and a large front porch. Except for lacking a front door, it's almost a cabin. When we first got here, a father and daughter were the only ones settled in. They have a golden retriever who looked truly pooped. Hikers started trickling in shortly after us, and now the shelter is overflowing. We've met another crop of Northbounders: Minty Fresh, Old Crow, and Shadow. Swamp Donkey and Lopey Lobo came through just to eat dinner before going on to get a jump on Gorham in the morning. The shelter caretaker had started at Springer this season, and hiked a long section before getting off to go to work for the AMC. Turned out he knew most of the hikers there, so it was like old home week catching up. They are quite a colorful bunch, so we're enjoying an evening of entertaining stories.

Just a few yards in front of the shelter is an open view of the valley below. It's been outfitted with a massive log bench (more like a couch with arms and a back). We lingered there for a long time, witnessing a brilliant sunset, then watching as the lights of Gorham appeared in the darkness. We'll be there tomorrow, but for now it's enough to view it from our mountain perch.

There are steep trails and then there's the climb up Wild Cat Ridge. Two thousand feet up with the first thousand feet of elevation gained in less than a half-mile. The total climb is spread out over one and a half-miles. By the time we reached the top after a long climb, we could still easily hear the traffic in Pinkham Notch below. I don't think our breakfast of a candy bar was adequate for the task. About half way up, I was asking myself why didn't we just take the gondolas up.

Once on top it didn't take us long to traverse the remaining bumps to the ski lift. I'd been looking for to stopping and getting some refreshments after the climb. Long before we arrived, we could hear the sound of heavy construction machinery. Upon reaching the lift, I was quite dismayed to find it run down and practically disserted. The snack bar had been long closed. Twenty years ago this place was teeming with people. We wasted little time before heading up the trail to Carter Notch Hut.

By the time we stopped at the Hut for lunch, the many numerous climbs and descents of the morning had done a number on us. We decided to take advantage of the kitchen facilities at the Hut to fix one of our dinners for lunch. This would give us time to recoup and more energy to fact this afternoons work. The place was deserted when we arrived, but by the time we left Swamp Donkey had arrived from his overnight stay in North Conway. We also meet Lopy Lobo along with a couple Rareback and Honeybear. They are the first married thru-hikers we've met so far. When Rareback heard our trail names, he said, "You’re the 20 year anniversary couple." I guess we're getting known.

After leaving the hut, the climb up Carter Dome wasn't as hard as I expected. However, the rest of this afternoon's trek over the different Carters was not too pleasant. We were ready to stop about two miles before the sign for the shelter. Fortunately Imp Shelter is worth the hike. It's a big shelter with two sleeping platforms and a big deck in front. A short ways down the hill is a bench with a great view of the valley and Gorham below.

Two more northbound thru-hikers have joined us tonight, Minty Fresh and Old Crow. Minty has been hiking from Harpers Ferry to Katahdin. From there he will return to Harpers Ferry to hike south. We had heard of Old Crow because he had hiked awhile with Easy 8.

Leaving Pinkham notch was hard. We didn’t have time for breakfast, so we ate a candy bar and then took off. The first climb was steep and there were lots of viewpoints. You could look back and see how far you haven't come and how far you have climbed. After all the climbing we got to where the top of the gondola. We went inside to look for some water but there was no water anywhere. Mom asked the attendants where there was water. They gave us some of their own and we were on our way. We climbed down into Carter Notch and went to the Hut and made lunch. During lunch some other thru-hikers arrived, Swamp Donkey, Lopy Lobo, and a couple from Alabama named Honeybear and Rareback. We ate lunch then took off. The day went by fast until I got the idea that we were close to the shelter. Then time seamed to stop. No matter how fast I hiked the shelter was never there. Finally my parents sent me ahead to scout out the trail and to try to find the shelter. I sped off and eventually came to the side trail to the shelter. The shelter was far off the trail but I was glad to be near the shelter. There was a father and daughter already at the shelter. I went inside and claimed our spots. Lopy Lobo pulled in a little after us and then some new thru-hikers also came in. They were Minty Fresh, Old Crow, and Shadow. Swamp Donkey showed up and he and Lopy Lobo went on. Rareback and Honeybear also showed up. We all sat around and talked then went to bed.