My Wilderness Journey
september 27 - 29 2015
by Nate p.
green group
Cardigan Lodge is located in Orange and Alexandria and at the base of Mount Cardigan and is operated by the Appalachian Mountain Club for visitors who want to see the beauty of the mountain and hike there. This bald granite peak is 3,155 feet in altitude. The lodge is at 774 Shem Valley Road in Alexandria. From there one trail branches off into many trails to the peak and through the Mount Cardigan area. As we climbed the mountain, there were many different trails we took, and each of them was marked with different colors. Some of the blazes we saw were yellow, blue, and white. The lodges coordinates are N43 38 59.6 W71 52 41.9. The elevation is 1,380 feet above sea level.
Mount Cardigan is a very natural place in terms of its physical geography. It has beautiful rock structures and many wild animals, such as black bears, squirrels, chipmunks, foxes, and owls. At the top of Mount Cardigan there was U.S. Geological Survey marker in the rock, which marks the highest point. The rocks at the top were more barren and rigid than those at the bottom, or even those halfway. There were many different trees and plants in the different zones from the wetland plants in the riparian zone along the stream on the trail near the lodge to the lichens on the rocks in the alpine zone.
Manmade items were also at Mount Cardigan, showing its cultural geography. The trails, trail markers, the lodge, and the fire tower are a few examples of the cultural geography we saw. The most prominent were the lodge and the fire tower. The fire tower was very interesting because it was at the summit and gave a 360 view of the surroundings. From Mount Cardigan we saw windmills, which are manmade and they capture energy. There were also cairns on the bald part of the mountain because there could not be any blazes on trees. Each cairn was different and had its own unique structure, leading people to the top of the mountain and back to the trails and lodge. Mount Cardigan has a very interesting cultural geography.
we were at cardigan for 3 days and Sunday and we had a was awesome Monday was awesome too and so was Tusday