Mt. Carragain

May 4th: Mt. Carragain

Miles: ~18

Always look both ways before crossing the street, always make sure that you have 10 dollars on you "just in case" and ALWAYS be prepared for the worst when hiking in the Whites, especially in the spring. This was supposed to be a nice, simple hike with John L and Garry G the long way around Carrigain, up to the summit and then back down to the car. Such was not the case.

John and I are going to be attempting a really long hike later this year and we wanted to get out for a couple of longer hikes to prepare ourselves. This Saturday hike was the first of two hikes on this weekend and was supposed to be the easy hike. While the total distance was 17 miles, 4 of that was a road walk and several trail miles are a flat traverse around the base of the mountain. It was a gorgeous day, what could go wrong? As almost an afterthought, we decided to bring along our snowshoes.

We actually felt pretty silly at first, since there was no snow to be seen but we were all lugging our snowshoes up the dry dirt road. It wasn't long before we arrived at the trailhead for the Signal Ridge Trail and started in on the long climb. For the first mile or so, the trail follows a nice mountain brook with several swimming holes and nice campsites. So far, no snow was to be seen.

After two miles of trail hiking, we hit our first trail junction with the Carrigain Notch Trail. Instead of heading straight up the mountain, we were bearing right to flank the mountain and pass through a narrow notch between Vose Spur and Mt Lowell. At this point, we started to run into some snow, but nothing much more than a few inches. We also were treated to a few nice views as well. The trail climbed gradually all the way to the Notch, where it started down again. That is when the fun started.

At some point, we lost the actual trail and ended up walking on an old woods road, which we only realized when the trail deteriorated to the point that it was no longer passable. Not wanting to backtrack who knows how far, and knowing that we were not that far off track, we started to poke around in the woods for the real trail. Instead of finding the trail, we found a small, open swamp that allowed us to enjoy some really great views of Carrigain and Vose Spur. While I was taking pictured, Garry and John were studying furiously trying to figure out where we were, and more importantly which way to go. After some discussion, we made our decision and started hiking towards where we hoped the trail was located.

We had to start and stop several times, consulting the map and compass, trying to determine our location, but we finally got back to the Carrigain Notch Trail. Down at this elevation, the trail was again bare which made for some good, fast hiking compared with the plodding we had been doing in the woods for almost an hour. We made quick time to the junction with the Desolation Trail, the summit route on the backside of the mountain. We had less than three miles to the top, and after hiking down low all day I had a bad case of summit fever. After a break for some food and water, I took the lead and headed up the trail.

What came next was amazing. As we headed up the ridge, the snow started to get deeper, which was expected. What I didn't expect was snow depth up to three feet! We debated putting on the snowshoes for a while, but I was managing to stay on top of the snow for the most part. After breaking through the crust and sinking my hiking pole all the way down to the handle, however, we decided that it was time. For nearly a mile, we broke trail in roughly two feet of snow all the way to the top of the mountain. Together with the fact that the desolation trail is extremely steep in parts, it made of a very interesting climb. Fortunately, the weather stayed great all day and as we neared the summit, we were rewarded with fantastic views.

The summit itself has an old fire tower op top, and Carrigain is known for having one of the best views in the Whites. This being the first time I have been up there with a view, I now know why. There was even a great shot of Signal Ridge, where we would be heading shortly on our way back to the car. It was sunny, the temperature was great, but the wind was howling so we had to cut our stay on the summit short. We headed down the tower, quickly packed our stuff and then headed for Signal Ridge.

There is a great view of Lowell and Vose Spur from the ridge, and of the notch that we passed through so many hours ago. The ridge itself was unbroken but we still had our snowshoes on and we made quick work of breaking out the foot or so of snow. It wasn't 30 minutes later, after having dropped below treeline, that we caught sight of another set of footprints. Some other people had tried to climb Carrigain today as well, but without snowshoes there were unable to get to the summit. So despite the fact that we looked silly at the beginning of the hike, our decision to carry the shoes was a good one.

The rest of the hike was rather uneventful as the snow melted away with the elevation and we were soon walking in our boots and heading back to the car. It was a very long and tiring day that none of use had really expected. Still, good hiking, great views and great hiking companions made for another memorable day in the Whites. Oh yea, the amazing sunset on the drive home near the Mt Washington hotel didn't hurt either.

-Chomp