Charlie Anderson and Fred Knight were so excited about
the hike that they both woke up in the middle of the
night and couldn't go back to sleep for awhile. Then,
for me, it was time to get up all too soon
after I finally fell back asleep. The drive up
took 3 hours in the new van, with satellite
radio. Reaching the Signal Ridge Trail trailhead required a
2-mile stroll on the Sawyer River Road,
impassable because of a washout of 90% of the
roadway at a stream crossing about a mile in. The
trail had only a gentle upslope for the first
1.7 miles. The early stream
crossings were fun; no wet feet or spills.
After the split, the trail steepened, but small
switchbacks kept the going bearable on the
final ascent. That long leg in the middle was
indeed long! We met a few other hikers, one of
whom was completing his 48 NH 4000'ers.
(Well, we actually were told this by his
hiking partners who said he was still
celebrating at the top, but we never actually
saw him. A mystery.) We also greeted three
guys who had spent the night out, having
bushwhacked on Friday from the Nancy Pond area. Wow!
We continued to hope for breaking clouds, but there
was little blue sky. At the top, we were
completely socked in while we ate our lunch of
potato-leek soup (Thanks, Melanie!) from the
thermos, Honey Pot Honey Crisp apple, and New
Zealand ginger snaps (Very snappy!).
We took the same 4 hours down as up. Not sure
why. The clouds parted somewhat, but there
was a gentle mist coming down late in the
hike. Book time up inthe AMC Guide is 4:10 for the trail part,
so we were under that (3:20 subtracting 40
minutes on the road.). However, the RT book
time is 6:40 (
here ), which is what we did. (So
quit boasting, Fred!)
Mt Carrigain was my 29th 4000'er. Next is
Galehead. Then we are into winter and fun
with the
snow. Everybody's excited about that.
Summary: 14 miles (4 on road), 3200' rise on trail
plus 600' on road
to Mt Carrigain summit at 4700',
8:25 start; 4:55 finish
Don't forget to click on those photos and the map.
Sawyer River Road, washout, 1 mile in
Road is closed, 2-mile walk to trailhead
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Only fork in the road, only 400' rise, 2800' to go
Very wide trial up until the split
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Mt Carriagain, post lunch of potato-leek soup
4 hours up,into the fog,no views
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Ready to return, a few snow flurries, no accumlation
We reached the summit shrouded in clouds,donned our warmer gear and had lunch
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Slight clearing on the way down
We a few hazy vistas from the upper switchbacks
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Trial looked steeper ont he map, which didn't show the switchbacks
Trail was fairly clear of boulders.
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Stopping for a view, ~1 mile below summit
Looking NE toward the Presidentials
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Brook on the lower trail
We had a few creek crossings,all without mishap
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Coming back down Sawyer River Road
Other than the washout,the road is intact,an easy ending
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