Hitting the Trails: 09/27/2013-09/28/2013 Mount Carrigain and the Pemigawasset Wilderness

09/27/2013-09/28/2013 Mount Carrigain and the Pemigawasset Wilderness

"The sunset, the sunrise and a 20 mile stroll"

09/27/2013 Signal Ridge Trail
09/28/2013 Desolation Trail / Carrigain Notch Trail / Shoal Pond Trail / Ethan Pond Trail / Thoreau Falls Trail / Wilderness Trail / Carrigain Notch Trail

Fri/Sat September 27/28 2013

Operation sunset/sunrise Mount Carrigain
Pemigawasset Wilderness Excursion

Weather forecast for the weekend was perfect, calling for clear skies and cool nights. After watching a sunset about a month ago from Venice Beach as the sun set below the horizon with both the ocean and the mountains in the background, I wanted to watch a sunset and sunset from a summit. A couple of months ago, Bobby and I ran into a guy at the Tilton McDonalds who talked about camping out at Carrigain to catch the sunrise. Since Carrigain offers spectacular views of practically all of the 4k footers and it has the fire tower, I decided to plan a night near the summit of Carrigain.

Took a half day at work and was on the road heading north around 1pm. Was a little concerned as the promised "clear skies" were nowhere to be seen on the drive up. Made a pit stop in Lincoln for some White Mountain Bagel goodness, then onto the trailhead at Sawyer River Road. Arrived at the trailhead around 3:30pm and the parking lot was fairly full, including a Forest Ranger pickup truck.

As I began the trek up the Signal Ridge Trail, the sun was poking through and it looked like the weather was getting better. Started to see some folks headed down from the summit about 3 miles into the 5 mile trip up. Got the word that a bunch of Forest Service folks were working on the fire tower making repairs. Kept climbing and bumped into about 6 Forest Service folks heading down, who were the last group of folks coming down from the summit.

Still had a ways to go and eventually hit the ridge and got some spectacular views. The cloud line was much higher than the horizon and one could see for many miles in every direction. The valleys were filled with color bursts of primarily yellows and oranges overtaking the green. Mount Washington was free of cloud cover.

Continued back into the tree line for the final push to the summit. Passed the water well and eventually reached the summit with about 45 minutes to sunset. I had just been to Carrigian last weekend on a bushwhack from Vose Spur, so I had scoped out some suitable campsites on the other side of the summit. Got camp set up, brewed a cup of coffee, then headed back to the fire tower to catch the sunset.

Once you get on top of that fire tower, it seems like the temperature drops 20 degrees when the wind is blowing. I had layered up, but I probably could have switched to a heavier pair of socks to keep those feet warm! The skies were already acquiring that pinkish, reddish hue. Met another guy on the tower who had the same idea as me. We both took in the sunset and snapped lots of photos. The visibility was the best I have seen it from Carrigain. We speculated on the location/identities of some very distant peaks. The sunset was amazing! The photos and video really don't capture how breathtaking the experience is, standing at 4500 feet in the middle of no where watching the red fire ball slowly dip below the horizon. The whole scene is peaceful and quiet except for the sound of the wind whipping around the tower. Once the sun dips out of sight, the clouds turn into amazing shades of gray and red and pink, spectacular!

It's around this time I realize my feet are pretty cold and I have a slightly runny nose from the wind. I hang around the tower for a while longer, then head back to camp to grab some grub and warm up with another cup of coffee. I switch to a heavier pair of socks and add another layer to head back to the fire tower to hang a bear bag. By now the skies are much darker and the first star is out and shining brightly. The only other lights visible are the distant lights from distant towns down below. With darkness setting in, it feels even colder on the tower. I want to wait to see the stars come out, but I decide to head back to camp and check out the view later.

Warm up in the tent and get a few hours of rest listening to the IPod. The wind picks up now and then throughout the night and it's chilly out there, but nice and warm in the tent. Get up around 3am for a bathroom break and decide to head back to the tower to check out the stars. Wow! I seems like I have never seen so many stars before, just awe inspiring. I'm no astronomer, and I vow once again to become better acquainted with knowledge of the constellations. I hunt around for the Big Dipper and it's actually hard to pick out with so many stars up there. Once I start getting cold, I head back to camp to catch a couple more hours of sleep before sunrise.

I set the alarm for about an hour before sunrise and I'm up and breaking down camp at 5:30am. Brew some coffee and head back to the tower for sunrise. There is already some red sky on the horizon. The temperature on top of the tower seems mile compared to last night. Eventually my friend from last night shows up and we take in the sunrise.

Enjoy the sunrise and eventually head back to camp to start a day down in the Pemigawasset Wilderness. Take one last look at the Franconia Ridge to the left and Mount Washington to the right before heading down the Desolation Trail. Last time I descended this trail, it was covered in snow, which led to a fair share of glissading. The descent wasn't too bad, there weren't really any tricky spots like some of the descent on Madison Gulf Trail. Having everything mostly dry didn't hurt either. Kept losing layers on the way down as the day began to warm up and was down to a short sleeve t-shirt and short pants by the time I reached the junction with the Carrigain Notch Trail. Continued on Carrigain Notch Trail towards Stillwater Junction. First time on this part of the trail. Passed some former campsites close to the trail and water which were now off limits for revegatation. Reached Stillwater Junction and soaked the feet to cross over to the Shoal Pond Trail. Got off-trail for a bit and found two pretty good campsites. Had to go through some marshy areas to get back on trail. Like most trails with "pond" in their name, many parts of this trail were fairly muddy. Also, some parts of the trail had some significant overgrowth. Every now and then the woods surrounding the trail would open up. Continued onto Shoal Pond and took a break. Onward to Ethan Pond Trail, crossed the bridge and headed towards Thoreau Falls Trail. Saw the first people of the day on the trail at the junction of Ethan Pond Trail and Thoreau Falls Trail. Headed to the Falls and noted how the water level was much lower than my visit here a couple of weeks ago. Crossed over the Falls and continued on Thoreau Falls Trail. Went off trail for a bit and came across the remnants of a logging camp with lots of rusty tools strewn about the woods. Crossed over the river and got back on the Thoreau Falls Trail. Hit the junction for the Wilderness Trail and passed some more interesting remnant including an old big rusty stove right next to the trail. Arrived back and Stillwater Junction, then continued on Carrigain Notch Trail back to the trailhead. Bumped into a couple of folks headed the other way. Ended up being about a 20 mile trek and got back to the car right around sunset.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1DCnIXMCmu4Qi1nczhiOW8yUWc/edit?usp=sharing

Link to Google Earth KMZ file of hike..