SilentCal
Member
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!
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!
