Hitting the Trails: April 2014

Saturday 04/12/2014

Mount Carrigain

Sawyer River Road / Signal Ridge Trail

A beautiful, sunny, warm day on the mountain. Still plenty of snow. Barebooted on Sawyer River Road (which is closed and still covered with snow/ice and added a total of another 4 miles to the trip), then slapped on the snowshoes for the rest of the day (except for a long break on the fire tower). Conditions were great the whole way. I broke trail for the entire trip, which takes a lot of energy! Had some fun tracking down some twists and turn on the trail. No need for a hat or gloves the whole day. Had the summit to myself and I lounged on the fire tower taking in the amazing views to include the snow covered peaks of Mount Washington and the Franconia Ridge. Also laid back and just watched the wispy, sporadic clouds roll by. Desolation Trail hasn't seen any traffic in a while.

As I made my way down, two guys passed me headed to the summit (saw no one else all day). I had my overnight gear and the deciding factor to make it a day trip was the rain forecast for the early morning hours of Sunday (maybe next week). About a 15.5 mile round trip, which takes much more effort in the snow. Started around 8am and was back at the car 5:30pm.