Mt. Carrigain - 12/3/11

It was such a beautiful late fall day on Saturday for our hike to Mt. Carrigain. It was crystal clear, with not a cloud in the sky, but it was brisk and chilly hovering around freezing all day. Given the fact the Sawyer River Road is closed, we thought we would try something a little different so we brought the mountain bikes out one last time this year to help cut our time down on the road.

It sure was a tough pedal up the road on the way in to the Signal Ridge Trail, but it was good because it got us warmed up for the trek up the trail. We passed the large washout and some parked construction vehicles, so perhaps they will start repairing the road soon. We left our bikes behind a big rock in the woods near the parking area across from the trailhead.

Mountain biking Sawyer River Road to SRT

Bill leads the way carefully past the washout

We walked up to the trail head where a small group was waking up in their tents. Of all of the available places to set up a tent, the group's two tents were pitched right in front of the signs at start of the trail, so we passed by taking care to not to trip over their tents. But, we said good morning to one of them, and we got a "see you up there". At the beginning, the trail is pretty flat. A light dusting of snow pellets sporadically blanketed the cracks in the rocks or on the leaves at the beginning and throughout our hike, but there was no accumulated snow at all. Last time I hiked Carrigain, the crossings were a non-factor, but this time, they were pretty testing. Instead of crossing in our bare feet, we found a slightly easier spot to cross up river, but the rocks were coated with ice, so it wasn't easy. At the second crossing near the trail junction, we each opted for a different crossing point, but again the rocks were slippery and there were floating logs in the bog.

I don't think so...

After the two crossings, the trail ascends gradually all of the way to Signal Ridge. Along the way, the cliffs of Mt. Lowell became visible. It was cool to look out and the surroundings and check the progress of our ascent. Once we were above Mt. Lowell, we knew we were getting closer. The dusting of snow on the trail with the sun beaming through the trees made us not even think of the grueling gradual ascent.

Mt. Lowell through the trees on Signal Ridge Trail

Signal Ridge Trail

We exited the trees onto the exposed Signal Ridge to incredible clear views of Mt. Washington, the Presidentials, and Mt. Lowell. Knowing the same views and more would be at the top, we pushed on back into the trees and reached the summit a few minutes later.

From Signal Ridge

Me with my foot on the summit

On the summit, there was no wind, and it was quiet. Bill had a grin from ear to ear as we both looked around in amazement of Carrigain's views. When it is as beautiful it was, sometimes, there's no reason to talk about it, but to just take it in. We sat down, checked the time, had some crackers, chocolate, and some warm green tea. Carrigain was Bill's 41st of 2011, and now has seven more to go! This was my 78th NH 4000-footer of 2011, and because I started my original quest in January, its the first 4000-footer I've ever climbed in December!

Franconia Ridge and Owl's Head

Signal Ridge and south

Willey Range, Presidentials, and many more!

Sunny summit photo, ready to descend

The descent was straightforward and fun. Along with some breaks, we covered good segments of trail pretty quickly. Again the river crossings were fun. You can see the ice on this log, and the volume of water running underneath it.

Bill crosses an icy log

Although I couldn't record every part of the crossings because of the icy rocks, here is some footage showing what it took to get across.

Once we were done with that, we made our way out the last little bit of rocky damaged trail to the road. We felt great as we went into the woods to retrieve our mountain bikes. This was such a great trip. We were so excited for the ride out on our bikes, as it would be a 2 mile descent! I have never gone faster on my mountain bike; I was thrilled to mix it up a bit. Here's some video (but sorry about the poor angle, I was going way too fast to pay attention to the camera):

Hike Stats

Trails: Sawyer River Road (mtn bike), Signal Ridge Trail

Distance: 14 mi (including road)

Elevation Gain: 3800 feet

Book Time: 6hrs 45min

To view the full album from this hike, view or click on the slide show below.