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Considered one of the lesser-known notches
of New Hampshire's White Mountains, Carter Notch is an attractive destination for
those seeking
a little more solitude. Plenty of natural treasures can be found within the notch.
Two beautiful glacial tarns
sit quietly amid balsam fir and birch trees.
Visitors who yearn for discovery can crawl, hop,
and squeeze through the jungle of car-sized
boulders called the Ramparts. The challenging Wildcat Range to the west
and Carter Range to the east are worthwhile day hikes
during every season. With an array of unique attractions
it's no surprise that Carter Notch has been called a home away from home
for quite some time.
In the 1890s Jackson, New Hampshire, native
Jonathan Jock Davis ran a sporting camp in the Notch that
offered a taste of the roughing-it lifestyle. By 1904
three of Davis's camps had come and gone, each
eventually being destroyed by fire. A fourth camp,
an enclosed log cabin, was built by AMC along the edges at the northernmost
Carter pond.
The use of the cabin was short-lived however.
After only a decade AMC concluded that a fifth structure would be built
that was more impervious to fire. Echoing the design
of Madison Spring Hut, which had been constructed in 1888,
builders used stone instead of wood to constructed 18 by 40 foot hut.
The year was 1914.
Who would have thought this new modestly designed hut
would still be serving guests 100 years later. The first permit granted by
the nascent
White Mountain National Forest for a permanent structure on forest land
was construction of Carter Notch Hut. While Madison was
AMC's first hut, structures at this site have been replaced
over time making Carter the oldest existing building
in AMC's network a 8 high mountain huts. No sooner had builders
tacked the final nails to the shingles did visitors start to arrive.
Some finding more comforts than others.
"Hiked from Jackson with heavy packs and considerable tough going.
"Arrived by moonlight. 7 p.m.
"Found blazes by flashlight. No wood.
"Had to burn part of the old hut," read one ambitious
hiker's journal entry on a wintry day in February.
With the popularity of the new hut
came a need for a caretaker to supervise and guide
the misguided during the summer months. Nobody was more suited for the job
Than Milton Emery McGregor or "Red Mac" as locals knew him.
Red Mac spent two years caretaking at Carter
before he was promoted to AMC Huts Manager. His fun-loving spirit lives on.
Legend has it that the friendly ghost Red Mac
Frequents the hut to this day. A number of changes to the hut have been made
over its 100 years of existence. In 1962
AMC added a freestanding bunkhouse and new outhouses.
Another bunkhouse was added a year later, boosting capacity
to 40 people. In 1972
it was open to winter guests. Over the past quarter-century
kitchen renovations and the addition of a new gravity-fed water system,
composting outhouses, solar panels,
and wind power generation have helped this off-the-grid hut
provide AMC's unique style of mountain hospitality,
while minimizing environmental impacts. The history of Carter Notch Hut
remains a true testament to AMC's commitment to build with
the future in mind.
Now, 100 years later, as a new generation of adventurers
explore Carter Notch, the hut's foundations a and walls remain intact and
as many visitors attest, so do the memories.