The Cardigan Mountain Saga

There are many ways to tell a location of something, whether it's down to a 12-foot accuracy (absolute location), or in a vague relation to something else (relative location). The relative location of Cardigan Mountain is that it is in the middle of New Hampshire, but slightly one the western side, towards Vermont. It's in Cardigan Mountain State Forest, which straddles Orange, NH, and Alexandria, NH. The AMC Cardigan Lodge, a popular destination for hikers, is just outside of the park, in Alexandria which is north of Bristol, but south of Bridgewater. Both Alexandria and Orange are in Grafton County, which includes Lyme, Hanover, and Waterville Valley. Grafton County is just northwest of Belknap County, and just northeast of Sullivan County. It is south of Coos County. The absolute location of a spot on Cardigan's summit is N 43 degrees 38 minutes 59.26 seconds, W 71 degrees 54 minutes 53.29 seconds.

A place is a destination, a setting, or a point. It can be described in cultural terms, and have to do with people, or in physical terms, and have to do with nature - rocks, trees, wildlife.

Cardigan Mountain Forest as a place includes many cultural features. The AMC Cardigan Lodge is definitely a focal point. Nature trails and short hikes branch off from it, along with a trail to the summit of Cardigan, and a trail to the summit of Firescrew. These trails are part of what makes Cardigan Lodge so special, and they wouldn't be there without humans. "The Secret of the Woods," or the old car once used to power a rope tow for skiing, is something we had fun finding on the first day. Cardigan Mountain, as a place, was cozy, warm and beautiful. The lodge, a converted barn, was four stories tall, starting with the gear room, and library on the ground floor. The living room was on the second floor, along with the dining hall (where they served delicious, wholesome foods including eggs, whole-grain muffins and tacos), and living room on the second floor. On the third floor was the girl's rooms, and on the fourth stayed the boys.The intructors were Robin, Tabitha, Bekah and Hope, and they were all fun, and they knew a lot about the Cardigan vegetation and wildlife.

Physical features include the actual, physical mountains. Though my group did not hike Firescrew, Cardigan Mountain was a short, simple hike with great views. Other physical features are: the hill where the rope tow was, and the trees we took leaves from to sketch, as well as the stream we hiked by on the first day, and the wildlife that scurried around us as we hiked.

I was at AMC Cardigan Lodge for 3 days - a rainy Wednesday, Sept. 30, a beautiful, warm and breezy Thursday, Oct. 1, and an overcast, chilly Friday, Oct. 2.