The Rocky Top Of Mt Cardigan

On a beautiful Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, I met up with my buddy Duncan (freshly graduated from Dickinson – congrats!), his father, sister, and their dog, Lucy, for a nice hike up Mt Cardigan (see more on the route here).  We met up early, hiked around the hill for a few hours before it became a total zoo (Mt Cardigan is a popular hike in the region), and had a great time.  What’s neat about this mountain is that the top is completely exposed and very rocky.  This is because back in the day, in 1855, a fire ripped through the area and burned everything off the summit.  Since then, nothing has managed to grow back on the summit, with the exception of a fire tower.  Somewhat ironic, if you ask me.  Anyways, here are a few shots from the short outing.

Somewhere near the top of the short trail, we hit the rocky section where all the trees burned off back in 1855.

It was super hazy out – only sometime the next day did I realize that this was due to a forest fire from Southern Quebec.

The cairns leading up the final pitch to the summit with the fire tower.

After reaching the summit, we pressed on as it was rather windy.  We stopped shortly after for some lunch near the summit of the adjacent Firescrew.  This is the view of Mt Cardigan from near the top of Firescrew.

A little bit further down the other side of Firescrew.

Duncan’s dog friend Lucy was having a tough time dealing with the wind, but she was able to manage.

After coming back over Cardigan on the way back, we took an alternate route down, taking us over the south summit.  Here’s the view of the summit from the south.

All in all, it was a really nice hike.  I’d been meaning to get out here since winter (you can ski tour here), so I’m glad that I finally made it out to see what all the fuss was about.  It’s a great short hike.