I left the NH 16 parking lot at 10:15am and headed up the Nineteen-Mile Brook Trail for Carter Dome. I was wearing snowshoes even though the trail was well packed at this point. In about an hour I reached the junction where the Carter Dome Trail branches off to the left. There had been 3 or 4 inches of new snow overnight but several hikers with snowshoes on had already broken this trail out nicely. Tracks indicated that at least a couple hardy souls wearing just their hiking boots were just ahead of me on the trail. I say "hardy" because as the trail climbed higher toward the Zeta Pass, there were more and more post holes to indicate where momentary losses in concentration were rewarded by quick plunges to crotch depth. At Zeta Pass I turned south on the Carter-Moriah Trail toward the summit of Carter Dome. The snow depth increased significantly in the last half mile before the summit. I was pleasantly surprised to find the trail very well sheltered from the steady wind blowing from the west. The steady winds had built a nice snow wall cornice on the right side of the trail just above head height. Just before the summit that snow ridge had actually blown a drift about 10' high directly over the trail. The trail had been tunneled out to a height of about 3' through the drift, which with a pack on required me to crawl through. Great fun! Truly a winter wonderland. I reached the summit at 2:00pm. I then decided to make a loop trip by continuing south 1.2 miles to the Carter Notch Hut and take the Nineteen-Mile Brook Trail the 3.8 miles back to NH 16. The first mile toward Carter Notch Hut was not packed out at all. Someone in just hiking boots had ploughed through the entire distance however! Every step for them began from a crotch depth position! The last 1/3 mile down to Carter Notch was very. After falling several times I became quite adept at descending backwards on the steepest pitches allowing the crampon teeth on my snowshoes to bite in better. From Carter Notch Hut, the Nineteen-Mile Brook Trail was very well packed all the way back to NH 16. I arrived back at the parking lot at 5:00pm after a great day!