Saturday, April 13
Summits: Carrigan
Start/Finish: Sawyer River Rd TH
Miles: 13.6
Elevation gain/loss: 4160′
I started from the parking lot at 7am, hoping that the water crossings would be manageable and the snow wouldn’t be completely rotten. I was able to bareboot road walk and then needed to put on snowshoes right away for the rest of the hike. Water levels were incredibly high, requiring me to wade across knee- to thigh-deep water twice, and the trail was a 2′ creek for many of the miles before the climb. I needed my snowshoes for the climb and descent, and while I saw the sun for perhaps 15 minutes as I climbed, it quickly was covered over by thick clouds.
The summit was socked in and cold, and I kept moving quickly to keep the blood flowing to my feet. The hike back out was a bit easier since I wasn’t trail finding ways around the deep water, but it was a bit miserable. This was tied for the hardest hike of Carrigan, with me breaking out Carrigan solo being the other, though I felt strong.
