| Summary | |
| Owner | MITOC Gallery Administrator |
| Creation Date | 2006-06-18 23:37:11 UTC-0400 |
| Description |
Saturday: Carrigain via Signal Ridge and Desolation I had been eyeing Carrigain for a while and it was a beautiful day as I started from the Signal Ridge trailhead at 8:40. There were plenty of cars in the parking lot, so it was quite a surprise when a big bull moose went crashing across the trail ahead of me just a mile into the hike. Unfortunately, he ran off quicker than I could snag my camera but he was there, I promise!!! Apparently the Signal Ridge Trail was at one point an access road for the fire tower on Carrigain. This explained the flatness of the first two miles, but the last three certainly dont seem road-worthy to me. Anyway, the final three miles of the trail arent necessarily very steep, but they maintain a constant, tiring grade. The views from the crest of Signal Ridge were awesome. If it werent such a long hike in or so exposed the north side of the ridge would be nice skiing. Maybe a little snow would help too. I met a couple other hikers on the summit platform who were relaxing and soaking in the days warmth. Although Ive hiked many of the surrounding peaks in the whites, Carrigains 360-degree summit view completely astounded me. This may be my new favorite peak. With still plenty of daylight and no desire to hang around Intervale for several hours, I decided to descend via the longer, wilder Desolation Trail. This trail drops off the northwest side of the peak and loses nearly all its elevation within the first mile. Hence, it is what I like to call crazy steep. The remainder of the route back to the Signal Ridge trail is very flat and swampy except for the little section through Carrigain Notch. Surprisingly, I ran into a few hikers in those parts which helped take my mind off the fresh bear tracks that were going the same directions as I was down the trail. Not a good place to be hiking alone, although it did make me move pretty quick! I was very happy to be back a the Signal Ridge trail when I got there, and finished-off the hike quickly. Later that day I attempted a small peak up by Pinkham called Halls Ledge. My advice? Dont do it from NH16. It is quite overgrown, there are not many views, and hardly anyone travels it. Anyway, a great day overall and I was very thankful not to have run into any more bear. The moose was cool though! |