Difficult Day 2 At Cardigan

By Molly H

9/23/21

Green Group D1B3

It was the climax of the Mount Cardigan Trip, the day that we were actually going to hike Mount Cardigan and possibly Firescrew if you have a group of fast hikers. Because my Mom was chaperoning I rode up in her car instead of on the bus because of spatial issues with COVID. We blasted music and I actually prefer that over the loud noisy bus. We got to the AMC lodge and immediately went to our groups. Then, we reviewed the goals that we had written on Day 1 to make sure that we did a good job meeting these goals. Despite being the last one to leave the lodge we kept up a good pace and good spirits even despite lots of uphill. We had some fun river crossings where Tom would go first and then we had to carefully watch our steps and make sure that we did not slip and fall into the cold rushing waters. After the crossing, Tom took out a clothespin, and when we walked we put it on other peoples backpacks and when we stopped again if you had the clothespin you had to share what is an accomplishment that you are most proud of. When I had the clothespin I shared how I did well with my cows at Hopkinton Fair.

We also tried other games just to keep the hike fun. One of the games that we tried to play was hide and seek however it did not work because it was just the seeker playing catch up. Finally, after feeling the burn, we made it to PJs ledge and stopped for lunch. I had a great lunch besides the fact that my water bottle broke, that was ok though I threw it in my Moms great big backpack and we all kept on truckin. That was when we got to the tough part of the hike though. The bare rock. Tom said that if it started to rain we would turn around and not be able to summit. We all really wanted to summit so we kept that in mind and while we hiked, prayed for good weather. With our luck, it started to rain, although we were all so determined, so we sat in the rain for about ten minutes before we actually got back to hiking. I was a little bit nervous, not gonna lie. It was a long slippery slide down the mountain if I were to slip and with the rain rushing down the mountain it was extra slippery. What I feared was that there was nothing to hold on to so you just had to inch your way up the mountain. We made it through and met up with another group at the top. It was a great moment and if you jumped up the wind would push you. It was about 40mph winds. We took a sketch and then made a group decision to head over to the firescrew and then head down.

The way to firescrew was really uneventful and just a simple downhill hike to a mountaintop bog. The only interesting thing that happened was I was inching down the mountain and ripped a hole in my pants. That was ok though, I just tied my sweatshirt around my waist and I do not think many people even noticed. Also, Rowan took the easy way and almost faceplanted showing that you should stay and the trail and not try to take a quick way.

We were about two miles from the lodge and on our way down from Firescrew when something horrible happened. My ankle rolled on me and I fell into a puddle with incredible pain shooting up my leg. I said I was fine however honestly, I was not. I sat down until Mom, Mr McCrillis, and Nico came. Mr McCrillis had ski poles so I used those to crutch down the rest of the mountain. I was in a lot of pain and still going at a slow pace so at the end we made a group decision to split up so that the rest of my group did not miss the bus. It was me, Mom, Mr. McCrillis, and Jacques. Hiking in the woods alone. We kept going and eventually got to the lodge around 7 however it was the longest two hours of my life. Something good came out of this though, Mr McCrillis bought me Swedish Fish so that I had something to munch on during the long ride home. At home, I was on crutches and would be for another week, although I was ready to crutch along for the final day at Mount Cardigan.