Just as in 2017 and 2018, I wanted to do an autumn hike up Mt Cardigan in New Hampshire, and this time my friend Dan was able to come along. It's not a huge mountain, but its position means that you get good views (as far as Mt Mansfield, 76 miles away in northern Vermont, which we've also climbed) and this time of year, the valleys are filled with red and orange foliage. And coming down late in the day, you walk in the shade with the sun lighting up the treetops overhead.
We had planned to do this excursion a week earlier, based on a weather forecast of a sunny day in the 60s F, but with 2 days to go the forecast deteriorated badly. We waited for another chance, and found a pretty good forecast (cooler, but sunny) for Tuesday the 15th. This time the weather held up, and even at the top of the mountain, we had near-calm conditions. As before, we went up the Duke's Ski Trail to avoid other people (in which we failed, for the first time ever) and came down another ski trail and met people there too, but there wasn't any trouble. We agreed that it was an excellent day.
At the bottom of the Duke's Trail is a contraption that operated a rope tow on the lower slope. There's an old car there that apparently drove an earlier system via a pulley on a rear wheel, and I'd convinced myself that it was a Volvo, based on the body style. Dan would have none of this: as soon as he saw the engine, he said "That's a flathead V8, so it must be a Ford". So there you have it.
Last year's report, which links to the year before:
http://freerangenaturism.com/forum/index.php?topic=1169  |
Dan carefully examines the old rope tow machinery. You can still turn the wheels.
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Then it’s off up the “Duke’s Ski Trail”. It must be something about Dan’s presence, because I’ve never encountered anyone on this trail. We did meet someone going the other way, but we had our wraps handy.
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Reaching tree line.
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A rest and a chance to admire the view.
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Then up over the open rock ledges.
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Then lunch, and another rest.
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Now we’re on our way down. This bush had incredibly red berries!
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The only picture of me (but see last year, and the year before).
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A stop at the High Cabin, built way back in 1931.
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We discussed renting it for our hiking group. But you do have to climb most of the mountain to get to it.
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Back down another ski trail. But we met two people on their way up!
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The camera totally failed to capture the effect of the setting sun on the treetops.
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Dan gets close to a carpet of red leaves on the ground.
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