Mt. Carrigain

So after a few weekends of hanging out around the house, catching up on yardwork and movie marathons during cold, rainy Saturdays, we were feeling the urge to GET OUT! (Get outside that is). Our destination: Mt. Carrigain, one of the "4,000 Footers" in the Whites. Carrigain was recommended by a hiking friend who said the view from the top rivals any other in the Whites, in part due to the observation deck built on top.

We left at the crack of dawn, needing each hour of daylight for our hike so we wouldn't be stuck making our way down the mountain by headlamp. We hit the trail and were suddenly struck by a stark, surprising view of the peak we were about to climb: completely covered in snow!


Well, we figured we'd continue on and get as far as possible, turning back if the conditions became too icy or slippery for our limited gear (aka hiking boots and lots of layers). As we made our way up the mountain, we slowly saw signs of winter: little piles of snow in the cracks of tree trunks and icy puddles of water. Once about 3000 feet, the trees and trail became more and more white, until we were transplanted in a winter wonderland.





Fortunately for us, the snow was light and dry, and already packed down by hikers before us, so we had no trouble making our way up the mountain. We reached the summit by noon and enjoyed a blustery lunch on top, enjoying the 360 degree views of the Whites, including Washington in all its snow-capped glory.



I noticed a friendly Canadian Jay on the observatory deck and thought he was cute, and as a joke I held out my arm to see if he would perch on my hand. To our surpise, no sooner had I held out my hand than he flew right over and perched! (We later discovered that he was more interested in our lunch than us, but it was fun to think that I was a "bird whisperer" for a few minutes at least.)

We would have liked to stay on the summit for much longer, but the icy winds and ticking clock bid us make our way back down before we lost daylight. The way down was wonderfully quick and we were back to our car by 3 pm, our 10 mile hike behind us.
We made our way over to our designated camping site, the Fourth Iron Tentsite off Rte 302. (Don't tell anyone about it-- it's now our "secret" favorite camping place in NH!) The tent sites are a 5 minute trail hike into the woods, right along side a raging river, and completely isolated from the RVers and thumping basses of cars that tend to frequent other more "car-friendly" campgrounds. We were ecstatic with this find, and quickly set up the tent and stove in the last couple hours of light. We found ourselves in the dark not long after, cooking our dinner and gazing into the amazingly star-studded sky until it just became too cold to stay outside any longer. Luckily both our sleeping bags were hearty enough to keep us warm and toasty in the 15 degree temps that night.


It was the perfect weekend getaway from our lives here in Portland, as well as from the technology, cell phones and computers that surround our daily existence. Can't say I'm not grateful for a warm, comfortable bed tonight, but there's nothing like getting truly "Away" to rejuvenate your sense of adventure.