The second day at Cardigan we were out hiking most of the time. This was the day that we were going to hike up Mount Cardigan. However, each group, except for a couple, hiked up Cardigan different ways. So after breakfast, our group started off by taking the Manning Trail, which led us up Firescrew. Firescrew was a long, rocky, uphill hike. Even though at times our legs were burning from the steep paths, our heart rates were escalating along with the trail, and we were begging for a break, Firescrew built up our teams stamina and made the rest of the hike a little easier. Once summiting Firescrew, our group proceeded to cross the saddle between Firescrew and Cardigan. After crossing the saddle, all that was left for us to do was climb up a precipitous hill of rock before we reached the summit of Mount Cardigan. At the top of Cardigan was a breathtaking 360 view of small towns below, thick expanses of trees, stretches of water, and continuous mountains in the distance. We were accompanied by other groups at the top as well, allowing us to fraternize with people from other hiking groups. Yet, our time spent at the summit of Cardigan was short lived, as we still had to hike back down to the lodge. The hike down felt quick and we arrived at the AMC Lodge ready to rest our aching muscles. Even after a good amount of break time back at the lodge, we were still debilitated from the multiple miles of hiking we completed that day. That night, after dinner, the AMC Lodge owner, Brian, taught us about multiple different animals, mostly reptiles, and brought some of them out to show us. Afterwards, everyone was herded outside for a campfire and stargazing, then led back inside for a story to end off the night. Ultimately, it was an enthralling day. We got to see an old cell in the woods, pick and eat wild cucumbers, see multiple glacier rocks, and overall learn so much more about nature.
| | | | |