Cardigan 11/26

A friend from D.C. was back in the area visiting his folks this weekend, so we planned a hike for sunday. We only had about a four hour window, so we picked Cardigan because its so close. Also since the weather so good, we decided the view to effort ratio couldn't be beat! We headed out by 11:00. It was clear, and the temp. was around 45 I'm guessing. We decided to go up west ridge trail, and down south ridge trail. There were new blazes all the way up, and it looked like some trailwork had been done recently. There was at least one set of steps that I don't remember from my last hike up west ridge trail. In no time we were at the top. The winds were brisk, and the views were really good to the west. We could see the ridge of the green's in the distance. To the north, we could see Smart's, and MT. Cube, but that was about it, not even Moosilauke was visible! We spent 20 minutes or so at the top, and then headed down South Ridge Trail past the firewardens cabin. We were back down by about 1pm, which made me think we could've done a longer hike, but it was good to get out for a bit!

pics to follow

Jason, was that trail from the road leading into the Cardigan State Park? If so I wondered if that road is open year round.

Ray

we came up from Canaan, past the speedway. the road is gated in the winter, but it only adds....maybe a mile round trip to the hike in the winter. It may not be gated, come to think of it, but it isn't plowed. If we get any snow, that is