Not too long before Nancy heads south for the winter, and lots of stuff coming up over the next few weeks,
so we really wanted to get in a hike this past weekend. The forecast seemed promising after Saturday.
Cardigan was nominated.
I hadn't been back since winter, so was looking forward to seeing what it looked like, and also to getting out to a couple interesting smaller peaks.
So I worked out a little bit of a changeup.
Manning -> Mowglis -> West Ridge -> Skyland -> South Ridge -> Hurricane Gap -> Clark -> Holt-Clark Cutoff -> Holt
the route typed out is almost as long as the route on the ground 
The first part of the morning was spent wondering just how the weather was going to play out. There were signs that the clouds might clear or at least rise enough to give us a ceiling. But hard to tell.
After meeting at the exit 23 park & Ride we headed over to Cardigan Lodge. Getting out of the car ... ugh. It was cold. But off we went.
I was plenty warm by the time we reached the first exposed ledges, but it didnt take long to lose that heat. The wind was strong and this was easily the coldest exposure for any of us since last Spring. Brr.
But at least no ice ( as was reported from Moosilaukee!) .
Firescrew was *very* cold, but the clouds were blowing away as we crossed it. The sun was welcome, but not enough to balance the wind chill, at least until we reached the shelter of Mowglis Trail.
Annie is a new hiker, very enthusiastic, but also very impatient and rather inexperienced. She had to learn a little bit about climbing ledges, but she caught on quickly and was not intimidated.
Climbing out of the col and up the summit ledges was definitely brisk. Nice to reach the lee of the tower, where we sat and watched the parade and had lunch. It was cold and windy, I was rather wishing I'd brought some gloves.
There were many people on the mountain, easily into the dozens. Many came up from the West side and were definitely underdressed in shirtsleeves and shorts 
But the weather was clear, no ice, so retreat to tree line was straightforward.
Once fed and thoroughly chilled, we headed down the West Ridge trail, and picled up the Skyland trail toward Rimrock. This little section of the Skyland trail was a delightful surprise with the lushest moss I've seen. Very pretty, lightly traveled, with good footing.
Rimrock was a very satisfyingly exposed summit, but the real prize was the in-and-out of trees ridge walk over to South Peak. Sheltered from the wind but exposed to the sun with good views, this was my favorite piece of the hike.
Moss along the Hurricane Gap trail was very similar ( but not quite up to) the moss on the Skyland trail. A pleasant shady wood walk past the High Cabin.
The High Cabin is an AMC facility available for rent. It looks pretty nice, clean and modern. Hmm m... maybe some time ....
From this point the walk out along the Clark & Holt trails was pretty uneventful, which was OK, we'd had a very good hike, Annie got some experience ... great day!