Tecumseh and Carrigain

Over the weekend of July 28th and 29th, my buddy John and I went up North to do a little camping and hiking. We did a long hike last September, when I summited my first 4000 footers, and we both needed Tecumseh and Carrigain for our list. So we headed up early on Saturday, accompanied by The Best Dog In The World, Gretel. Gretel's human, Dana, was working all weekend and asked if Gretel could come with us, and I'm glad she did.

We drove up 93, keeping an eye on the weather, and headed down the Kanc to secure a campsite. We found one at Big Rock, and I set up my Coleman tent, to secure the space (these spots are first-come-first-serve, and on the weekends in the summer fill up quick. It's a good idea to stake one out early if possible), we paid our 20 bucks at the self-pay station, and headed back down to Tripoli Road (one exit south off 93 from the Kanc) to find our trailhead.

Summit of Mt. Tecumseh

Last time I was on Tripoli Road was to go to the trailhead for my Oceolas hike. We went a bit further this time, and turned off onto a gravel lot to access the (trailhead name?) to hike up Mt. Tecumseh. On the way down Tripoli I saw a sketchy character walking the opposite way, who looked very unlike a hiker, walking along the road looking into parked cars. I think he actually tried to open one. Break-ins at trailheads are common, and I hoped my car wouldn't be his next victim. But we were on a somewhat secluded lot, off the road, which I wasn't sure was better or worse.

Tecumseh is a pretty no-nonsense mountain. It is the smallest of the 4000 footers, and the trail pretty much goes straight up, at a consistent grade, to a sub-summit, then down a bit into a small valley, and up to the true summit. Not terribly taxing (which was a bit surprising because the guy I met on the Hancocks said it was deceptively difficult...maybe he used a different approach). But the views at the summit were very nice. This would be a great dayhike for beginner hikers wanting to get a taste of the mountains, especially those coming up from the south. It's pretty much a 2 hour drive from Boston, it's a truly beautiful trail, resplendent with lush green in summer and giving off a very Hobbit-y vibe, John and I decided, with great views from the top. And with about a 6 mile round trip hike up and down, it's a pretty quick dayhike, you could be back home before dark.

I hadn't done much hiking with dogs, and it was quite fun. Gretel would bound off into the woods after a critter, crash into brooks with abandon, leaping like a deer through the brush off in the forest. I was impressed at her abiliby to tear through thickets and water and rock with little effort or resistance, almost like she was made for this terrain. She didn't ever seem to tire (at least on the first day!)

Me and Gretel on Tecumseh

We ate some lunch at the summit and enjoyed the view, and Gretel ran to a couple happily expecting them to share their lunch with her. The man suddenly said to me, "Are you a Redditor?" Reddit is an online community of folks who post photos, links, stories, and other tidbits and then comment and vote on the content. "Yeah!" I replied, a bit taken aback. He subscribes to the "Camping and hiking" community on that page, and had seen the pictures I posted of my Presidential Traverse the weekend before, and recognized me. Small world! We talked for a bit; turns out he'd commented on my photo album, saying he and his girlfriend were going up Washington this weekend. Turns out they didn't, and came to Tecumseh instead. I felt a tiny bit famous.

I contemplated the vast difference between last weekend's Traverse and today's hike. One, an epic 20-mile 9000-foot-gain journey over the highest terrain (and up the highest peak in the Whites, and the entire Northeast) and today's hike, a quick jaunt up the smallest 4000 footer of them all. Starkly different, but both very enjoyable in their own ways.

Camping at Big Rock on the Kanc

We got back to the car in the early afternoon and headed back up to the Kanc. Big grey clouds were starting to roll in. After a quick stop at that awesome roast beef place in Lincoln (check it out) and at an outdoor supply place, just to poke around, we went to our site at Big Rock. It was starting to rain. We rigged up my Equinox tarp over the picnic table, made tea and had some more food, and chit chatted for a few hours. The rain was coming down pretty hard at times, and our attempt to make a fire in the pit was not successful. After the sun set, we turned in, John in his hammock and me and Gretel in my Coleman. The tent kept us pretty dry through the night, and it rained pretty steadily for most of it. I slept pretty well, considering I was snuggling with a stinky wet dog, and we were up at around 8.

AMC Highland Center - photo from mtwashingtonvalley.org

John wasn't feeling up to another day of hiking, so we decided that I'd drop him at the AMC Highland center and Gretel and I would go hike Mt. Carrigain. We drove east down the Kanc and took Bear Notch Road to 302, and headed up toward the Highland Center. On the way up we saw that Sawyer River Road, the road that would bring me to Carrigain's trailhead, is closed. At the Highland Center they told us it had been closed ever since Irene blew through, almost a year before, and that the only way down it was to walk. After some deliberation I decided to go for it, even though the road walk would add time to the hike. I left John and headed back down, parked at the top of the road, and started hiking in with Gretel at about 10:30.

The road didn't look too bad, some wash outs, but it looked as if it could be driven on. Perhaps it's unstable in parts with the weight of a car. I hope they can get it fixed up soon. The road walk took almost exactly 30 minutes, and I came across the trailhead for the Signal Ridge trail, that heads straight to the summit of Mt. Carrigain. The first couple of miles were quite easy, a flat trail that skirts Whiteface Brook. Still a lot of blow-downs and storm damage that has yet to be addressed, but pretty easy going. I made great time on this part. After the junction with the Carrigain Notch Trail, things started to get tougher. After a while, it was a straight-up slog that seemed to go on forever. It was very humid, the rain we'd gotten the day before seemed to linger, making everything wet and slick. Gretel bounded off the path now and then, after god knows what. I was completely soaked, and I couldn't even tell if it was sweat or if I was just soaking up ambient moisture like a sponge. I passed a couple coming down, and they said the top was basically inside a giant cloud. Great. They also said they'd heard thunderstorms might be coming through. This made me a little nervous, but we pressed on.

Signal Ridge trail kicked my ass

The trees started getting scrubby, and the fog got thicker and thicker. The mist that hung over the trail was unsettling, and visibility was getting worse. We finally got up to a clearing, but views were non-existent. I'm not even sure if it were the summit; I know there's supposed to be a tower somewhere but I didn't see it, either because I was at a false summit or the visibility was so poor that it was hidden in the clouds. It started to rain at this point, and I called it - we headed back down. The hike down was long and hard, and eventually we the rain sunsided and we emerged from the cloud and it was sunny again. Strange how quickly the conditions can change in the mountains. We made it back to the trailhead and Gretel and I horsed around for awhile before taking a quick break. I took my shoes off and ate a snack and drank water before walking the road again. I realized I hadn't really taken a break the whole time, and had had little to eat. Not the way I like to do things, but the weather and the rough terrain distracted me from taking an opportunity to take breaks and eat. I was a bit disheartened by this hike; due to the fact that I am unclear if I even was on the summit, and that apparently Carrigain has amazing views on clear days, I'll be doing this one again. Ah well. It was a good workout, anyway, and Gretel and I had fun. It was a 10 mile hike and took 5 hours. The road walk added another hour to the total time.

"why are you doing this to me?"

We made it back to the car and I was so wet I felt like I'd jumped in a lake. I put on some dry clothes and loaded Gretel up. She collapsed in the seat, immobile. Tired pup. We met John back at the Highland Center, where I was delighted that a barbeque buffet was happening on the patio. We paid for our meal tickets and I got a cheeseburger, potato salad, ribs, sausage, cornbread, and a beer. I ate every bite, and I felt a lot better. We sat at a table with some folks - a mom and her two sons - who were visiting from New York. The younger son had volunteered on the A-Z Trail during the summer, and the older son was planning a thru-hike of the Vermont Long Trail. They were extremely friendly and John and I recommended hikes for them to do. The hiker community, whether moms and sons on weekend trips, or scrawny, bearded thru-hikers with names like Furbag or Teflon, is wonderfully friendly and open, and I enjoy their company a great deal.

After stuffing ourselves and bidding our new friends adeui (and purchasing a new book) we headed to the Sugerloaf II campsite where we grabbed a lovely campsite above the Ammonoosuc River. The caretakers were friendly, warning us of bears while they collected our fee. They even said to put the food in the car and cover it, because if a bear sees food in your car he'll peel the thing open like a tin can to get at it. I'd never heard about this behavior before, I thought they went by sense of smell. I get a bear warning so frequently, but I still haven't seen one! I wasn't worried, bears rarely will come to a site with a dog; Gretel will protect us. John pitched his hammock (or as he calls it, his "bear pinata" and I pitched my tent - we rigged the tarp again over the table, in case of rain, but it never came. We built a nice campfire and I drank a couple of beers we'd picked up on the way to the site. We had a great view of the sunset and the night was great, with a little nip in the air. After sitting around the fire for a while Gretel and I turned in - we were both beat. Other than waking up once to Gretel growling at something outside the tent - this was disconcerting - I slept great.

Camp at Sugarloaf II near the Ammonoosuc River

I didn't like what happened on Carrigain, and I'm looking foward to going up it again on a nice day. But it was a very enjoyable weekend of hiking, camping, and fellowship with nature and friends, old and new.

What I brought: Everything. For car camping I usually just throw everything into EmmyVue Harris and go. For the actual hiking, it was my standard fare, but with very few warm clothes and lots of water, due to the heat and humidity. I probably could have taken my little Flash 18 pack up Tecumseh, it was such a short hike. For the quickie dayhikes I have left, I might do that.

What I was glad I had: My Equinox Tarp. though I still haven't used it as a primary shelter, I like carrying it. It came in handy at camp the night it rained, though I might pick up a much larger, cheap blue tarp at a hardware store for car camping. My silnylon tarp is only 6' x 8' and left us susceptible to some residual rain splatter here and there, but when weight isn't an issue, the bigger the tarp the better. I'll probably pick one up and just leave it in the car.