Copy/Repost Hike

We’ve all heard of the expression…  “The Road Less Traveled…”  well on this mixed weather weekend post Thanksgiving feast Stephen and I were about to find out just exactly what truths may lie behind such a short, but meaningful, phrase.  Our journey started Friday, November 25th sometime between 3 and 4pm.  We met up at the Day’s Inn on Route 3 in North Lincoln, NH.  We quickly settled in and watched a bit of TV.  Around 5pm we made our way to spot Stephen’s car at the trail head for Cannon Mountain and then scooted back to grab at bite at the Woodstock Inn & Brewery, in North Woodstock, NH.  Like proper men gearing up to hike 13 miles over 4 summits – we each had a salad while Stephen had a bowl of chili and Rob had a bowl of soup – yah – we definitely were fueling up!!

After dinner we went back to the hotel, made our packs, got our gear ready for the next day and hit the sack – morning would come early.  We rose at 6am, had a quick breakfast and found ourselves at the trailhead for the Kinsman Ridge Trail on route 112 at 7am.  We suited up and by 7:10am we began the immediate ascent to the unknown summit at 3,009 feet.  Stephen discounts the summit as a hill, I sort of agree, but since it’s tagged on the map as a summit, I’m laying claim to reaching the top, though we barely noticed. 

The weather forecast for this weekend was a constantly changing endeavor which made packing appropriate gear a bit of a challenge.  As I’m often one to sometimes get cold on a hike – especially if we are standing idle while lunching – I geared up for cold weather and was prepared for something more intense than what we got.  Stephen was more seasonally outfitted with a lighter pack.  It had snowed in the region in the days leading up to the hike and the landscape was covered with snow varying in depth from two to six inches, far more at the higher elevations.  When we started hiking the landscape was relatively frozen, snow clung to the trees displaying a beauty that I enjoy about winter hiking.  Making our way up the trail we were careful not to knock or shake the branches leaning into the trail – it was just too beautiful.  However, as the day progressed – and we gained elevation – the weather warmed up to the high 30’s if not 40…. And the melting began along with conditions becoming slushy.  It wasn’t long before I sported my rain gear to stay dry.  Stephen had a light rain protector but it would come to be less than ideal by day’s end.  Sometime during the hike between the unnamed summit and Mt. Wolf Stephen lost a water bottle – he slipped a few times and probably lost it when he took a modest fall.  Regardless – we carried on!!

After going over the unnamed summit at 3,009’ the trail began a modest descent… we passed the junction for the Gordon Pond Trail which Stephen highly recommends – a future trip!  We descended a col to approximately 2,600’ and then began the ascent to summit Mt. Wolf at 3,500’.  For some reason… we both felt Mt. Wolf gave us a bit of a kick but thought nothing of it.  Up to and including Mt. Wolf we were following steps made the previous day.  Subsequent to the summit of Mt. Wolf – we were cutting the trail and were walking undisturbed landscape – it was pretty cool.

After leaving Mt. Wolf we spent a great deal of time descending.  Having traversed several ridges over the summer and early fall the descent was more than Stephen and I had expected but we were sincerely enjoying the beauty of the landscape despite the dripping trees and regular chunks of snow falling upon us.  Our packs soon became wet while mine seemed to accumulate snow in the side and back pockets where I kept my water (and my wine :-)  ).  We carried on until we reached the Eliza Brook Campsite.  What a beautiful shelter and location for an overnight  backpack trip.  Truly stunning.  The shelter is relatively new and it was also dry so Stephen and I decided to break here for lunch.  While it was warmer for “winter” hiking, we knew we’d get cold if we lingered too long so we had a fast lunch and didn’t hesitate to carry on the trail to keep our bodies warm.  Here is where the fun begins.  I’ve never hiked this traverse and the section between Mt. Wolf and South Kinsman, 6.7 miles, was a first for Stephen – we were both on unchartered territory.  The shelter marked the relative halfway point between the summits.  From the shelter the ascent was unrelenting, steep, arduous, rugged and slow.  The trail goes up immediately after leaving the shelter and for quite some distance follows a beautiful brook that offered a soothing sound and picturesque moments amid the snow covered, sometimes frozen, landscape.  It became pretty clear that the only way to tackle this climb was to put our heads down and one foot forward, taking in the scenery and carrying on.  A short time later the trail crossed the brook which I was sad to leave.  Although the trail was a steep climb, it was very narrow along the brook and felt like a perfect wilderness walk.  Trail blazes were few and far between and the trail was at times a challenge to make out because of the bent trees and limbs and quantity of snow but it was so beautiful.  I was in the lead on the latter part of this ascent and I was cresting yet another large boulder when the trail flattened out a bit.  In the distance I could see a clearing and I was eager for this to be the summit of South Kinsman.  When I emerged from the trail the sky indeed opened up – a hallmark card moment – yet, the summit it was not.  We’d just reached Harrington Pond.  It was stunning, undisturbed, bordered by snow covered evergreens – I was in awe.  Snapping out of the breathtaking moment I turned my head to the right and saw a mountain summit that might as well have been Mt. Washington from the base – it stunned me that after climbing 1,000’, we had another 1,000’ to go.  This side of South Kinsman was kicking our butts.  Stephen and I looked at each other, smiled, perhaps shared some colorful words…. then carried on.  This last section was even steeper, many times near vertical, big boulders, very much snow covered and always up.  We took many rest breaks, I stopped twice to snack – I was burning the calories today!!  I finally reached the summit of South Kinsman first, Stephen followed a few minutes later and we were both excited and very exhausted.  Despite the gloomy forecast, nature provided us with stunning views, we could spot North Kinsman, Franconia Ridge and the general direction of the hut, our destination for the evening.  It was also 3pm.  I estimated we were off schedule by 1 hour and that we’d hiking down to the hut by headlamp.  We took photos, rested, soaked in the views and began the latter part of our journey. 

The trail between South and North Kinsman was a gift… it was by all accounts flat (not really but to us it felt that way) with little ups and downs but no real climbing.  We quickly reached North Kinsman and were once again treated to fantastic views of the Franconia Ridge.  I was in awe… we stayed at the summit for about 10 minutes watching the summits fade in and out of a late day fog – so beautiful.  We began our descent but a short time later felt the air suddenly chill – evening was soon to be upon us.  We stopped, pulled out our headlamps, put on dry gloves, I used hand warmers, and carried on.  We reached the junction of the Kinsman Ridge and Fishin Jimmy Trail a short bit later.  We hiked most of the Fishin Jimmy Trail in the dark.  We reached the hut around 5:40pm.  Stephen and I were spent, wet, we looked haggard, but we were smiling ear to ear – we took a path less traveled, indulged in an incredible challenge, viewed  and experienced landscapes few will see. Goal ACHIEVED!  We quickly settled in, claimed our bunks, made dinner, began drying out and enjoyed the hut.  Apple crisp was how we topped off the evening.  There were 19 guests this Saturday evening…  not too crowded and a very friendly bunch.  Later in the evening a light snowfall began, rather magical.  I was in bed by 8:30pm…. Stephen followed sometime around 9pm.

It’s pretty fair to say that day two of this adventure was a bit in question for me.  I was feeling pretty good Sunday morning but the thought of ascending the Kinsman Ridge to exit our journey over Cannon Mountain seemed just a bit – well – insane?  By 8:30am we were on the trail, circling Lonesome Lake and making our way up the trail to reconnect with the Kinsman Ridge Trail to summit Cannon Mountain at 4,100’.  We climbed the lookout tower and took photos.  We began the descent  but were slightly delayed because they were making snow and the trail head leaving the ski trail was obscured – quite heavily – by several feet of snow.  After finding the trailhead we carried down a bit further only to find the trail head obscured yet again by lots of snow – several feet in many spots.  We came out onto a clearing, which it turns out, was a viewing area.  But before realizing this we had an adventure circumnavigating the tree line looking for a trail opening in the tree line.  None to be found we returned to our starting point and discovered the trail took a fairly sharp turn.  From this point forward the trail was super easy to follow and within 45 minutes we were at the parking lot. We finished the stretch from hut to Cannon Mountain to parking lot, roughly 5 miles, in four hours – including our adventurous detour.

I tackled 3 new 4,000 footers and Stephen experienced a new stretch of trail between Mt. Wolf and South Kinsman.  We both agreed that future hikes to South Kinsman might be an easier endeavor from Lafayette Campground.  Do not discount a multi day backpacking trip along the Kinsman Ridge though – truly rewarding and well worth the adventure and challenge.  While Stephen and I tackled a good chunk of it in one day – you might enjoy a more relaxing pace.  I will be back to tackle the Cannon Balls – it is the one part we did not complete – but now I have a reason to return.

Thank you Stephen for co-leading and joining me on this awesome adventure.  Many thanks for taking the pictures (Rob forgot his camera – AGAIN!!)  We had a brilliant and big day and I was glad to share it with you.  Cheers mate – I’ll be seeing you soon on the trails soon.  Happy Trails!!

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