There comes a time when the difficult summits have to be climbed, even if it's 90 degrees out, stinking humid, and thunderstorms are on their way. And so on May 15th we went up the Signal Ridge Trail to Mt. Carrigain.
I picked up AMSTony in southern NH. It was already warm at 6:30am, but the sun was bright and the sky clear as we made our way to Dunkin Donuts then up I-93.
We stopped in Crawford Notch briefly, and saw a remarkable sight: a low-hovering helicopter being loaded with what appeared to be supplies for bog bridges and propane tanks. I regret that the camera was packed in the back of the car, as it was impressive to see up close and in person. After making our contributions to the Highland Center septic system, we went down to Sawyer River Road to find the Signal Ridge Trail.
The trail starts out innocently enough, following Whiteface Brook along an old logging right-of-way. The trees were only just beginning to leaf out, and so the sun beat down on us mercilessly, mile after relentless mile. Even continuously drinking water from my Platypus, a dehydration headache was soon upon me, and I had no interest in any of the trail food I'd brought with me.
Then, the climbing began. We would, over the course of the next few miles, ascend over 3,000 feet. I felt every single step of the relentless trail in my legs and in my head. It was an incredible sense of relief when we finally crested Signal Ridge and the view opened up across Carrigain Notch to the slides on Mt Lowell. Truly an incredible location, we could also look up to the tower on Carrigain's summit, or over and down to Vose Spur.
The view was so nice, it was hard to get up the energy to make the final push to the summit; however, there were clouds in the sky and we knew storms were coming, so on we continued. We came first to the former site of the firewarden's cabin, marked by a clearing and a water-filled well (don't drink it, though). The trail turns left and winds its way around before finally arriving at the summit and its tower. There was one last remaining patch of snow and it provided a nice snowball to shove under my hat and cool my overheated head.
What a great location! Views of mountains and wilderness in all directions, no bugs, no wind, sun, and clouds. It's no wonder so many people choose Carrigain to be their 48th 4000-footer (it was my 29th). Then again, it may also be that it's such a long, relentless hike that after the ascent they vow never to hike again!
After the requisite photo ops atop the tower, we sat in its shade for a lunch break along with two other gentlemen and a teenager who made the four of us feel very old and out of shape. I managed to get a few sandwich bites down but that was all.
Dark clouds were approaching, so we all started back down the trail, not wanting to be on the summit or even on the ride if a storm came in. We encountered a solo hiker on Signal Ridge, ascending, and wished him well, hoping that he would be able to get down ahead of the weather. I don't quite remember those 5 miles, we just keep descending and descending, relentlessly. After rejoining the Carrigain Notch Trail, the dark skies let loose their first rumbles.
Back at the car, 7 relentless hours later, we just got our gear loaded and our clothes changed before the rain came pummeling down. From there it was a long, slow drive home through thunderstorm after thunderstorm, the temperatures dropping into the 60's, until the MA border, where the skies cleared, the humidity returned, and it went back to 80 degrees. Ah, such is life.
The complete photo album from this hike is here.
I picked up AMSTony in southern NH. It was already warm at 6:30am, but the sun was bright and the sky clear as we made our way to Dunkin Donuts then up I-93.
We stopped in Crawford Notch briefly, and saw a remarkable sight: a low-hovering helicopter being loaded with what appeared to be supplies for bog bridges and propane tanks. I regret that the camera was packed in the back of the car, as it was impressive to see up close and in person. After making our contributions to the Highland Center septic system, we went down to Sawyer River Road to find the Signal Ridge Trail.
The trail starts out innocently enough, following Whiteface Brook along an old logging right-of-way. The trees were only just beginning to leaf out, and so the sun beat down on us mercilessly, mile after relentless mile. Even continuously drinking water from my Platypus, a dehydration headache was soon upon me, and I had no interest in any of the trail food I'd brought with me.
Then, the climbing began. We would, over the course of the next few miles, ascend over 3,000 feet. I felt every single step of the relentless trail in my legs and in my head. It was an incredible sense of relief when we finally crested Signal Ridge and the view opened up across Carrigain Notch to the slides on Mt Lowell. Truly an incredible location, we could also look up to the tower on Carrigain's summit, or over and down to Vose Spur.
The view was so nice, it was hard to get up the energy to make the final push to the summit; however, there were clouds in the sky and we knew storms were coming, so on we continued. We came first to the former site of the firewarden's cabin, marked by a clearing and a water-filled well (don't drink it, though). The trail turns left and winds its way around before finally arriving at the summit and its tower. There was one last remaining patch of snow and it provided a nice snowball to shove under my hat and cool my overheated head.
What a great location! Views of mountains and wilderness in all directions, no bugs, no wind, sun, and clouds. It's no wonder so many people choose Carrigain to be their 48th 4000-footer (it was my 29th). Then again, it may also be that it's such a long, relentless hike that after the ascent they vow never to hike again!
After the requisite photo ops atop the tower, we sat in its shade for a lunch break along with two other gentlemen and a teenager who made the four of us feel very old and out of shape. I managed to get a few sandwich bites down but that was all.
Dark clouds were approaching, so we all started back down the trail, not wanting to be on the summit or even on the ride if a storm came in. We encountered a solo hiker on Signal Ridge, ascending, and wished him well, hoping that he would be able to get down ahead of the weather. I don't quite remember those 5 miles, we just keep descending and descending, relentlessly. After rejoining the Carrigain Notch Trail, the dark skies let loose their first rumbles.
Back at the car, 7 relentless hours later, we just got our gear loaded and our clothes changed before the rain came pummeling down. From there it was a long, slow drive home through thunderstorm after thunderstorm, the temperatures dropping into the 60's, until the MA border, where the skies cleared, the humidity returned, and it went back to 80 degrees. Ah, such is life.
The complete photo album from this hike is here.
