Presently the dam came into view (it's pretty easy to spot). We hopped across its spillway and started off on a wide grassy forest road. The tread was drier and smoother than the trail we had just left, and it took us a very short time to hike back along it to the parking area, which we reached shortly before 1pm under still-beautiful and sunny conditions. Our outing today was short!
Overall, this is a nice hike. The best views are most certainly concentrated on the lower western end of Wildcat Ridge. The upper part is pleasant enough, just not as scenic. The other thing I find about Wildcat ridge is that its reputation for being super-rough and difficult is a little overblown. The trailwork is very sound on the steeper bits, and elsewhere it is actually fairly gentle. I can think of many sections of White Mountain trail elsewhere that are a lot rougher than this!
Hiker pole incident aftermath
Interactive Trackmap & Photo Points - Wildcat Ridge - Double-click on map to expand
Hike Data - Wildcat Ridge Traverse
Start Time:
7:06a.m.
End Time:
12:54p.m.
Duration:
5h47m
Distance:
13.25 km
(8.23 mi)
Average Speed:
2.3 km/hr
(1.4 mph)
Start Elevation:
2040ft
(622m)
*
Max Elevation:
4429ft
(1350m)
*
Min Elevation:
1644ft
(501m)
*
End Elevation:
1644ft
(501m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Total Elevation Gain:
2864ft
(873m)
*
Total Elevation Loss:
3219ft
(981m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Elevation Graph
Elevation Profile over Distance
Elevation Profile over Time
