Carrigain, #26 of round 2 of the NH48

April 24 was expected to be wind free but cloudy, and we decided it was a good day for Carrigain. We actually JUST did Carrigain in September so it felt pretty familiar. We had an amazing day last year so figured if the views sucked we had already seen it. 

*I should mention, that the views from this hill are stunning- you can see EVERYTHING, and it is a mountain to save for a perfect day*

We parked at the road and did the 2 mile road walk to the Signal Ridge Trailhead. 

It was a pretty nice day with dry lovely trails for quite some time. It made for a nice walk and a good start!

 

There really was no "there's a little snow, and a little more....." Suddenly, the snow just was THERE. 

The conditions were outstanding though. It was NOT a winter wonderland for a change- and also not so warm that things were turning to soup. Basically perfect. 

We stopped on the ridge prior to the summit to soak in the views. We also were thankful for the lack of wind. While you can limit your exposure by minimizing time on the little ridge and the summit- you would not love it here in a gale force day. 

We scooted right up the final half mile and were thrilled to find that the clouds were high enough to allow for amazing views in every direction. 

I climbed the tower for some bonus visuals. 

Mostly of myself....

We congratulated ourselves for being so fit, hahaha. 

Another lucky weather day on a perfect mountain! 2/2 for Carrigain delivering the goods. 

It was extremely quiet on this hill, we only saw 3 other hikers. Amazing. In the summer this trail is a conveyor belt of chaos- so if you don't mind the extra 4 miles with the road walk, April is a nice time to enjoy a spectacular location with low/no crowds. We really enjoyed this hike again- and appreciated that the snow smoothed out the little rocks that pave signal ridge the majority of the time. (pretty typical feelings for us to have in winter.) 

We made extremely good time on the way down, and enjoyed the warmest (50 degree!) weather of the season. It was a good workout, despite the pretty flat "warm up" there is a good amount of relentless "up" on this hike. One expects that when mountain climbing, but we continue to express our shock every week when we discover the need to gain vert. 

Miles: 14.1 (4 mile road walk)

Elevation: 3866

Time: 5:35:56

Fun: I said 9, Eric said 8.5