Winter Hiking Journal

At an elevation of 4700′, with over 3800′ of gain and a 14-mile trek – due in part to an unplowed access road – Mt. Carrigain often stands unclimbed by many winter hikers.  But the hike, which offers unparalleled views from both its Signal Ridge and summit tower, promises great rewards for the winter hiker who takes up the challenge.

Mt. Carrigain summit

The hike begins at the Sawyer River Road parking area off of Rt. 302 in Crawford Notch.  While an interesting snowshoe trail that parallels the river leaves from the parking lot, walk the few extra feet to the snowmobile trail which climbs the Sawyer River Road, as this will bring you directly to the trail head.  Don’t allow the two-mile road walk to “psych you out,” as it will only take you 40 to 45 minutes at the most.  Some hikers x-ski the road section and others pull home-made sleds with their backpacks in tow… but most walk the packed snowmobile trail along the road in microspikes.

The trail head is well marked by signage and a kiosk, making it impossible to miss.  After the road walk, we all dumped our packs for a short water and snack break, as well as to put on our snowshoes, but remember to stay off the trail lest you remain in the path of the snowmobilers.

Karen and Ken Robichaud, and Skip Otto approaching Signal Ridge

The first 1.7 miles of the Signal Ridge Trail is an easy pleasant walk through winter woods. There is one brook crossing that requires care as you cross its snow-bridge, but other than that, in 30-45 minutes, you’ll find yourself at the Signal Ridge / Carrigain Notch Trail junction.

Continuing along the Signal Ridge Trail, which diverges to the left, spread over the next couple of miles is where the real climbing will begin.  And if you haven’t stripped down and removed your outer layers – this is where you definitely will do so!

With the trees bare of leaves, you will soon be able to look ahead and catch glimpses of Mt. Carrigain and the climb ahead.  Having good friends as hiking companions, which encourages story-telling (and good-natured bragging) about prior hiking adventures, helps the time to pass.  Having MSR snowshoes with their clever ‘televators’ is a great help as well.

With just under a mile remaining, you will finally break out of the scrub trees onto Carrigain’s Signal Ridge.  Views of Vose Spur, and Mounts Lowell and Anderson – forming the west and east flanks of Carrigain Notch – will first catch your eye.  (These three peaks are on the New Hampshire Hundred Highest list, but that’s another story!)   Look further east and there looms Mount Washington.

Vose Spur

For our hike today, the temperatures were in the single digits and there was a light snow falling, but in the cozy protection of our gear, the beauty of the views surrounding us is all that we remember.

As you continue north along the ridge, you’ll soon notice the summit of Mt. Carrigain along with the remains of a fire lookout.  Leaving the exposed ridge, the trail drops into a small coll and then climbs steeply for the last few tenths.

Rime ice covers the fire tower as Beth Zimmer (contributor) enjoys the view

Once on the summit, you’ll want to quickly get your warm layers and winter shells back on, as you’ll feel the winter wind and weather.  And take the time to climb the tower (you can keep your snowshoes on, or use your microspikes), as you will be rewarded with 360-degree views.

For our group this day, we estimate that it took us about 4-hours to hike from the car to the summit, and being motivated by burgers and beer at the end of our hikes, it only took us 3 hours to return the 7 miles back to our cars.

When I was first winter hiking, I was intimidated by the prospect of this hike.  But I’ve since hiked it on several occasions… each of them rewarding… each of them easier than I had imagined… each trip well worth the modest effort.

Group photo on the summit of Mt. Carrigain: Skip Otto, Karen Barker, Fran Maineri, Karen Maineri, Ken Robichaud, Beth Zimmer (contributor), Karen Robichaud and Candy

To see more photos from this hike:  https://picasaweb.google.com/btzimr/20110130Carrigain#

I have just finished reading two seminal books on mountaineering that have provided me with much food for thought and reflection: Dead Lucky by Lincoln Hall and Last Climb by David Breashears and Audrey Salkelo. Both books are written about climbing Mount Everest; Hall in 2007 and Mallory in 1924 and they provide significant insight into the mountaineering experience, as they are written in very different eras. Hall made two attempts to climb Everest and was successful on his second, but came very close to death. Mallory made two attempts (1921 and 1922) and died on his third attempt in 1924. Mallory was accompanied by Sandy Irving on his last and final climb.

Breashears states in his book Last Climb:

 It (the final climb of Irving and Mallory) symbolizes so much, the striving of man for the pinnacle between Earth and heaven; braving unknown elemental forces; conquering pain and will; the bond of friendship transcending age, transcending death, the sacrifice; the mystery.”

And from a collection of poems by Geoffrey Young,

“Brothern ‘till death and a wind-swept grave, joy of the journey’s ending: ye who have climbed to the great white veil, heard ye the chant? Saw ye the grail?”

These lines symbolize much of how I feel about our quest for the highest hundred; the Holy Grail to us. We certainly are not experts in mountaineering and will never reach the summits that Hall, Mallory or Irving climbed, but Bob and I are connected like Mallory and Hall to that calling of the mountains; to reach the summit of an unknown peak and experience the exhilaration of the final steps, to look out over the vast wilderness of the Northern mountains.

Bob and I have faced many challenges and setbacks: surgeries, injury, aging joints, lost trail markers, white-outs, bullet proof ice, bushwhacks through krumholtz, and five feet of fresh power snow. But we’ll continue our climbs, finding those special moments hidden in the unknown surprises that await us on the trail. Each mountain we climb is its own pinnacle between heaven and earth. Each time we climb we are bonded as one, reaching for the unknown, each mountain with its own identity; its own mystery. This is why we climb mountains in winter, because they are there.

This past weekend, January 8th and 9th, we added two more summits to our list of 100 highest.  A more detailed account of our journey will follow shortly.  In the meantime, please enjoy the pictures from our hike by clicking here.

Bob, Derek, Anne, and Gordon, prepare to assend Breadloaf

Bob, Derek, Annie, and Gordon

As Bob and I were traveling to Vermont on Saturday morning, around 5:30 am, it was snowing at a moderate pace and roads were slick. Bob leaned my way and said, “We may not make it to Breadloaf.” It was slow going and there was no telling how much snow had fallen in the Greens. The trails are not well marked or traveled in the Green Mountain Wilderness and we’ve had previous experiences of losing the Long Trail in deep snow.

We met my daughter Annemarie and her friend Derek in Ripton, VT around 9:30 am and then drove Forest Road #54 to the gate where we parked our cars. It was another 1.2 miles on the forest road, an easy walk, to the Skylight Pond Trailhead. The trail was well marked with blue blazes and had been kicked out a week earlier. It was a stiff climb to the Skylight Pond Cabin, which sleeps 14. Bob and I planned to stay there the night. The four of us ate lunch hurriedly. We were cooling off quickly and wanted to begin our trek to Wilson and Breadloaf as it was after 1:00. It was about 2.5 miles to Wilson on the Long Trail. The trail in winter can be difficult to follow, with few blazes. Luckily someone had preceded us a few days before and we had little trouble following their snow shoe tracks, Bob and Derek in the lead, Annemarie and me following, catching up on family news.

We arrived at the summit of Breadloaf around 3:00 pm. A spur trail, which is signed, leads off the Long Trail over the summit of Breadloaf to an outlook facing northwest. The sky was now mostly clear with a few clouds blowing through. The views were breath-taking, especially with the new fallen snow hanging from the trees.

View from the summit of Breadloaf Mountain

After a few pictures and viewing the Greens we headed back to the junction with the Long Trail. Annemarie and Derek decided to head back to their car and we parted ways. Bob and I continued our hike towards Wilson. The trail continued to be somewhat broken out, enough to stay on the trail. We reached the Emily Proctor shelter, took a brief rest and continued onto Wilson. It was difficult to determine when we reached the summit as the mountain is a long ridge with several up’s and down’s. We stopped once, thinking we were on the summit, but then noticed that the trail continued upward. At last we made the high point and we could begin our trek back to the cabin. Darkness was closing in and we could not delay.

Gordon on the porch of Skylight Pond shelter

We returned to the Skylight Pond cabin, just as the sun was setting. We changed quickly into dry clothes, had a few snorts of whiskey and Bob began to prepare supper, veggies and beans. It was a cold evening and staying in a shelter is always more chilling then a tent. But we survived the night. It was nice to have the cabin to ourselves, spreading our equipment out. By 9:30 of the next day we were headed back to the my truck for the long ride back to New Hampshire. We had now summitted 75 of New England’s highest 100, 25 to go.