danno
New member
this was a trip with a friend John (an old Orono roommate and compsci dude) and myself. Photos are here:
http://sopomedia.com/trips/2007/carrigain_02-2007/
We got started out of the parking lot at around 11:00am. This was a bit late, and I was to blame. I had some business and phone calls to deal with before I could get my pack on my back and out onto the trail.
The two mile hike to the trailhead was uneventful. There were a few snowmobiles that came up to us, but we weren't driven off the trail, so all was good. Came to the foundation by the river and wondered what it was in its previous life. I didn't remember seeing this the last time I was on the road this past summer.
Once at the trailhead we had lunch and drank some water, then started up the trail. The conditions were perfect. It was snow for 99.9 percent of the hike, with a little ice thrown in at a few places. We noticed early on that the trail had been broken out by someone who was bare booting it for most of the way. At about 1 mile into the trail we came up to a spot of ice and decided to put our crampons on (my first time for crampons this year). It was nice to be on some ice, even though it wasn't much. We continued to the notch and signal ridge trails junction, where we stopped and had some more gorp. This was all pretty easy hiking, even with a full pack on.
We headed up the Signal Ridge trail to get to the summit. About half way up we came across the hiker who had broken out the trail for us. We talked for a bit, thanked her for breaking out the trail, then continued on towards the ridge and summit. We got to the ridge as the sun was setting. There was still quite a bit of light, and it was snowing a bit. We continued on to get to the summit. Between the ridge and summit there were 4 or 5 blow downs we had to crawl under, none were bad. We actually walked right by the spot we were going to camp at, I completely missed it (it was getting darker at this point). We were both surprised to pop out onto the summit. I defiantly felt the elevation gain and full pack for the duration past the notch trail junction.
We walked around the summit for a couple minutes, then headed down and quickly found a camping spot. We didn't waste any time, we bundled up, got the stoves out to cook snow and make dinner, and set up the tent. We kept moving to stay warm. The first pot of boiling water went to hot cocoa, which was supreme as it was about 0f degrees out and making up camp was a bit chilly. The next pot of boiling water went to cooking pasta. For dinner, I had pre-cut up an onion, garlic, and some smoked salmon (I could smell these before taking them out of my pack
. We cooked this up with tarragon and black pepper and olive oil, with crushed red pepper flakes and parmesan cheese. An easy but good meal. As we ate, we continued to cook and boil snow, move around to stay warm, and got all our gear ready for the night. We boiled 3 bottles of water and put them in insulators. Two for sleeping bags warmers, and an extra just to have it. We crashed around 9:00pm, which was about an hour later than I would have liked. I hadn't camped out in winter since last year, so I wasn't as efficient as I should have been for cooking and working with the stoves and gear in the cold.
We got up just as the sun was coming into view on the tent. It was -10f degrees out. We decided to skip making breakfast, and instead chow down on gorp, drink water, pack everything up, and head down. Just before we were ready to go, we headed up to the summit. The views were absolutely amazing! It was cold and the wind was probably 20-30 mph, we headed up the tower and I took a few photos. We probably spent 5 minutes up there before we had to leave because of the cold. My only other time on this tower was this summer, and there was no view what so ever, so I was honestly stunned at the landscape. I will return here again when I can spend more time on the tower.
We headed down to our campsite, got our packs on, and headed down to the ridge. The blow downs were easier with the downward direction. Hmm, go figure! There was less wind on the ridge, and so we spent a bit of time there enjoying the sun and the view. Again, amazing!
On the way down we ran into rocksnrolls, PoisonIvy, una_dogger and MichaelJ. (I didn't know it was them at the time). Congrads to rocksnrolls for #48!! Great accomplishment, and what a superb day to do it. Well done!
From here, the rest of the trip was uneventful. We bare booted the whole way (sliding on our butts if needed to get past the icy spots). We had a couple breaks on the way down at the notch/signal ridge trail junction, as well as the trail head. Once back on the road we cruised back to the cars and were lucky to not see any snow machines till we hit the parking lot.
It took us 7 hours to get up the mountain, and 4 hours to get down. All in all this was a great trip. Great views, great conditions, great weather. Sweet weekend.
http://sopomedia.com/trips/2007/carrigain_02-2007/
We got started out of the parking lot at around 11:00am. This was a bit late, and I was to blame. I had some business and phone calls to deal with before I could get my pack on my back and out onto the trail.
The two mile hike to the trailhead was uneventful. There were a few snowmobiles that came up to us, but we weren't driven off the trail, so all was good. Came to the foundation by the river and wondered what it was in its previous life. I didn't remember seeing this the last time I was on the road this past summer.
Once at the trailhead we had lunch and drank some water, then started up the trail. The conditions were perfect. It was snow for 99.9 percent of the hike, with a little ice thrown in at a few places. We noticed early on that the trail had been broken out by someone who was bare booting it for most of the way. At about 1 mile into the trail we came up to a spot of ice and decided to put our crampons on (my first time for crampons this year). It was nice to be on some ice, even though it wasn't much. We continued to the notch and signal ridge trails junction, where we stopped and had some more gorp. This was all pretty easy hiking, even with a full pack on.
We headed up the Signal Ridge trail to get to the summit. About half way up we came across the hiker who had broken out the trail for us. We talked for a bit, thanked her for breaking out the trail, then continued on towards the ridge and summit. We got to the ridge as the sun was setting. There was still quite a bit of light, and it was snowing a bit. We continued on to get to the summit. Between the ridge and summit there were 4 or 5 blow downs we had to crawl under, none were bad. We actually walked right by the spot we were going to camp at, I completely missed it (it was getting darker at this point). We were both surprised to pop out onto the summit. I defiantly felt the elevation gain and full pack for the duration past the notch trail junction.
We walked around the summit for a couple minutes, then headed down and quickly found a camping spot. We didn't waste any time, we bundled up, got the stoves out to cook snow and make dinner, and set up the tent. We kept moving to stay warm. The first pot of boiling water went to hot cocoa, which was supreme as it was about 0f degrees out and making up camp was a bit chilly. The next pot of boiling water went to cooking pasta. For dinner, I had pre-cut up an onion, garlic, and some smoked salmon (I could smell these before taking them out of my pack
. We cooked this up with tarragon and black pepper and olive oil, with crushed red pepper flakes and parmesan cheese. An easy but good meal. As we ate, we continued to cook and boil snow, move around to stay warm, and got all our gear ready for the night. We boiled 3 bottles of water and put them in insulators. Two for sleeping bags warmers, and an extra just to have it. We crashed around 9:00pm, which was about an hour later than I would have liked. I hadn't camped out in winter since last year, so I wasn't as efficient as I should have been for cooking and working with the stoves and gear in the cold.We got up just as the sun was coming into view on the tent. It was -10f degrees out. We decided to skip making breakfast, and instead chow down on gorp, drink water, pack everything up, and head down. Just before we were ready to go, we headed up to the summit. The views were absolutely amazing! It was cold and the wind was probably 20-30 mph, we headed up the tower and I took a few photos. We probably spent 5 minutes up there before we had to leave because of the cold. My only other time on this tower was this summer, and there was no view what so ever, so I was honestly stunned at the landscape. I will return here again when I can spend more time on the tower.
We headed down to our campsite, got our packs on, and headed down to the ridge. The blow downs were easier with the downward direction. Hmm, go figure! There was less wind on the ridge, and so we spent a bit of time there enjoying the sun and the view. Again, amazing!
On the way down we ran into rocksnrolls, PoisonIvy, una_dogger and MichaelJ. (I didn't know it was them at the time). Congrads to rocksnrolls for #48!! Great accomplishment, and what a superb day to do it. Well done!
From here, the rest of the trip was uneventful. We bare booted the whole way (sliding on our butts if needed to get past the icy spots). We had a couple breaks on the way down at the notch/signal ridge trail junction, as well as the trail head. Once back on the road we cruised back to the cars and were lucky to not see any snow machines till we hit the parking lot.
It took us 7 hours to get up the mountain, and 4 hours to get down. All in all this was a great trip. Great views, great conditions, great weather. Sweet weekend.
