Sunday, 2/12/17, 7:45AM
Because of the weather forecast of near gale force winds and 11" of snow, I was worried I might not be able to finish this hike. I asked John about it as we hiked down from Willey yesterday, and he reminded me that the hike would be sheltered by trees except for the short stretch across the ridge and the clearing around the fire tower at the summit.
Turns out that the weather was no problem at all. There was a slight breeze on the ridge and moderate wind at the summit. It didn't start snowing until I got back to the parking lot.
I XC skied the 2 miles from Rte 302 up Sawyer River Rd to the summer trailhead, then snowshoed to the summit and retraced my steps back to the car.
I only saw 6 other people on the trail. I caught up with Joe and Dominic at the summer trailhead. Then met 2 guys coming down from the summit where they had camped overnight (and saw them again back at the parking lot). Then as I was coming down off the ridge I met two guys with big, bushy beards (copper colored) heading up.
The hike was no problem, but the drive home was horrendous. The roads were slippery and traffic slow. Waze predicted 2h45m but it took 5 hours. I made the mistake of following Waze's suggested route back on Rte 16 and got stuck behind cars travelling at 20mph. I finally got on I-95 and nearly crashed. The car fishtailed so badly I was almost perpendicular to the road 3 times before recovering. Fortunately, there were no cars anywhere near me, but it took a long time for my blood pressure to return to normal. Time to buy snow tires!
An overview of my Single Season Winter 48 with links to all the trip reports is here.
Ready to ski up Sawyer River Rd to the summer trailhead. The road is closed and unplowed in the winter. It is used by snowmobilers, snowshoers, and skiers.
Good to go!
Sawyer River Rd looks like this for 2 miles to the summer parking lot for Signal Ridge Tr to the summit of Carrigain. On the way back, a group of 5 snowmobiles passed me going the other way. These new snowmobiles are so quiet, I wouldn't have heard them if they came up behind me.
I didn't take many pictures on the way to the summit. I was concerned about getting up and down before the high winds and heavy snow moved in. The trail goes like this: 2 miles on the closed road; 2 miles on a gently sloping trail; 2.2 miles along a fairly steep trail (it's a narrow trail with the woods dropping off steeply on one side and rising steeply on the other); 0.2 miles along the exposed ridge (don't slip here, the ridge is narrow and you would slide a long way down if you fell); followed by a steep climb the last 0.4 miles to the summit. (I took lots of photos on the return so you can see what I mean below.)
By the way, my hiked was only 6.8 miles to the summit rather than the expected 7.0 miles. Comparing my track to the official route, I see that the snowshoe track cuts off a jog that takes you to the Carrigain Notch Tr.
On top of Mount Carrigain. Cold and windy. Looks like my zipper is frozen in the up position. Whoops. I tried to fix my hair, but guess that is frozen also.
The wind was literally howling through the fire tower supports. It wasn't too bad on the ground, and I had no reason to climb the tower. I couldn't see the views as well from ground level as I couldn't see them from the top of the tower.
These trail signs are usually shoulder height, but this one was buried in the snow. So the snow pack at the summit must be about 5 feet deep.
Going back across Signal Ridge. Supposedly the ridge offers an amazing view of Carrigain Notch, but I've only seen it in photos. Both times I've been up there, I was in a cloud. I could see just enough to tell that slipping off the ridge would be a bad idea.
I like the light in this photo better, but included the one above because it gives and idea of how steeply the ridge drops off to the east.
Across the ridge safely and back in the trees. The 6.2 miles back to the car is sheltered from the wind and snow.
I met two amazing hikers today. I caught up with them just before we reached the summer parking lot on Sawyer River Rd. As we were all taking off our skis and putting on our snowshoes, Joe from Jackson told me he had hiked and run all the 4Ks. Now he was trying to ski all the 4Ks. His friend, Dominic from Manhattan was working on his winter 48. He said he had 12 more to go. I put my skis behind a tree and took off. I didn't see them again until I was nearly back to the flat part of the trail. They had just started up the steep part and had another 2.2 miles to the summit according to my GaiaGps app.
We chatted for awhile. I asked Joe about peak skiing. He skins up and skis down. Peaks like Carrigain are the hardest because there isn't a good alternative to skiing the narrow hiking trail. He said he crashed a lot when he skied Carrigain. Mt Washington was one of the easiest because he could ski the bowl. I asked about Mt Madison because it is nothing but a pile of boulders even in the winter because the wind scours the snow from the summit. Joe agreed and said he is still waiting for the right conditions to ski Madison and Adams. He said he won't ski straight up the hiking trail from Madison hut to Madison peak. Rather he will go around the back of the mountain where there is a drainage he can ski up and back down.
I thought Joe was pretty extreme. Then I figured out that Joe was wearing bear bells was so Dominic could follow him as they skied up the road and then hiked up the mountain. Dominic was blind and has hiked 36 of the NH Four-Thousand Footers in the winter.
To add to the awesomeness of their exploits, Joe and Dominic had set up their tent here, so they could summit, then spend the night on the mountain in a blizzard.
Aah! The 2-mile flat trail back to the road.
The last obstacle. A river crossing made possible by conveniently placed stones and hiking poles for balance.
Back at the summer parking lot. As I left them, Joe yelled back to me that he hid my skis for me. Fortunately, he was just joking and my skis were still sticking out of the snow behind a tree. I saw another set of tracks going into the woods, followed them and stepped on Joe and Dominic's skis totally hidden in the snow. I hope they found them on Monday morning after another 11" was dumped on top of their skis and their tracks leading to the skis.
Because of the weather forecast of near gale force winds and 11" of snow, I was worried I might not be able to finish this hike. I asked John about it as we hiked down from Willey yesterday, and he reminded me that the hike would be sheltered by trees except for the short stretch across the ridge and the clearing around the fire tower at the summit.
Turns out that the weather was no problem at all. There was a slight breeze on the ridge and moderate wind at the summit. It didn't start snowing until I got back to the parking lot.
I XC skied the 2 miles from Rte 302 up Sawyer River Rd to the summer trailhead, then snowshoed to the summit and retraced my steps back to the car.
I only saw 6 other people on the trail. I caught up with Joe and Dominic at the summer trailhead. Then met 2 guys coming down from the summit where they had camped overnight (and saw them again back at the parking lot). Then as I was coming down off the ridge I met two guys with big, bushy beards (copper colored) heading up.
The hike was no problem, but the drive home was horrendous. The roads were slippery and traffic slow. Waze predicted 2h45m but it took 5 hours. I made the mistake of following Waze's suggested route back on Rte 16 and got stuck behind cars travelling at 20mph. I finally got on I-95 and nearly crashed. The car fishtailed so badly I was almost perpendicular to the road 3 times before recovering. Fortunately, there were no cars anywhere near me, but it took a long time for my blood pressure to return to normal. Time to buy snow tires!
Stats:
- Peaks: Carrigain
- Weather: Forecast was 14F, 30mph, heavy snow. Actually cold (14F) but only windy on summit and no snow until the drive home.
- Parked: winter lot on Rte 302
- Trails: Sawyer River Rd, Signal Ridge Tr, and back
- Time: 6h17m
- Distance: 13.7mi
- Track: GaiaGps
An overview of my Single Season Winter 48 with links to all the trip reports is here.
Ready to ski up Sawyer River Rd to the summer trailhead. The road is closed and unplowed in the winter. It is used by snowmobilers, snowshoers, and skiers.
Good to go!
Sawyer River Rd looks like this for 2 miles to the summer parking lot for Signal Ridge Tr to the summit of Carrigain. On the way back, a group of 5 snowmobiles passed me going the other way. These new snowmobiles are so quiet, I wouldn't have heard them if they came up behind me.
I didn't take many pictures on the way to the summit. I was concerned about getting up and down before the high winds and heavy snow moved in. The trail goes like this: 2 miles on the closed road; 2 miles on a gently sloping trail; 2.2 miles along a fairly steep trail (it's a narrow trail with the woods dropping off steeply on one side and rising steeply on the other); 0.2 miles along the exposed ridge (don't slip here, the ridge is narrow and you would slide a long way down if you fell); followed by a steep climb the last 0.4 miles to the summit. (I took lots of photos on the return so you can see what I mean below.)
By the way, my hiked was only 6.8 miles to the summit rather than the expected 7.0 miles. Comparing my track to the official route, I see that the snowshoe track cuts off a jog that takes you to the Carrigain Notch Tr.
On top of Mount Carrigain. Cold and windy. Looks like my zipper is frozen in the up position. Whoops. I tried to fix my hair, but guess that is frozen also.
The wind was literally howling through the fire tower supports. It wasn't too bad on the ground, and I had no reason to climb the tower. I couldn't see the views as well from ground level as I couldn't see them from the top of the tower.
These trail signs are usually shoulder height, but this one was buried in the snow. So the snow pack at the summit must be about 5 feet deep.
Going back across Signal Ridge. Supposedly the ridge offers an amazing view of Carrigain Notch, but I've only seen it in photos. Both times I've been up there, I was in a cloud. I could see just enough to tell that slipping off the ridge would be a bad idea.
I like the light in this photo better, but included the one above because it gives and idea of how steeply the ridge drops off to the east.
Across the ridge safely and back in the trees. The 6.2 miles back to the car is sheltered from the wind and snow.
I met two amazing hikers today. I caught up with them just before we reached the summer parking lot on Sawyer River Rd. As we were all taking off our skis and putting on our snowshoes, Joe from Jackson told me he had hiked and run all the 4Ks. Now he was trying to ski all the 4Ks. His friend, Dominic from Manhattan was working on his winter 48. He said he had 12 more to go. I put my skis behind a tree and took off. I didn't see them again until I was nearly back to the flat part of the trail. They had just started up the steep part and had another 2.2 miles to the summit according to my GaiaGps app.
We chatted for awhile. I asked Joe about peak skiing. He skins up and skis down. Peaks like Carrigain are the hardest because there isn't a good alternative to skiing the narrow hiking trail. He said he crashed a lot when he skied Carrigain. Mt Washington was one of the easiest because he could ski the bowl. I asked about Mt Madison because it is nothing but a pile of boulders even in the winter because the wind scours the snow from the summit. Joe agreed and said he is still waiting for the right conditions to ski Madison and Adams. He said he won't ski straight up the hiking trail from Madison hut to Madison peak. Rather he will go around the back of the mountain where there is a drainage he can ski up and back down.
I thought Joe was pretty extreme. Then I figured out that Joe was wearing bear bells was so Dominic could follow him as they skied up the road and then hiked up the mountain. Dominic was blind and has hiked 36 of the NH Four-Thousand Footers in the winter.
To add to the awesomeness of their exploits, Joe and Dominic had set up their tent here, so they could summit, then spend the night on the mountain in a blizzard.
Aah! The 2-mile flat trail back to the road.
The last obstacle. A river crossing made possible by conveniently placed stones and hiking poles for balance.
Back at the summer parking lot. As I left them, Joe yelled back to me that he hid my skis for me. Fortunately, he was just joking and my skis were still sticking out of the snow behind a tree. I saw another set of tracks going into the woods, followed them and stepped on Joe and Dominic's skis totally hidden in the snow. I hope they found them on Monday morning after another 11" was dumped on top of their skis and their tracks leading to the skis.
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