A two-day, one night backpack with the option for our father-son guests to lead themselves out after another night was necessary — the second night wasn’t an option for Redline Guide Debra McCown because was partaking in medical training. As requested, we came up with a plan. Since we wanted to make the exit as easy and as straight-forward as possible, we decided on hiking Signal Ridge and taking the first night on Mt Carrigain, take Desolation Trail down to Carrigain Notch in the morning, then take Nancy Pond Trail to Norcross Pond and the second night. As it turns out, two days and one night was enough for this Illinois duo. While they did hike in the Dolomites, and the father was from here, originally… well, we’ll let Debra tell it. We’ll just they found the experience to be the…
Hardest Thing I’ve Ever Done
A father and son from Chicago came to New Hampshire (where the father was raised many years ago) looking for a challenging backpacking overnight. So, we chose Mt. Carrigain, which is located at roughly the geographic center of the White Mountains and has a tower on the summit offering 360-degree views with little sign of civilization.
Steep and rocky on both sides, this peak is easily in the top 10 hardest of our State’s 4000-footer peaks. And it definitely pushed their limits! They arrived at the end exhausted and with a well-earned appreciation for the challenging nature of White Mountain terrain. Miles before that, resting at our summit campsite, the son (age 16) told me it was already the hardest physical challenge he’d ever done. At the end of the second day, his dad said the same.
‘It’s like ranger training,’ the dad said, also jokingly noting a dislike for “whoever Nancy is” as we ended our hike on the Nancy Pond Trail.
In all, the pair logged 16.8 miles and more than 4,500 feet of elevation gain over two days. They got to see both sunshine and storm clouds from one of the most scenic spots around. They briefly saw a moose! And they successfully accomplished a hike that was much harder than they initially expected.
Warning: New Hampshire hiking adventures may result in some percentage of Type 2 fun. But we hope they’ll be back for more. —Debra
