October 1st through 3rd
There are two different types of location. One is absolute location, which refers to a specific, fixed point on the Earths surface that can be expressed through a coordinate system like longitude and latitude. The other is relative location, which means the location is given in relation to another place, such as by describing what is near to it. The Cardigan Lodge on the Appalachian Mountain Trail can be described through both absolute and relative locations. Its absolute location is 43 degrees 38 minutes 48.9 seconds North and 71 degrees 52 minutes 21.9 seconds West. Its relative location is that it is located next to Cardigan Mountain, near the towns of Orange and Alexandria, NH. It is also near the body of water know as Newfound lake. These are the two different types of location in relation to Cardigan Mountain AMC Lodge.
Cardigan Mountain itself is located in the towns of Orange and Alexandria, NH. It is interesting in that the base of the mountain is located in Alexandria but the summit is located in Orange. There are many things on Cardigan Mountain that are unique, for example, the bald top of the mountain. This means Cardigan Mountains peak is completely made of rock with no trees anywhere to be found. Cardigan Mountain is filled with beautiful physical features, whether it is the wide range of trees (hemlocks, beeches, firs, spruce, maples and many others) or the magnificent Welton Falls, it is chock full of things to see and experience. Cardigan Mountain has many streams and rivers, some that are only trickles and others that are much more than a trickle. Several rivers were gushing and others had been run dry. All over the Cardigan Mountain hiking trails there are plants called Hobble Bush. This plant got its name from hikers, who would hike across the mountain and often be tripped by this devilish plant. The weather on Cardigan Mountain can be beautiful. It was sunny when we went and there was very rarely a cloud in the sky. The best part of Cardigan Mountain though, has to be the view from the top. Here, you can see lakes and the fall foliage on full display.
In addition to the physical geography on Cardigan Mountain, there is also cultural geography to consider. There are many cellar holes along the trails from when people used to live up there. It is quite cool that people along time ago could build such amazing things On one you could still see the ramp that led down into the hole. When you reach the summit, you can see windmills all over the landscape. These windmills are 400 feet tall when measured from the tip of the top turbine to the bottom. Something closer that you can see on the top of the mountain is a fire tower that has been built right on the summit. We were not able to go inside it on our visit, and it was covered in hornets, but it was still pretty cool. The fire tower is no longer in use, but it was used years ago to spot forest fires. A family actually used to live up on the mountain in the fire wardens house, and the warden would monitor for fires from the tower. The fire wardens house is now just an old run down shack in the woods off of the bald top. Near to the fire wardens house is a high cabin, which visitors are actually able to rent out. The high cabin holds 12 people and has a kitchen and a bedroom. Another place that visitors can stay when they come to Cardigan Mountain is the Cardigan Lodge. Its location is described above. The Cardigan Lodge is quite large and it has four floors. On our trip, one floor was for the boys, one floor was for the girls, and then there was a main floor and a basement. The Cardigan Lodge is gray and white, with a metal roof to melt off the snow. It has windows that give a view of the mountain. It has a large driveway to the front of it and a field to the right. Past the field is a fire pit, which we performed skits at on the second night of our trip. To the left of the lodge is a huge set of solar panels. The solar panels power the entire lodge.
Cardigan Mountain is filled with both physical and cultural features. Whether it is the massive wind turbines you can see from the top, or the roaring waterfall on the trail, Cardigan Mountain displays both types of Geography! For our class trip, we were at the AMC Cardigan Lodge for three days and explored different areas and types of Geography on each day. Sunday was the day that we traveled to the beaver dam and cellar holes. Monday we climbed a trail to the summit of Cardigan Mountain, and Tuesday we walked a nature loop and climbed up a hill to see an old car that related to the ski history of the mountain.
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