| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Carrigain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Sawyer River Road, Signal Ridge Trail, bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Tuesday, March 10, 2015 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Plowed parking for a dozen or more vehicles at the winter parking area at the junction of Sawyer River Road and Route 302. Packed ice from Friday is now a melting mudbath -- amazing how difference a few days makes. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow - Spring Snow, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Quite a change in conditions since our trip up on Friday: many of the small water crossings have been postholed through/broken. On the bushwhack (old Signal Ridge Trail) that is south of the beaver pond and bypasses the junction with the Carrigain Notch Trail, the main water crossing was still frozen in the morning but thin/melting in the afternoon -- use the ice-covered rocks. On the actual Signal Ridge Trail (re-route from a few years ago) that intersects the Carrigain Notch Trail north of the beaver pond, the water crossing is open but easily negotiated on exposed rock (and water levels are low, anyway). See comments section, below. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
See report from March 6. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
Yes -- actually saw a single mosquito today. It was that warm. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Another stellar day on this trail and mountain, partly cloudy early and then breaks of sun and blue sky later -- temperatures climbing rapidly and winds picking up.
The route to the summit is still in good shape, but the smooth track from Friday is now seeing quite a bit of chop and some postholing.
At parking area, well-packed bushwhack route heads toward the Sawyer River and follows it, parallelling the road, re-joining it about 1.1 miles from the trailhead. The bushwhack is scenic, but is about 0.2 miles longer (and with a section of duck-under blowdowns that could tiresome at day's end) than taking only Sawyer River Road (which is packed out by snowmobiles and fast-moving, too).
About two miles in on the Signal Ridge Trail, near the beaver pond and where the old intersection with the Carrigain Notch Trail used to be, most people have taken the old trail corridor (to the left), instead of the new trail (marked by small sign with arrow, to the right). Doing so saves about 0.3 miles. Both options are packed out, so on the way in we took the bushwack and on the way back, the new trail -- although longer, it's far more interesting/scenic and the water crossing less of an issue as temps warm and any bridged ice thaws out.
First half of trail was softening packed powder/loose granular, even early in the day before the sun hit it; we wore snowshoes all day, as result.
After that, all the way to the summit, trail was a few inches of fresh fluffy snow on top of a softening base, and snowshoes were the footwear of choice. Once the sun hit this, sticky mash-potato snow was the result.
As other posters on this site have indicated, within about 50 yards of the summit the snowshoe track splits -- stay right to summit, go left to visit the clearing where the fire warden's cabin used to be. |
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 | Name: |
Pancks and Tesco Heaney |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2015-03-11 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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