Day 139: Wildcat Ridge

Day: 139 Miles: 14 Trip: 1872.7 Started: Madison Hut  Destination:  Carter Hut

Many of the south bounders (sobo's) I have seen in the Whites have warned me about how bad the decent from Madison is.  I had a long day planned so I headed out early at about 6:30am.  The climb to the top of Madison was pretty easy with well cut trail.  At the top I started a very long ridge line down to the tree line.  The trail in this section is tough, but not as bad as I had heard.  It took about five hours to get down to Pinkam Notch.  I had made pretty good time so I decided to push on up Wildcat Ridge.  What a mistake!  After I started up the mountain the rain set in and it was a very long stretch up to the next hut.  There are not very  many camping spots on the ridge and I opted to try for my third work for stay.  Luckily I think they took pity on me being as soaked as I was and offered to let me stay with not work at all. 

Ridge line down from Madison

I ended up helping clean up after dinner and enjoyed a dry spot to sleep.  The huts really worked out for me.  I had heard many people complain that they were not able to get work for stays at any of the huts, but I guess I just had good timing.  The best time to show up is between 4:30pm and 7pm when they are in the middle of dinner rush, this seem to be the best time to get a stay.  Wildcat so far is far harder than the Presidential range, never ending 200' climbs and descents make for slow going.