03-15-2015
Carrigain 4700′
Signal ridge trail (Out&Back)
14 Miles
9:30 – 5:00

A fantastic finish to a single winter 48. Lucy and I are joined by Dan and Jason as we all finish our single season together. Grid finisher Andrew Soars joins us with his dog Jetta as we climb the heights in the snow. The fantastic conclusion to a wonderful winter in the white mountains…

We all gathered at the Sawyer River Road parking lot before getting the hike underway around 9:30. There had been snow that night, but not much. There was a single person who started before us though his footprints were nearly covered up by the time we started. The road walk was not a very welcomed section but we carried on well. Once we got to signal ridge trailhead we switched to snowshoes.

The hike in along the waterside was lovely. The trail was well packed but the snow was covering it quickly. We worked our way on with Lucy and Jetta running ahead and having a wonderful time.

When we got to the ridge there was a slight increase in the wind. We worked across with no views to be had. Once on the other side back in the trees we caught up with the hiker in front of us. We would summit shortly after.

We all had drinks and champagne on top. I had a Tuckerman Pale ale for old good time sake. I fed Lucy and tried to get her to drink. She didn’t. We made our way out. Going back across the ridge this time was a bit more interesting as the winds had picked up substantially. It was very fun. Once past that point we were on our way with speed. We reached the trailhead in about an hour. The Roadwalk took much less time on the way out as well. When we returned Abby and Patton were there to welcome us on our successful hike. All of us congratulated each other before eventually making our way home. Big props to Jason Beaupre for his weekend of Isolation, Old Speck, and Hale before Carrigain. At least we know where the mark is!

With this hike Lucy and I have finished our single season 48. Lucy at 1 year 3 months is an exceptional dog for being able to do it so young. She had a blast and has grown a lot from the experience. There were hard times but I never put her in great danger. If it was too tough we did not do it. This is very important to remember if anyone decided to try winter hiking with your dog. Read the dog and hike the dogs hike not the hike you hope for…

With this hike I am at 185/576 on my NH 48 grid. With yesterday’s hike in Maine I am just underway on my New England 67 4000 footers. Perhaps I will take the spring to tie up some loose ends. I feel as though the white mountains will get their time again real soon…