Cardigan Mountain

On the seventh grade trip to Mount Cardigan, we went on a hike up both Mount Cardigan and Firescrew (another mountain). Mount Cardigan, Firescrew, and the AMC lodge where we stayed is located in a town called Orange, in NH. The coordinates of the lodge where we ate and slept was Latitude 43 degrees, 38 minutes, and 58.9 seconds (North). Longitude was 71 degrees, 51 minutes, and 42.1 seconds (West). The mountain itself is just west of Orange mountain. The state park that contains the mountains and the AMC lodge is Northwest of the towns of Bristol and Alexandria.

At Cardigan, the AMC lodge building itself was very nice. There were four stories: The mudroom-like space and small library hangout space, the dining and living room, the girls bunk rooms, and the boys bunk rooms. The trails (belonging to and built by the AMC) were also very nice and relatively clear. The kitchen was very nice and the food there was also very good. You could tell that there was care put into the food.

While hiking on Mount Cardigan, Firescrew, and the various hiking trails, there were many different species of plant and trees. For example, in just one small patch of land on Firescrew, there were four different types of trees (the species being striped maples, beeches, red spruce, and sugar maples. There were also some interesting rock structures and small details in the rock on the hikes up both of the mountains, all varying in shape and size. The way we were walking (I suppose you could call it the slant of the mountain), was also nearly constantly changing. Sometimes we would be walking very upward, and having to use both hands and feet to make it up the mountain without falling, and other times, while still working up the mountain, our group would have to go down a small hill. The physical features of the mountains were very interesting to me.

A group of students and I were there for three days, which were Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday ( Sept. 30, Oct. 1, Oct. 2).