Mt. Cardigan July 29th

[SilentCal]

Mountain ----> Mt. Cardigan
Date(s) Hiked: July 29th

Trails(s) Hiked: Holt Trail, Vistamont Trail, Skyland Trail, Clark Trail, and the Manning Trail.

Total Distance: Unsure exactly but MtnMagic can maybe chime in his estimate but mine is about 8 and half miles.

Difficulty: Moderate, some of the ledges coming off the mountain required good footwork.

Conditions: Quite a few muddy spots, some overgrown trails, just one large blowdown to contend with

Special Required Equipment: poles would be helpful but I left mine home

Trip Report:
I had a day to kill hiking and MtnMagic and I met each other halfway and picked Mt. Cardigan for our hike. Magic had done this hike before and wanted to try a more round-about way to hit the main peak. After checking out the map and getting some advice from the folks at Cardigan Lodge, we set out to a seldom visited peak of Mt. Gilman (Orange) about 2 and a half miles southwest of Cardigan. After walking and chatting side by side for about a half hour on the Holt Trail, we began a slow ascent up the Vistamont Trail.
The Vistamont trail does not see much matinence and was overgrown in some areas. One needs to be careful in these area because there are many hidden stumps and branches to trip over. After a large blowdown we began to get some views across the ravine towards Mt. Cardigan. The upper sections of the Vistamont Trail soon began to get more open and we both commented how much this trail reminded us of the Blueberry Ledge Trail on Mt. Whiteface. The slabs eventually let us to the summit of Mt. Gilman where we had a small break and snack.
The Skyland Trail was our next route and it provided us with a nice muddy casing to our boots in some places. Along the trail there were many mudholes and plenty of soft spongy ground to make your way through. Soon our peeks at the summit became more frequent and at the next trail junction we branched off to hit the South Summit first. This summit had very nice views and a rather odd shaped cairn at the top. Most cairned are rounded but this one was more wing shaped and seemed to resemble an old rockwall.
Now on to the main summit after a brief stop at the old firewardens cabin. We tackled the summit from the Clark Trail and mused how difficult a hike this must be in the winter with the steep ledges. After a nice workout on the legs we summited. I began to scout around for a USGS marker to take a photo of while Magic went to have a chat with the warden at the top of the firetower.
Our summit stay lasted about a half hour, and we decided to head to Firescrew. A word of advice: Follow the blazes cafefully on the slabs here when heading to Firescrew. It not like you can get lost but you'll have a hard time finding the trail at the bottom of the ledges if you didn't. Firescrew was soon under our feet and we had a decision to make. Do we continue to hit two more peaks or start our descent back to the Lodge?
We made a good choice to leave the other peaks for another day and headed down the Manning Trail. Some parts of this trail were steep and proper footing is a must to avoid a faceplant. I really could have used my hiking pole here. My hip was bugging me but Magic was leaving some in his tank to do Cabot this weekend so we made good time back to the Lodge.
We chatted about the signup success of the Flags event and of the many different hikes and nice spots we had been to on the way down and in the parking lot. It's always a pleasure to hike with MtnMagic and the we tossed around some ideas for some September hiking. That's always the sign of a good day's hike; Planning for another one!

[MichaelJ]

There's one I have to sdo sometime ... sounds like fun!

[MtnMagic]

Date Hiked: Thursday, July 29, 2004

Trails Hiked: Manning, Holt, Vistamont, Skyland, South Ridge, West Ridge, Mowglis

Total Distance: Just under 8 miles with 2,511 feet in elevation gain.

Difficulty: Moderate

Conditions: Wonderful!

Trip Report: SilentCal, Ghostdog and I met at the 4 story, A.M.C. Cardigan Lodge in Alexandria, NH, just before 10 am. We decided our routes of attack to four summits in the Cardigan Mountain State Forest in Orange-Alexandria, NH. Starting on the Manning Trail then to the seldom (narrow) used Vistamont trail, we ascended up to Orange (2,684’) Mountain. A.k.a. Mt. Gilman, William Gilman built the High-Cabin hut in 1931 and willed it to the A.M.C. upon his departure.

Next was over to the South Peak (2,864’) with its most unusual wall for a cairn. Yes, a straight wall about 8 feet in length! A scramble up the steep slab to Mt. Cardigan (3,155') sees more fantastic 360 degree views with a visit to the manned fire tower. Fifty five miles to the South, Monadnock and scores of mountains in between can be seen. Looking North and Northeast, one sees the Whites, the Presidentials, and the Sandwich Wilderness mountains. Oh the views!

Lots of great hikers on the trail to Firescrew Mountain (3,064’), named for its swirling flames when the summit burned. We sat down and contemplated the mileage to the Mowglis and Oregon mountains, being another 8 miles, we agreed it was too much, four mountains was plenty. (My knees agreed too!) We shook hands and thanked each for another adventure well done. What a wonderful cool day to see spectacular views and hike in the mountains!