Signal Ridge Trail to Mount Carrigain

We went throughout the notch to the Desolation Trail and Ascended the back side, then down the Signal Ridge Trail for 13.4 miles. There was quite a bit of mellow hiking, but you pay for it on the way up the back side!

Signal ridge trail is great; beautiful scenery and clearly visible. The desolation trail is cool because it’s technical toward the top, but once you leave the alpine zone there are trees down, no blazes, and lots of spur trails leading nowhere, so pay close attention if you make a loop of this. Very cool trail, though. 360 panos from top make it worth the push!

I had quite the adventure! At about 1.7 miles from the trailhead I saw a trail to the left that I wasn't sure if I should take vs continuing straight. I walked straight for a little ways but then opened all trails and looked at the track and Decided to go back and take the trail to the left (had to climb over a downed tree, (that should have been my first clue that I was on the wrong trail). I continued on this and crossed the brook twice and then started straight up the mountain on a trail with downed logs everywhere and small trees in the trail. (Bushwhacked) Now I definitely know I am on the Wrong trail. Again I kept comparing my hike with all trails and I was spot on with them. I read in amc book that trail was redirected so I figured I was on the old trail and must be the all trails trail was old and had high hopes it would rejoin the new trail. It did. On my way down I hiked the "real" trail which was way easier and prettier than what I did on the way up and was amazed how I overthought the information I read about the trail. All I had to do was continue straight on the trail until I saw the sign ( I'm still shaking my head at my self of how I came to my conclusion)
The top was so awesome with rime ice on the trees and outlook platform. Perfect blue skies and low wind but chilly temps made for great weather.

Hike up was pretty tiring for me. I was quite sore by the end of the day. But not so much that I couldn't move my arms and legs the next day. Not to many insects trying to eat you thankfully. However I did go fully covered head to toe with insect repellent on me. It wasn't busy at all. For 85% of the hike up my husband and I were the only people hiking. We met a few people on the way (about 10 total up and down). There is a watch tower like construction built all the way to the top where you can see EVERYTHING ! It's so so so quiet. Couldn't even hear birds or insects singing. Weather was amazing so we spent about 20mins soaking up the sun and silence. I expected the view to be better though. Wasn't disappointed but not as amazed as I wanted to be.

One of the best in the whites!

one of the best in the whites!

Decent hike. First two miles are flat and easy and the remaining three miles, while a fair grade, were along a narrow and rocky trail, which was difficult to navigate at times.

I'll start off by saying the sights at the top make everything worth it. Absolutely breathtaking-- 360 degrees of beautiful views of mountains while you gaze on top of a fire watch tower. 5/5 experience once you reach that ridge and up to the summit. However, the path there is a SLOG. The first mile is a stroll through the forest with beautiful views of creeks and waterfalls (we even dipped in at the end of the hike). The next three miles are a long, steep journey mostly on broken rocks with very little to no views because of the thickness of the surrounding forest-- this really detracted from our experience. Despite this, though, we could hardly be angry with how gorgeous the view at the top is.
We also brought a medium sized dog who handled the trail very well.