NH_Mtn_Hiker
New member
Dr. Wu and I headed out on the Signal Ridge Trail at 8:15. The object of this hike was to bushwhack to Carrigain Pond from the Desolation Trail on the backside of Mt. Carrigain, then summit The Captain and Mt. Carrigain returning via the Signal Ridge Trail. Dr. Wu wanted to be back at the car by 6:00 so we made few stops for food or pics. We took the Carrigain Notch Trail over the height of land past Lowell to the junction with the Desolation Trail. The Carrigain Notch trail had lots of blowdowns beyond the rock where the bushwhacks for Vose Spur begin and all the stream crossings were easy.
We climbed the Desolation trail to about 2850' where at about 10:45 we observed a faint herd path leaving the right side. This was about where he had planned to start our bushwhack so we left the trail and made our way south-west over the top of the ridge to the Carrigain Branch Ravine. We then traversed the north side of the ravine slowly gaining elevation as we made our way towards Carrigain Pond. By 3:30 we still hadn't reached the pond and it was clear we wouldn't be getting out by 6:00. The biggest problem we were having was the blowdowns, we just couldn't get away the them. Repeatedly we had to backtrack around real thick areas to find navigatable terrain. At around 4:00 we decided to give up on the Captain and just try to get out to a trail before dark. We considered several possible escape routes and eventually decided to head for the pond, then to the Carrigain/Captain col. As we approached the pond from the north we arrived at about a 150' high cliff...again we backtracked and eventually descended steep terrain to arrive on the northwest corner of the pond about halfway between the cliff and the beaver dam on the west end.
At the pond we were faced with another problem...well, it was more like a repeat of the earlier problems. There was no herd path around this side of the pond as expected and bushwhacking around was going to be very slow. I could see that the south side of the pond from the beaver pond to the col was fairly open, but how would we get over there. We still had too long of a hike ahead of us to risk getting our shoes soaked walking around the ponds edge. Then I had a brainstorm,
remove our shoes and socks and walk around at the ponds edge to the beaver dam. It sounded like a good idea. As I was strapping my Stabilicers to my bare feet, easier said than done, Dr. Wu was putting sandals on his feet. I stepped into the water, which was very cold, and headed for the beaver dam. The water was really cold. I got about 25 feet and as the pain in my nearly frozen feet became unbearable I headed for shore because that water was just too #%&@$^ cold! I yelled to Dr. Wu not to get in the water, it was wayyy tooo cold. We put our shoes back on and after Dr. Wu made his way over to where I was, we continued to force-whack our way to the beaver dam. It took about 10 minutes to cover 150'.
We crossed the beaver dam with ease and made our way along the herd path on the south side of the pond past the campsite and towards the col between The Captain and Mt. Carrigain. Since we were both down to a liter or less of water, soda for me, we decided to get some water from a small stream along the way in case either of us ran out. I had iodine tablets in my first-aid kit should we need to treat and drink the water. We then made our way over the col to the east and attempted to descend into the bowl.
I had heard there was a cliff in the bowl on that north-west corner that was difficult to get around. As it turns out there is a series of cliffs all around the corner and after wasting nearly an hour trying to get around them we realized that our only way out was to try and reach the Signal Ridge Trail between the summit (4700') and the western end of the Signal Ridge (about 4200') which was nearly a mile away and we were only at 3350'. We had only been averaging about 1/4 mph thus far, and it was now 6:00. We started climbing.
Fortunately the woods were a little more open on this, the eastern side of the ridge than they had been on the other side, and more noticeably there were far fewer blowdowns on this side. We stopped to put our Stabilicers on because the sporadic ice we'd been encountering since we past 3200' had now become almost continuous. We climbed on...past 3500'...3800'...4200'. Somewhere above 4200' we realized we weren't going to pick up the trail near the west end of Signal ridge and that we'd have to hit it just below the summit. This was due to the deep ravine that separated the south ridge from Signal Ridge, but fortunately the woods were opening up more and more the higher we climbed.
We hit 4400' at about 7:15, just 1/2 hour till sunset. Dr. Wu announced he was out of water so I took out the 2/3 liter I had got at the brook and then removed the capsule from my first-aid kit that contained the iodine and neutralizer tablets. When I opened it up it appeared at some point during the last few months the tablets had gotten wet. Though the two different types were separated with a piece of cotton, all had turned white and were sticking together, and I was unable to tell which were which. Dr. Wu decided to risk it without the iodine. As of this afternoon he was still alive.
Beyond 4400' it was obvious we were on a herd path and we continued at a fairly quick pace till we reached a campsite. Dr. Wu identified this as the South summit...only about 150 yds to the tower. We reached the tower on the summit of Mt. Carrigain just a few minutes before sunset, chatted with a camper next to the tower and took a few pics. It was clear we were both very thankful not be bushwhacking through impenetrable spruce in the dark as we had thought we might be.
The trip down the Signal Ridge Trail seemed to go fairly quickly to me. After having taken 11 1/2 hours to summit Carrigain, we were back at the parking lot around 10:15.(I think) It was a long and tiring hike, but well worth it...and I finally got to meet the legendary...or is it nortorious Dr. Wu.
You escaped us this time Captain, but we'll be back!
My pics are here.
We climbed the Desolation trail to about 2850' where at about 10:45 we observed a faint herd path leaving the right side. This was about where he had planned to start our bushwhack so we left the trail and made our way south-west over the top of the ridge to the Carrigain Branch Ravine. We then traversed the north side of the ravine slowly gaining elevation as we made our way towards Carrigain Pond. By 3:30 we still hadn't reached the pond and it was clear we wouldn't be getting out by 6:00. The biggest problem we were having was the blowdowns, we just couldn't get away the them. Repeatedly we had to backtrack around real thick areas to find navigatable terrain. At around 4:00 we decided to give up on the Captain and just try to get out to a trail before dark. We considered several possible escape routes and eventually decided to head for the pond, then to the Carrigain/Captain col. As we approached the pond from the north we arrived at about a 150' high cliff...again we backtracked and eventually descended steep terrain to arrive on the northwest corner of the pond about halfway between the cliff and the beaver dam on the west end.
At the pond we were faced with another problem...well, it was more like a repeat of the earlier problems. There was no herd path around this side of the pond as expected and bushwhacking around was going to be very slow. I could see that the south side of the pond from the beaver pond to the col was fairly open, but how would we get over there. We still had too long of a hike ahead of us to risk getting our shoes soaked walking around the ponds edge. Then I had a brainstorm,
remove our shoes and socks and walk around at the ponds edge to the beaver dam. It sounded like a good idea. As I was strapping my Stabilicers to my bare feet, easier said than done, Dr. Wu was putting sandals on his feet. I stepped into the water, which was very cold, and headed for the beaver dam. The water was really cold. I got about 25 feet and as the pain in my nearly frozen feet became unbearable I headed for shore because that water was just too #%&@$^ cold! I yelled to Dr. Wu not to get in the water, it was wayyy tooo cold. We put our shoes back on and after Dr. Wu made his way over to where I was, we continued to force-whack our way to the beaver dam. It took about 10 minutes to cover 150'.We crossed the beaver dam with ease and made our way along the herd path on the south side of the pond past the campsite and towards the col between The Captain and Mt. Carrigain. Since we were both down to a liter or less of water, soda for me, we decided to get some water from a small stream along the way in case either of us ran out. I had iodine tablets in my first-aid kit should we need to treat and drink the water. We then made our way over the col to the east and attempted to descend into the bowl.
I had heard there was a cliff in the bowl on that north-west corner that was difficult to get around. As it turns out there is a series of cliffs all around the corner and after wasting nearly an hour trying to get around them we realized that our only way out was to try and reach the Signal Ridge Trail between the summit (4700') and the western end of the Signal Ridge (about 4200') which was nearly a mile away and we were only at 3350'. We had only been averaging about 1/4 mph thus far, and it was now 6:00. We started climbing.
Fortunately the woods were a little more open on this, the eastern side of the ridge than they had been on the other side, and more noticeably there were far fewer blowdowns on this side. We stopped to put our Stabilicers on because the sporadic ice we'd been encountering since we past 3200' had now become almost continuous. We climbed on...past 3500'...3800'...4200'. Somewhere above 4200' we realized we weren't going to pick up the trail near the west end of Signal ridge and that we'd have to hit it just below the summit. This was due to the deep ravine that separated the south ridge from Signal Ridge, but fortunately the woods were opening up more and more the higher we climbed.
We hit 4400' at about 7:15, just 1/2 hour till sunset. Dr. Wu announced he was out of water so I took out the 2/3 liter I had got at the brook and then removed the capsule from my first-aid kit that contained the iodine and neutralizer tablets. When I opened it up it appeared at some point during the last few months the tablets had gotten wet. Though the two different types were separated with a piece of cotton, all had turned white and were sticking together, and I was unable to tell which were which. Dr. Wu decided to risk it without the iodine. As of this afternoon he was still alive.
Beyond 4400' it was obvious we were on a herd path and we continued at a fairly quick pace till we reached a campsite. Dr. Wu identified this as the South summit...only about 150 yds to the tower. We reached the tower on the summit of Mt. Carrigain just a few minutes before sunset, chatted with a camper next to the tower and took a few pics. It was clear we were both very thankful not be bushwhacking through impenetrable spruce in the dark as we had thought we might be.
The trip down the Signal Ridge Trail seemed to go fairly quickly to me. After having taken 11 1/2 hours to summit Carrigain, we were back at the parking lot around 10:15.(I think) It was a long and tiring hike, but well worth it...and I finally got to meet the legendary...or is it nortorious Dr. Wu.
You escaped us this time Captain, but we'll be back!
My pics are here.
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