Autumn climb of Mt Cardigan

[John P]

I did this as a solo trip, as the timing didn't suit any of my hiking friends. I went up the Duke's Ski Trail in order to avoid encounters with other hikers, but came back down the regular trail, assuming that late in the day, nobody would be coming up. This proved to be a successful plan.

	This is the wreck of an old car, installed here to drive a rope tow for skiing. The apparatus for the tow was still in place, but it didn't seem to be getting any use lately. Maybe it's considered too dangerous these days.		Typical view on the “Duke's Ski Trail”		Change of environment: out of the woods and onto an open rock face.
	First view from the mountaintop! The most distant peak I could identify was Mt Mansfield in Vermont, at 75 miles. (Not visible here.)		The fire tower on Cardigan, as seen from Firescrew, a secondary peak.		There has to be a picture like this! But although it was a warm day, there was a strong wind which caused a speedy chill, if one was naturally dressed.
	A colorful view during the descent.		A final view, with an arrow pointing to Mt Washington, 55 miles away.

               

[nudewalker]

Don't you just love it when a good plan comes to fruition? Excellent photos and a reminder that winter is not too far away! 

[nuduke]

Very brief detail JohnP!
How far did you travel, how long was the hike in Miles and time?
What did you eat/drink and what kit did you carry?
Your excellent photos are another testament to the beauty and majesty of the landscape of the USA.
John

[John P]

Well John Nuduke, I do seem to have left a few gaps in my narrative!

Google Maps says it should have taken me exactly 2 hours to drive the 109 miles from home to the start of my hike:
https://tinyurl.com/ydhy4pd6

Rather than figure out my mileage on the hike, I'll show you the map (my copy is dated 1972, and good for another 45 years).
https://i.imgur.com/oPXMcSJ.jpg

I started from the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) lodge near the top right of the map, and took the Duke's Ski Trail up and over Firescrew, then had lunch on the top of Cardigan, then came down the Clark trail and the "Woodland Cutoff" that leads directly back to the lodge. The lodge itself isn't very distinguished architecturally, but I took a picture anyway:


I really don't think we need to waste time talking about my lunch. Anyway, it's a little personal.

I'm sure that as a Duke, you'd be interested in the Duke's Ski Trail. Apparently it was originally laid out by the Russian-German refugee Dimitri von Leuchtenberg, who was related to the Russian royal family:
http://www.newenglandskihistory.com/cccskitrails/NewHampshire/mtcardigan.php
http://www.royalhistorian.com/how-a-romanov-duke-popularized-skiing-in-quebecs-laurentian-mountains/
The CCC was the Civilian Conservation Corps, an organization set up by the government during the Depression to provide jobs and training for the unemployed; a lot of infrastructure in parks was built as part of the CCC's work. As for Dimitri, he settled in Quebec, but he evidently found time to work on some trails south of the border!

Regarding that rope tow, I was intrigued by the car that powered it (via a pulley attached in place of a rear wheel). I'm not quite sure, but it looks like a Volvo PV60, which was the first post-war Volvo (as Wikipedia told me). Could this be a luckier model of that same car? That would fit the date mentioned on the ski history site: "There would a rope tow in operation through at least the early 1960s."


Note that in the top right corner of the map is Welton Falls. I've been there on previous visits, and it's a very nice place to cool down after a few hours on the trail. But this time I wasn't overheated, and the daylight was fading, so I skipped that stop (though I had brought a towel). Next time, maybe.

[eyesup]

I’ve been skiing in Utah, Colorado and New Mexico and the ski trails on the mountain slopes out here run out in the open with trees cut back to the boundaries. Pretty typical.

I would love to go skiing on a trail that runs through a forest like the “Duke's Ski Trail”. There would be no leaves in the winter, but I haven’t seen many trails out here like that. Of course, I have never been cross country so that’s likely a good reason why.

Another great series of photos, John.

Is the fire tower still in operation? Many towers are being re-purposed as a means for tourists or hikers to climb up for a better view. The satellites used for weather can now pinpoint fires but have to rely on someone monitoring the images just like the old analog methods. Drones are probably being deployed also to look for smoke in the fire seasons.

Duane

[eyesup]

John, was all of your hiking on ski trails or any on hiking trails? Not that it matters, but the ski trails are more open. The pictures of the trails in winter show what ski run may look like. Taking a turn downhill on fresh snow there looks to be a relaxing run compared to what I see out here where you have to stay focused because of the speed you can achieve with little effort. Is the lodge near the ancient rope tow?

Interesting bit about the CCC. We were digging through my dad’s old trunk once and ran across a record of his when he spent time on a CCC project in central Louisiana in the late 30’s. Sort of a time card. Each worker kept a tally of their time and how much the wage was. As I recall his pay at the time was around 35¢/hr.

Times have changed.

Duane

[JOhnGw]

Is the fire tower still in operation? Many towers are being re-purposed as a means for tourists or hikers to climb up for a better view. The satellites used for weather can now pinpoint fires but have to rely on someone monitoring the images just like the old analog methods. Drones are probably being deployed also to look for smoke in the fire seasons.

Duane

I suspect infra-red spectrum images are also being used to improve and/or automate fire spotting.

[John P]

Is the fire tower still in operation? Many towers are being re-purposed as a means for tourists or hikers to climb up for a better view. The satellites used for weather can now pinpoint fires but have to rely on someone monitoring the images just like the old analog methods. Drones are probably being deployed also to look for smoke in the fire seasons.

John, was all of your hiking on ski trails or any on hiking trails? Not that it matters, but the ski trails are more open. The pictures of the trails in winter show what ski run may look like. Taking a turn downhill on fresh snow there looks to be a relaxing run compared to what I see out here where you have to stay focused because of the speed you can achieve with little effort. Is the lodge near the ancient rope tow?
Duane

I'm not sure if the Mt Cardigan fire tower gets any official use. The cabin at the top was certainly padlocked on Friday, but when I went there in 2008 (just checked my pictures to remind myself of the date) I recall there was a guy there, and he was happily inviting young ladies up to visit, but didn't seem to find me worth his social efforts(!!) There used to be a cabin at treeline for the fire watcher, so he wouldn't have to climb the hill every day, but that has clearly become derelict. So I don't know about current use.

I think that at Mt Cardigan, only the Duke's Trail and the Alexandria Trail are actual ski trails, and all the others are just for hiking, although probably you could get along on cross-country skis if you're adventurous. Yes, the lodge is a couple of hundred yards from the rope tow location, and I imagine back in the olden days there was a lot of activity around that lower slope, with occasional climbs up the mountain to come back down the Duke's Trail. That would be quite a slog in snow, with skis over your shoulder! But those trails were made before the ski industry existed, and before much downhill ski equipment had been developed. People would have expected that if you wanted to ride down, you had to climb up.

You say that the ski trail there looks "relaxing", but of course it's a path that's nowhere near as wide as a conventional ski run. I'm sure you have to concentrate if you want to keep out of the trees!

[jbeegoode]

I think that Volvos are smaller than that and they would be unlikely during that period. I don't think that they were imported until the 50's and not well recieved. Everyone was into style, modern and such.

The window configuration and hood design would help identify it. Ornamentation? Any thing left of the dash?

Nice pics. I was talking to a snowbird from Connecticut today. She says that the extremely odd heat has confused the trees. There is more green in the foliage of fall colors. Same where you have been hanging out?
Jbee

[eyesup]

You say that the ski trail there looks "relaxing", but of course it's a path that's nowhere near as wide as a conventional ski run.

There is a beginner slope at Keystone Resort near Denver that is a long and winding run that is almost 2 miles long. It crosses several more challenging and shorter direct runs downhill. When I would get tired from the faster runs I would take that trail. It wasn’t hard and you could stand up and give your legs a rest and catch your breath while sliding down the mountain. In that way it was relaxing.

Your photos of the trails looked to be gently sloped and reminded me of that ski run. The only drawback was that as a beginner slope, it tended to be very crowded.

She says that the extremely odd heat has confused the trees.

I have always heard that trees change color and drop foliage due to the lack of sufficient light, e.g. “the days getting shorter”. But I am not a biologist.

Duane

[jbeegoode]

85F days have some beginning to bud where she is. Don't know which ones. Lots of plants out here adjust and cue to rain and cold conditions, not just length of the days. I'm not intimate with the east coast.

By the way John P., nice winter growth on you, too.
Jbee