Mt Carrigan 4680'

Stepping from the car I quickly noticed the bugs swarming around. I lathered on the dope and threw on my summer pack. We were off pretty quickly chased by the swarm. Very quickly we reached a wide but shallow brook. Back in 2000 we had to ford this further up the stream but today it was an easy rock-hop.

The trail was mostly flat, a few uphill sections but nothing much. The woods were a beautiful green with many new leaves. It had been a mild and dry spring after a cold winter. Nice sunshine filtered in through the canopy, good for daydreaming.

When we reached the last stream crossing it was easy also, no problems at all. From here the trail ascended more steeply and would continue that way for most of the 2700 feet of vertical ahead. Before too long we were at the place I'd remembered so well from the many blowdowns. There were still a couple, this place must be prone to them. There was just a few dribs and drabs of snow peeking out from shady spots

Before long we reached the top of Signal Ridge and Anne did some oohs and ahhs, it is a really pretty spot and this was her first time on Carrigan. From here we saw the tower so we plodded onward. My energy was dragging a little, Anne took off for the summit.

She reached the base of the tower first, several people were just ready to leave and we'd passed some on the way up. It was a weekend and a very beautiful day so you expect to see lots of people up there.

At the top we revelled in the amazing views, ate some lunch and soaked in the sun. A solo hiker showed up and announced he had just finished his "48." We passed out our congratulations, Anne and I were close, I was just waiting for her to catch up so we could do Isolation together. We spent allot of time up there and finally headed down. I looked at Desolation trail as I passed and it seemed to be still full of snow. We opted for a descent back down signal and had a glorious hike out. The bugs returned when we de-packed at the car...oh well, May in the Whites!