Wildflowers and Waterfalls on the Imp Trail

I had no hiking plans today. It was late morning, the rain had stopped and a check of the weather forecast called for clearing but cold and windy throughout the day. I made a spur of the moment decision to go hiking, something close by and short. A loop hike on the Imp Trail was just what I was looking for. Between blooming wildflowers and some moderate rain over the past 12 hours I thought there might be some worthy photo captures along this trail. Well, I wasn't disappointed and it surpassed my expectations! Low light from the cloud cover brought out the forest colors providing some great photographic oppotunities. I met only two other hikers, a couple coming down from Middle Carter that reported needing traction shortly after ascending the North Carter Trail. Traction was not needed for my hike on the Imp Trail. This will be the extent of my narrative for this blog post. I'll let the photos and captions take you through my hike. Enjoy!

Road walk to the southern trailhead of the Imp Trail, sums up today's hike, blooms and waterfalls

At the southern trailhead ready to begin my hike

Ferns unfurling

Hobblebush blooming

Brooks had lots of flowing water from earlier rain

Painted trillium

More hobblebush blooms

Painted trillium with darker leaves

Red trillium, also known as Stinking Benjamin

 Lone fern in the middle of the trail

 A fork in the road, Imp trail continues to the left and the right goes to Dodge Camp

There's lots of moss in this dark, damp forest

I enjoyed many cascades and waterfalls today

 I stepped over many flowing brooks

Glittering wood moss

Greenery growing right on the trail

Turkey tail mushroom

 This is an area with lots of hobblebush

 Orange jelly fungus (Dacrymyces palmatus)

 Painted and red trillium in the same neighborhood

 A family of painted trilliums

 A large red trillium

 Tree burl

 Sweet White Violet

 Twins

 Clubmoss

 One hobblebush branch with lots of blooms

I continue up the mossy trail

 Star moss

A type of sphagnum moss

 Waterfalls beside the trail

 The waterfalls just kept coming

 A watery trail

 A mossy cascade

 This is the trail

 Moss-covered stump with three mushrooms

 At the North Carter Trail junction with snow flurries in the air

 A bit of ice on the trail

 Another brook crossing

 Moss-covered boulder

 A stretch of dirty ice that I walked beside

Crossed over the top of this waterfall

 Another easy water crossing

 Standing over this waterfall

 A chunk of ice in the ledge on the other side

 Another series of waterfalls

 Cascade

 I crossed on these logs

The Imp face cliff is just ahead past this ledge

 View into Pinkham Notch from the Imp cliff

 A cloud-covered Mount Washington

 The northern Presidential summits under a clearing sky

 Enjoying the views

 Wildcat Ski Area with a little snow remaining

 A very crooked tree

 A helpful ladder

A final Stinking Benjamin

Another nice waterfall

Tree growing on top of a boulder

More flowing water

Final water crossing

Cascading water into a deep cool pool

My final water capture

At the northern traihead where I completed the loop

Having Fun in the Great Outdoors!