High Cabin Adventure

Saturday I turned 48 in a cabin at the top of a mountain. The two days at Mt Cardigan were full of good fun, good food, good drinks, and good people--a lot like the previous 47 years, 364 days of my life.

The whole crew posing in front of the High Cabin. Phillip, Pauline, Sunny, Tom, Josh, Ulandt, Mario, John.

Good people. Half these people I was meeting for the first time, and my longest acquaintance was a year, but what an excellent group to hang with. Fun, adventurous, smart. And fit too! Pauline is a yoga instructor, Ulandt a ski instructor. Mario travels around the world to surf with sharks. John runs marathons in 3:02. Tom skates from NYC to DC. Josh wrestles guys 20 years younger and 50 pounds heavier, and does triathlons. Sunny does triathlons too. Acutally, it seemed like everyone but me and Mario does triathlons. But that's okay, they were still fun to hang with. And my claim to fame? First descents by sled from the summits of Mt Cardigan and Horn Pond Mountain.

Friday was overcast with light sprinkles and freezing rain in the forecast. Appropriate weather for the drudgery of hauling all the supplies up the mountain to the high cabin.

Hmmm, this ain't so bad... Josh with a fully loaded sled on the flat section at the bottom.

The trail starts to get steeper and is about to get all off-camber on us. Mario with a heavy pack and snowboard. Plus a sled loaded with firewood and chili.

Mario's sled had two heavy bundles of firewood needed to keep us warm and toasty through the winter night. Then the trail started to get steeper. But it was the tricky off-camber section that really wore us out. The sleds kept slipping off the trail and dumping the supplies down the slope towards the creek. Wading through the waist-deep snow to retrieve the 12-pack of SmuttyNose, I decided I'd had enough. We left half the supplies in a pile next to the trail and pushed on (pulled on?) with much lighter sleds. Good decision, as the trail got much steeper as we neared the cabin.

Luckily this was near the top. I don't look like I could go much further.

Snack time. Mario and Josh take a break between loads. You know what would taste great with these Doritos? Those beers lying next to the trail half way down the mountain.

The payoff for all that hiking: Mario making turns on the Alexandria ski trail.

Josh looking rad on the Mad River Rocket. Sleds were made to go down, not up.

Pauline, Sunny, John and Tom at the Crew Bridge. Soon they will discover the cache we left for them to carry up to the cabin.

Tom won the prize for heaviest pack. I couldn't even lift it.

I like maps. And compasses. But I was still glad to hear them yell, "Phil, the trails over here" after my sled shortcut left me bushwhacking through dense forest.

Summit at sundown: Ulandt, Pauline, John, Phillip.

Good drinks. I thought a bottle of red and a bottle of white would be good with cheese and crackers before dinner. Josh thought a single malt would be good around the wood stove. Sunny preferred spiced rum in a hip flask. John likes port and Tom goes for brandy. Ulandt and Pauline brought wine in a box. Oh yeah, and everyone likes a cold one after hiking. Plus lots of water. And cocoa, tea, even espresso. The door's squeaky hinges woke us several times that night as people snuck out to water the forest.

We talked about watching the sun rise from the summit. Then we stayed up late playing Bananagrams instead. I did make it to PJ Ledge in time to do the daily dozen, but the sun slept in.

Good food. Cheese (Mancebo, Asiago, Jarlsburg, Camembert, aged goat cheese,...) and crackers. Also Italian cheese bread. Chili and cornbread for dinner. Dark chocolate, crystallized ginger, ginger covered in dark chocolate, almonds. Doritos (yum) and chips. Bagels with creme cheese and lox for breakfast. Also omelettes, and espresso and tea. Bananas and Mineolas. Good thing we were playing hard whenever we weren't eating.

Tom and Mario on South Peak. The sun came out and it was a beautiful day.

Phillip lugged his sled all around the top of the mountain, braving high winds and encroaching tree branches. The payoff was the best sledding on the mountain just above the fire warden's cabin.

Phillip almost gets air on his Mad River Rocket.

The chickadee is not impressed.

After the morning hike, everyone headed in different directions. Mario took his snowboard down Alexandria's and then hiked up Firescrew to ride Dukes. Josh and Phillip piled gear and trash on their sleds and rode them down to the parking lot, stowed everything in the car, then relaxed in the base lodge for awhile. Later we joined Pauline, Sunny, and Ulandt for a short x-country ski trip out and back on the Z93 trail near the base lodge. Most fun I've had on skinny skis since that day in Tetons National Park. Well, except for that and the day in Yellowstone. Anyhow, it was a lot more fun than skiing at the local golf course.

Josh gets in a little x-country skiing before heading home to play tennis.

Ulandt led some of us on an excellent ski trip up and down Z93.

Emerging from the woods with the AMC base lodge in the background.

More photos:

• Sunny's photos.
• John's photos.
• Ulandt's photos.
• Phillip's photos.

Lessons learned:

• A sled with a tow rope is not a pulk. Need rigid tow poles and better tiedown system.
• Lighten the load. Sleds don't have special anti-gravity powers.
• Beer in cans, wine in boxes. Glass is heavy. Could have saved 8.5 pounds.
• AudioBooks on iPod. Magazines are heavy and it's hard to read by candelight. Could have saved 2.5 pounds.
• Avoid duplicates. Two people brought corkscrews. Could have saved 2.5 ounces.
• Triathletes are serious about their Bananagrams.
  
• AT ski boots are not hiking boots.
  
• Pack it in; pack it out. I rode my sled back down sitting on a bag of trash. Felt sort of like the Grinch returning all the toys to Whoville.
• Single stream recycling is gross when you are the one separating the streams. At the cabin we threw all the trash into one big bag. Today I separated the bottles from the plastic, and added the kitchen scraps and paper towels to my compost pile. Everything was coated in olive oil and coffee grounds. Yuk.