Another Round

We lost the mountain man to insomnia and got to bed late. But, we're starting to get in hiking shape and had the benefit of the invigoration unique to spending time with a fun new friend. There was a crackle of promise as we took the same route as the prior Saturday, give or take five extra miles at the end.

West Side Rd in Conway and Bartlett may be the prototypical combination main street and back road. What's a better choice?

I have history with Mt. Carrigain. A trip with dad in 2000 was the first where I didn't reach my goal. Looking back, it's easy to come up with good reasons why - two unexpected miles on the closed access road, all heat and no breeze, dad's mistimed stories of heat stroke, common sense. Viscerally, it sucked and I was very satisfied when we successfully summited a year later. Tuffsy and I returned on a bluebird day in 2007 and took a longer ascent route around the base of the mountain and up the back side. A great combination of woods walking, history, and challenge. I was all smiles when Alicia indicated that she was up for the longer walk.

We snagged one of the last spots in the ~30-car lot and played rather stressful leapfrog with a group of determined young men for the first mile and a half before turning right onto the solitude of the Carrigain Notch Trail. We would see only five people over the next 6.6 miles.

I recounted the tale of that 2007 hike - the blocked road to Mt. Jefferson, "settling" for Carrigain, the awesome route, the satisfaction of being able to speak about the area, my 21st birthday party up at the camp in Acton that night, the four more days of fun that followed, and the "90 hours in nine days" (but who's counting) stretch to close out my Wonder Mountain career. The trail generally followed old logging roads through mixed woods with good footing as the masses of Carrigain / Vose Spur and Lowell / Anderson squeezed us into the notch. Alicia aced a few moderately difficult water crossings.

The height-of-land (what a cool word) has boulders, slide views, thick forest, the satisfaction of a completed climb - a wonderfully wild place. Down the other side, we soon entered the Pemigewasset Wilderness; its border follows the ridgeline separating the Saco and Pemigewasset (later, Merrimac) drainages.

Federally-designated Wilderness is controversial as it places great, permanent limits on land use and is mildly riskier for the unaware than garden-variety National Forest. I'm generally a fan since the lower level of trail maintenance helps me feel a little more "in the wild". The boundary signs don't hurt, either.

The challenge of administering Wilderness was soon evident as we came across some removed blazes. Trails in Wilderness are not supposed to be blazed, but how do you deal with blazes that were there prior to the Wilderness designation? The results of removal aren't pretty, but well-applied blazes take many years to fade. It's a knotty issue.

Soon we came across the "Oh yeah!!!" section of Carrigain Notch, where ferns and shrubs line the trail instead of trees. Unusual terrain for the Whites, and thrilling to stroll through.

A while later, we swung left onto an old railroad grade. You could tell it was a railroad grade rather than just a road because the guidebook says so, but also because 2) It was wider, straighter, and on flatter ground than a logging road and 3) It was built up into a real road more so than any logging road. Visible old railroad ties (not pictured) were only the clincher.

According to the excellent J.E. Henry's Logging Railroads by Bill Gove - one of two authoritative books (C. Francis Belcher's Logging Railroads of the White Mountains is the other) on the logging history of the region, the region was logged from 1907-1910. So, while recovery was gradual and many fires followed until the leftover slash was depleted, some of the trees in the area probably recently celebrated their 100th birthdays. And many more!

The East Branch and Lincoln logging railroad was the main line in what's now the Pemi Wilderness. We passed near the former Camp 20 - just scratching the area's northeastern surface.

Some elevation gain was long overdue and eventually we turned left off the railroad grade and into the mountain. Another layer of the area's history is Mt. Carrigan's use as a fire lookout tower. In the heart of the White Mountains, a watcher could spot a blaze on nearly any of the region's notable peaks and plenty of its valleys. The tower has been decommissioned for old telephone wire that served the tower is still visible at times next to the Desolation Trail.

The tower was built in 1910. I can't find a decommission date, but many similar towers stopped being used in the 1960s due to the increasing use of air surveillance by helicopter. Use of choppers has since declined, but funding for towers, while somewhat stable, has never come back in vogue. Some are still staffed by dedicated but aging volunteers. There's a fantastic memorial near the tower on Mt. Agamenticus to those who have staffed it and two other southern Maine towers.

I just said that the climb could no longer be avoided, but we sort of did - a 1.3-mile deficit deal, so to speak, but finally it was time to pay up.

It quickly got less steep over time and we were well warmed-up, so it wasn't too bad. A spirit-raising encounter near the top helped, too.

Wide-eyed woman: [Distant laughter]

WEW: [Loud laughter]

Handsome white dog: [Walks up to us]

WEW: "Whoa! There are some people coming up!"

Me: "We haven't seen anyone in a while!"

WEW: "We didn't think there'd be anybody on this trail!"

Me: "There was one threesome, they were going to turn around..."

WEW: "NO DON'T TURN AROUND!!! You're almost there!"

Alicia: "Oh no we're not turning around, that was them."

WEW: "OHHHHHH okay!"

WEW's companion: [Chuckles]

Me: "Haha yeah....well, you're in for a treat..."

[Euphoric LOVEFEST about Carrigain NOTCH and FERNS]

HWD: "Woof woof!"

At the summit, we touched up at the survey marker and climbed the tower. It was rebuilt for view-seekers after the firewatcher's cabin was taken down. The views spanned mountain scenery,

civilization,

and popular culture.

We spent quality time both atop the tower and on the less-windy summit rocks. There was nothing to do but be content.

Eventually, we said goodbye to the Pemi.

Early in the descent, we caught one more glimpse of the tower.

The descent was rocky and went on a bit longer than it needed to. My trooper companion endured the piece of glass in her foot without complaint, and there were some bright spots.

Back at the car, we stayed on last Saturday's course, including the Milton Mills back way, all the way to salmon and veggies at Jim's with my mom. Not even being pulled over for a burnt-out headlight on the way back to Dover could dampen our spirits. Okay, maybe for a little while. But, after two years of too much talking and not enough hiking, it felt great to relearn why I always say I love it so much.

Wait, a sappy sum-up and we didn't even mention the abandoned logging village of Livermore? Oh man, oh man...