Mt. Cardigan – West Ridge Trail

It was a breezy Saturday morning, and the sun was shining. So I decided to go take a quick hike up to Mt. Cardigan in Orange NH. I was planning on going up the West Ridge Trail.

The road to the trail head is a bit off the beaten path. For a little bit I was questioning the GPS directions. But the GPS was correct, and I was soon at the parking lot. The lot was filling up but there were a few spaces left, so I took the first available.

The weather was cloudy with some sun patches breaking through. The winds were blowing but I knew I would be in the trees most of the trip.

I grabbed my bag and headed out to the trail head. The trail starts out pretty easy and gently starts to climb the mountain.

There were a few people on the trail ahead of me. I soon came to a split in the trail that led me astray for a bit but it did rejoin the trail shortly after.

From here the grade gets a little steeper as I continued to climb. I passed a lot of dried-up brooks and places that looked they might flood in wetter times. For the most part the trail was in good shape. It was pretty clear of leaves and footing was pretty solid. This is most likely due to the high traffic on this trail.

Once I got to the junction with Orange Mountain trail, my trail became a bit steeper. And a bit rockier and ledge-y. The further up I went the louder the winds became, especially coming out of the trees.

When I hit the open summit, the winds were really blowing. I had to put my hood up to keep the wind blowing in my ear. I also had to take a break from the wind in the small outcroppings of trees as I approached the summit.

At the summit I took some shelter behind the fire tower before going out and take some pictures from the top. I didn’t stay to long due to the cold and the wind.

I started to make my way back down the same trail. The way down went much quicker. Also, on my way down there were a lot more people on the way up. Many of them not prepared for the winds and cold that wait for them above.

As I reached the bottom of the trail the weather changed, now it was snowing, raining and sleeting. Some people just starting on the way up were questioning their decision to hike but they marched on I think.