sapblatt
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As I struggle towards the end of my three consecutive weekends that I could not hike I found myself thankful that I was able to get out on Thursday with Mary Ellen (MEB) to hike up Mount Carrigain. I was considering an “interesting” approach to this peak from inside the Pemi, but time would not allow this so we met up around 7AM at the Signal Ridge Trailhead. MEB was a few minutes later as she was unavoidably detained. I was surprised to find a tent set up in the parking lot and even more surprised to find two people sleeping in bags on the ground next to their vehicle – did not even know this was allowed (is it?) Mary Ellen had done this hike a few times but had never managed to get the views, which are supposed to be among the best. We were hoping for some good views!
We quickly assembled gear and hit the trail by 7:15 AM. The skies were pretty clear down low with some fast moving clouds creeping through. Autumn is sure coming fast – it was about 50 degrees when we started out. The trail crosses the river soon enough and it was not a problem at all on this day. Much like the Rocky Branch, you could certainly see how this one could be a whole lot of trouble. The river is not wide, but the banks are high so very deep, fast water would be ripping through here at high water times. The trail meandered on along the river for a ways and was a very pleasant woodland walk with very little elevation gain for the first couple of miles (this always comes back to haunt you!)
MEB hikes at a great pace (read: my pace!) and we made great time to the junction of the Carrigain Notch Trail. Soon after the junction the climbing begins – first rather gently, then it sort of becomes a long uphill slog of about two mile until reaching Signal Ridge. I certainly slowed a bit in this stretch. We stopped a bit to get small views from some rock outcropping along the way and we got a bit scared when we heard some noises that were just campers a little off of the trail. We continued onwards and eventually passed the old campsite and the well – I had never seen anything like this in the mountains. The well had a cover and a bucket on a rope to pull water up with. I have read that this water needs to be treated. We soon began leveling out and broke from the trees onto Signal Ridge. This is a real cool spot with neat views to numerous lower peaks in the region (Lowell, Vose Spur, etc.) While we were in the area the top of Carrigain was not visible. We ran into a father and daughter on the trail – they were the first two people we had seen on the trail. There are real benefits t starting early.
The less than one mile to the summit was pretty quick and painless. We arrived at the summit and were welcomed with no views. Very foggy, very cool and very windy. At first we did not bother climbing the tower, but rather we ate lunch and put on extra clothes. Mary Ellen was looking like winter as we guessed the temp to be around 55 degrees and the wind speed to be around 40 mph. All of a sudden I noticed some views into the Pemi and we dashed up the steps. The fog and clouds were lifting and the views were starting to come in. Mary Ellen was pretty psyched (as was I) to see some of these expansive views over toward the Bonds, Franconia Ridge and the Twinway. It was funny how we both got a little confused as to what we were looking at. I think we both were thinking we were looking at the Zeacliffs and Whitewall area when in fact we were looking at the west side of the Willey Range. After a while it all made sense and we got our bearings. The cold and wind was tough to take and we headed down after about twenty minutes. We were cold enough that we decided to keep our layers on until we crossed back over Signal Ridge.
The trip down went quickly with no issues. We ran into a lot more hikers who were on their way up including some backpackers and a grandfather who was taking his grandson up to the top. The grandfather told us that he stopped at 46 a number of years ago and has never wanted to hike Isolation or Owl’s Head. MEB and I lobbied vigorously on the merits of these two great peaks, but I do not think he was buying it. We had a very nice hike down and talked about a lot of the different hikes we have done and the VFTT members we knew and had hiked with. This was a most enjoyable hike
for me and I am glad I got some views and I really cannot believe I only have two more to go.
MEB will be posting her pictures soon.
We quickly assembled gear and hit the trail by 7:15 AM. The skies were pretty clear down low with some fast moving clouds creeping through. Autumn is sure coming fast – it was about 50 degrees when we started out. The trail crosses the river soon enough and it was not a problem at all on this day. Much like the Rocky Branch, you could certainly see how this one could be a whole lot of trouble. The river is not wide, but the banks are high so very deep, fast water would be ripping through here at high water times. The trail meandered on along the river for a ways and was a very pleasant woodland walk with very little elevation gain for the first couple of miles (this always comes back to haunt you!)
MEB hikes at a great pace (read: my pace!) and we made great time to the junction of the Carrigain Notch Trail. Soon after the junction the climbing begins – first rather gently, then it sort of becomes a long uphill slog of about two mile until reaching Signal Ridge. I certainly slowed a bit in this stretch. We stopped a bit to get small views from some rock outcropping along the way and we got a bit scared when we heard some noises that were just campers a little off of the trail. We continued onwards and eventually passed the old campsite and the well – I had never seen anything like this in the mountains. The well had a cover and a bucket on a rope to pull water up with. I have read that this water needs to be treated. We soon began leveling out and broke from the trees onto Signal Ridge. This is a real cool spot with neat views to numerous lower peaks in the region (Lowell, Vose Spur, etc.) While we were in the area the top of Carrigain was not visible. We ran into a father and daughter on the trail – they were the first two people we had seen on the trail. There are real benefits t starting early.
The less than one mile to the summit was pretty quick and painless. We arrived at the summit and were welcomed with no views. Very foggy, very cool and very windy. At first we did not bother climbing the tower, but rather we ate lunch and put on extra clothes. Mary Ellen was looking like winter as we guessed the temp to be around 55 degrees and the wind speed to be around 40 mph. All of a sudden I noticed some views into the Pemi and we dashed up the steps. The fog and clouds were lifting and the views were starting to come in. Mary Ellen was pretty psyched (as was I) to see some of these expansive views over toward the Bonds, Franconia Ridge and the Twinway. It was funny how we both got a little confused as to what we were looking at. I think we both were thinking we were looking at the Zeacliffs and Whitewall area when in fact we were looking at the west side of the Willey Range. After a while it all made sense and we got our bearings. The cold and wind was tough to take and we headed down after about twenty minutes. We were cold enough that we decided to keep our layers on until we crossed back over Signal Ridge.
The trip down went quickly with no issues. We ran into a lot more hikers who were on their way up including some backpackers and a grandfather who was taking his grandson up to the top. The grandfather told us that he stopped at 46 a number of years ago and has never wanted to hike Isolation or Owl’s Head. MEB and I lobbied vigorously on the merits of these two great peaks, but I do not think he was buying it. We had a very nice hike down and talked about a lot of the different hikes we have done and the VFTT members we knew and had hiked with. This was a most enjoyable hike
for me and I am glad I got some views and I really cannot believe I only have two more to go.MEB will be posting her pictures soon.
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