Cragster
New member
Trails: Manning/Holt Trail, Holt Trail, Holt-Clark Cutoff, Clark Trail, spur path to High Cabin (Sat. 4/2) then past High Cabin and back to Clark Trail past Lookout's Cabin to the summit (Sun. 4/3).
Summit(s): Mount Cardigan (3155')
Hiker(s): Butlers, Waterboy, Jeremaria, ButlerJr., Artemis, JessiBell, Cragster
Awesome weekend with great friends. We humped wine, whiskey & wood to High Cabin and it was all worth it. Got there in the early afternoon, due to a solid bootpack underneath the fresh snow from Friday. I believe one or two people had been up since the snow. Snowshoes are still recommended as postholing is possible off the bootpack, and there were several feet of snowpack at High Cabin.
Artemis, inspecting the view:
We spent the afternoon enjoying the sun and built an awesome igloo in the front yard of the cabin. So, High Cabin now sleeps 14 if you have a decent bivy bag--very warm inside! I will be interested to see how long that lasts into the Spring.
A small snowball fight bunker turning into a full blown shelter:
Having a beverage (or 5) after the hard work (if you visit High Cabin and wonder why there is a square indentation in the igloo's inside wall, it happens to perfectly fit a 3L box of cheap wine to keep it chilled):
Complete! :
We ate like kings--grilled ribeye & lamp chops, thanks in part to the charcoal grill that Artemis humped up there and left as a donation--still plenty of charcoal too for next weekend's guests.
This morning, we took off out of the back of the cabin along the trail that passes just below South Peak. It was sunny and warm on the leeward side of the hill, but we could hear the wind up above. We shelled up just before the summit and discovered 50mph winds w/ gusts to 60. The protection of the fire tower was nice, but standing out in the full force of the wind was also fun.
The view was incredible--Winnipesaukee, Washington, Lafayette, Moosilauke, and every major ski area in VT, even Mansfield in the distance. Just beautiful. That's why we hike in the winter!
The ski down from the summit was awesome. The snow was firm but just soft enough (thanks to the sun) to get some nice big turns on the snowfields before threading my way around sparse trees to find the trail back to High Cabin, which was a good ski too, except the cabin really sneaks up on you!
We packed up and cleaned the cabin then started down. I skied Alexandria and then Kimball. Sunny spots were very soft, shady areas were a little crispy from previous thaws, but the coverage was complete the entire way down. We found the previously snowy and frozen parking lot to be melted and muddy due to the warmth.
Definitely going back to Cardigan soon. Pictures will follow once those highly-anticipated emails arrives from MissLynds & Jallen. Thanks for a great weekend guys!
Summit(s): Mount Cardigan (3155')
Hiker(s): Butlers, Waterboy, Jeremaria, ButlerJr., Artemis, JessiBell, Cragster
Awesome weekend with great friends. We humped wine, whiskey & wood to High Cabin and it was all worth it. Got there in the early afternoon, due to a solid bootpack underneath the fresh snow from Friday. I believe one or two people had been up since the snow. Snowshoes are still recommended as postholing is possible off the bootpack, and there were several feet of snowpack at High Cabin.
Artemis, inspecting the view:
We spent the afternoon enjoying the sun and built an awesome igloo in the front yard of the cabin. So, High Cabin now sleeps 14 if you have a decent bivy bag--very warm inside! I will be interested to see how long that lasts into the Spring.
A small snowball fight bunker turning into a full blown shelter:
Having a beverage (or 5) after the hard work (if you visit High Cabin and wonder why there is a square indentation in the igloo's inside wall, it happens to perfectly fit a 3L box of cheap wine to keep it chilled):
Complete! :
We ate like kings--grilled ribeye & lamp chops, thanks in part to the charcoal grill that Artemis humped up there and left as a donation--still plenty of charcoal too for next weekend's guests.
This morning, we took off out of the back of the cabin along the trail that passes just below South Peak. It was sunny and warm on the leeward side of the hill, but we could hear the wind up above. We shelled up just before the summit and discovered 50mph winds w/ gusts to 60. The protection of the fire tower was nice, but standing out in the full force of the wind was also fun.
The view was incredible--Winnipesaukee, Washington, Lafayette, Moosilauke, and every major ski area in VT, even Mansfield in the distance. Just beautiful. That's why we hike in the winter!
The ski down from the summit was awesome. The snow was firm but just soft enough (thanks to the sun) to get some nice big turns on the snowfields before threading my way around sparse trees to find the trail back to High Cabin, which was a good ski too, except the cabin really sneaks up on you!
We packed up and cleaned the cabin then started down. I skied Alexandria and then Kimball. Sunny spots were very soft, shady areas were a little crispy from previous thaws, but the coverage was complete the entire way down. We found the previously snowy and frozen parking lot to be melted and muddy due to the warmth.
Definitely going back to Cardigan soon. Pictures will follow once those highly-anticipated emails arrives from MissLynds & Jallen. Thanks for a great weekend guys!
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