Mt Carrigain - Cabin Weekend Hike

The participants of the UMOC cabin weekend trip (another trip listed on GO) and two additional GO members from Maine plus two black labs hiked up Mount Carrigain on July 19. The forecast had called for a sunny warm day, but there were some milky clouds limiting the sunshine. This kept the temperature down and made hiking quite enjoyable. We left the cabin at 8:20, met up with the other hikers at the trail head and started our ascent at 9:20.

The Signal Ridge Trail leading up to Carrigain consists of three sections. The first follows the Sawyer Brook and a former logging road with only slight elevation gain, followed by the “ramp”, a more-or-less straight one mile section that has a constant moderatly steep slope. Finally the trail follows some switchbacks leading up to the Signal Ridge. We were greeted to spectacular views to the Presidential Range while enjoying our lunch. With new energy we made our final leg up to the observation tower on top of Carrigain. Now we had fantastic views to the South as well. It was just a little hazy, not bad at all for a summer day and all of the higher peaks in the Whites could be seen. Alex handed out Oreos to celebrate the moment.

Carrigain is a popular destination due to its unique central location in the Whites and we were among a crowd of maybe 20 hikers The trip definitely had some musical component going on. One of the dogs on our hike was “Bella” (2 L’s) and on top we met a Golden Retriever named “Bartok”. Indulging in silky-smooth Dove chocolates and reading the messages inside the wrappers led to a spontaneous outburst of singing a popular oldie.

After a relaxing hour on top of Carrigain, we started our descent. We were back at the parking lot shortly after 4 pm having hiked 10 miles and 3300 ft in elevation gain. On the drive back to the cabin we stopped at the Davis Path parking lot and a few of us took a very refreshing dip in the Saco River. We headed back to the cabin and socialized in the evening.

Thanks to everyone for making this a fun and memorable trip. A warm welcome to Tom (and his dog Bailey) as brand new member to GO. Until next time!

As part of the Bethlehem, NH cabin weekend, join us on a hike up Mt Carrigain, one of the 4000 footers at an elevation of 4682 feet. If you are staying at the cabin, please sign up for "NH Cabin Weekend" on July 18 as well. This mountain has an observation tower with spectacular views in all directions: 43 of the 48 NH 4000 footers can be seen from the top! This is an out and back hike with a roundtrip length of about 10 miles and elevation gain of 3300 ft. Even though the length and elevation gain classify this hike as "strenuous" the trail is only moderately steep with no difficult sections. Bring typical stuff for a summer day hike: plenty of water, lunch/snacks, sun screen, rain jacket if needed, etc. In case of heavy rain we will decide at the cabin what to do in lieu of Carrigain (Hale which is below tree line is an option).