Yesterday, we were really undecided until we got into the car around 7:30 from MA. It was a slightly later awakening then we wanted, but just when you think you might not have a great hike, think again. This was a pretty enjoyable hike.
Bill's temperature gauge read 45 degrees all of the way up the lot from MA, and when we left, it was about 50. There was some humidity in the air with the incoming system, but it was perfect weather for hiking. There was a patch of snow at the beginning of the trail, and I thought maybe we were all set with any snow, but about halfway up, we had a dwindling monorail still pretty much intact. I was pretty surprised after looking at all of the reports, but then again its ski resort mountain, and the trail must have been nicely packed.
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| Start of the Kinsman Ridge Trail |
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| My brother tackles an early steep section - wait, they're all steep! |
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| View from the trail, somewhere near the glades section |
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| Snow like this from here to top of Cannon Cliffs and col |
Despite that fact they would have helped tremendously, I suggested a challenge to leave our spikes in our bag, and for this hike we let our boots, calves, and hammys do the work. No spills all day, but navigating or avoiding the gray ice sections sometimes required a solid effort. It was actually fun and challenging. A great leg conditioning hike :)
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| Ohhh Mt. Lafayette |
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| Looking NE from top of Cannon Cliffs |
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| Oh 93, how you take so much of my gas |
Last time we hiked Cannon for the first time in April of 2011. There was still several feet of snow on the ground, and it completely covered the outlook sign, so we didn't even know to check out the cliffs then. It's amazing - its March and there's no snow! Just an example. Since we got a boost from the views here, we were at the summit in no-time.
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| Looking back towards the cliffs and Franconia Ridge |
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| Arriving at the summit |
There was a couple at the summit, which was one group out of 3 we saw all day. Me and Bill enjoyed the summit for quite a while as we devoured oranges, cookies, Gatorade, and some tea as we took in the calm 360 views consisting of Franconia Ridge, Kinsmans, Moosilauke, peaks along Asquam Ridge, and so on.
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| Cannon Mountain Observation Tower |
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| Cannonballs & Kinsmans, the Moose behind them |
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| Franconia Ridge from Cannon summit. |
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| Bill stands proud in front of Lafayette, where he finished his 48 |
Even after a late wakening, a great hike can still be had. We started at 10 and it took 4 hours and 35min. We took our time, enjoyed the cliffs twice, and sat at the summit for about a half hour. This hike paints a different picture of Cannon compared to round one, I feel like I appreciate it a bit more. A great hike for number 40 on round two. On we go to the final eight - hoping to take care of them pretty quickly.
Hike Stats
Trails: Kinsman Ridge Trail
Distance: 4 miles
Elevation Gain: 2,100 ft
Book Time: 4hrs 35min
Interesting to see how the Franconia Notch area is looking these days. I-93 is definitely a gas thief, but I'm not sure I mind so much.
ReplyDeleteGreat hike, glad you could get outside.
Of course the reward outweighs the drive each time, but the gas thief looks sure looks beautiful from up there. Thanks
DeleteWow - can't believe that basically ALL the snow has disappeared since we were there two weeks ago. KRT definitely gives you a workout and negotiating the snowy/icy sections in bare boots must have been interesting. Amazing that even Franconia Ridge is almost bare in March. Time for some spring hiking!
ReplyDeleteMark
It's crazy, but you're right, now that its gone, its time for spring hiking. One thing about that for me, is that even though I'm closing up on round two, hiking the peaks in the early spring months is still sort of new for me, so there's lots of spring hiking experience still to be had.
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