My Cardigan Adventure

September 30 - October 2 2015

By Thomas H.

It ain't easy being the green group...

Cardigan Mountain is located close to the middle of New Hampshire. As to which town the mountain itself is located in, there are two answers. The east side of the mountain belongs to the town of Alexandria, and the west side belongs to the town of Orange. To the east is Newfound Lake, and to the southeast is the town of Bristol. The latitude of the summit is North 43 degrees, 38 minutes, and 58.8 seconds. The longitude of the summit is West 71 degrees, 54 minutes, and 50.9 seconds. During the hike we took many waypoints when we sketched the different plants that we were assigned to find. For instance, the sparkling tree moss that we found is located at North 43 degrees, 38 minutes, and 52.2 seconds, and West 71 degrees, 53 minutes 23.8 seconds. Those are just two of the many waypoints that we marked.

The mountain itself is 3,155 feet in elevation. At the summit for about the last 100ish feet it is all rock, with almost no trees. It's like most other mountains, not anything very special, although it is within a state park. Right next to mount Cardigan is mount Firescrew, also with a bald top, because of a fire a long time ago and the way the smoke rose, hence the name Firescrew.

Atop the mountain sits a firetower, not used anymore and very rusted. About 150ish feet from the top lies a cabin that is not currently in use, called the High Cabin, where people used to stay. Mount Cardigan used to be ski mountain, which is why there is a ski trail along with a couple other hiking trails.There is a certain place where you can find a broken down ski lift mechanism. At the base of the mountain is the AMC(Appalachian Mountain Club) lodge, which is where we stayed. This is also a place where almost anyone can stay if they choose.

We were at Cardigan Lodge for 3 days, and they were a cold and wet Wednesday., a dry and lukewarm Thursday, and a grey, gloomy Friday.