Wildcat Mountain ABCD

Wildcat A,B,C,D hike

Distance: 9.4 mile
Elevation Gain: 3,340 feet
Type: Loop with a long spur
Peaks: Wildcat mountain A (4397 feet) and D (4062 feet)

Now day hike to climb New England 4000 footers: Wildcat mountain A and D.

A little weird name. Well, it kind of makes sense. There are four continuous mountains and they are named Wildcat A, B, C, D peak. Some are too close to be considered as an independent mountain. Therefore only A and D are listed on the 4000 footers. 

Lost pond

We planned a hike 1.5 mile shorter by starting highway16 at wildcat ridge trail. However, we found that the first 0.1 mile of the trail was closed due to the trail maintenance. Awww. Because of this, we drove 0.8 mile to a different trailhead and walked a lost pond trail unexpectedly. As the name indicates, there is a small pond along the trail. The view was nice actually (left picture). 

Then the trail merged to the original trail we had planned. Then the trail suddenly gets steep. 1000 feet climb in 0.4 mile!!! I had to use hands as well to climb rocky steep terrain. This is very New England-ish.

For me 1000 feet in 1 mile is a good climb. 1000 feet gain per mile takes 1 hour, this is my standard. For Californians,  a good example is Mission peak. It is a 1000 feet climb per mile, and 2500 feet elevation gain in 2.5 mile to the peak.  

Peak D

Next 1000 feet climb is in 0.9 mile. Not bad. After that, soon we arrived at Wildcat peak D. Wild cat peak D is a little different from other 4000 footers, because it is a ski resort in winter. Lift comes to the top of Wildcat peak D. Due to ski resort the peak D summit area is a meadow (trees are cut). In summer, lift is not moving and no skiing people, so it is pretty quiet, but a different scenery. The view from the meadow is magnificent. Big view of Mount Washingtons is in front of you like a big movie screen. I really liked it. I ate half of the sandwich here sitting on the meadow and enjoyed the view. 

Peak A

Next, we hiked a spur trail portion (1.7 mile). From peak D, via C and B, both are in the forest without signs or views,  finally reached the peak A. It was a very good view. The view includes Carter Dome, Carter hut, and Carter valley. A week ago we were at the top of Carter Dome and saw Wildcat peak A and Carter Valley. Now from the other side! 

Then we came back to peak D, then hiked down through ski trail. Ski trail is not for hikers in winter, but allowed to hike in the non-ski season. Ski trail has actually a nice view because surrounding trees were cut down. Since original trailhead and trailhead from ski trail is 1 mile apart, we had to do some road walking. 

Overall it was a good hike!