My Sojourn in the Mount Cardigan Region

This is a picture I drew of Mt. Cardigan and Mt. Firescrew, and the beautiful fall foliage in that region during the time I was there.

September 30 - October 2 2015

By Beatrice B.

Green group

        Mt. Cardigan is located in the towns of Orange and Alexandria, in western New Hampshire, within the Mount Cardigan State Forest. The street address of the Cardigan Lodge is 774 Shem Valley Road, Alexandria, NH 03222. The absolute location of the lodge is N43 degrees 38'58.9" and W071 degrees 52'42.1". The lodge is in Shem Valley next to the State Forest. From Mount Cardigan lodge, one could travel 8.9 miles until they reached the center of nearby Bristol, or thirteen miles to Newfound Lake.

The mountain sits in a temperate forest, covered in rivers and streams, with a bare, rocky summit.The many species of animals that live in this region include moose, deer, black bear, and ruffed grouse. The summit of Cardigan sits below what should be tree line, however it is still practically void of trees due to a fire that once happened there. From there, one can see a view that stretches to Mount Monadnock and the White Mountains in New Hampshire, Pleasant Mountain in Maine, and Camel's Hump in Vermont. In this "fake" alpine zone, plants are few, and they have developed many adaptations because of their habitat. For example, these plants are small so that the wind doesn't blow them away, and also have strong roots that keep them grounded for this reason. Some other plants that live on Mt. Cardigan are Club Moss, Lichen, Salomon Seal, and Hobblebush. Some tree species that call Mt. Cardigan home are White Pine, Red Maple, Striped Maple, Red Spruce, American Beech, Fire Cherry, Scotch Pine, Sugar Maple, and Golden Birch.

Cardigan is also plastered with ski and hiking trails, and has many interesting landmarks such as a rusty, broken down car, and an old ski lift. At the base of Mt. Cardigan and nearby Mt. Firescrew, sit the various campgrounds around Mount Cardigan Lodge. The Cardigan Lodge is a four-story refurbished farmhouse consisting of a mudroom, library, entry hall, dining hall, kitchen, living room, staff housing space, and two levels of guest rooms. While on our school trip to the Mount Cardigan region, I met many new people. For instance, I met some AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club) employees that were ur trip leaders. Although I do not remember all of their names, I remember some such as Hope (the leader of my own hiking group), and Robin and Tabitha who were other group leaders.

I was in the Mt. Cardigan region for 3 days;a rainy, fun, and short Wednesday, a beautiful and fun-filled Thursday, and a short, sunny and amazing Friday.