bunchberry
New member
Back in early January I was looking at my calendar and thought how nice it would be to spend the last “official” winter weekend up in NH staying in a hut and hitting some nearby peaks. I picked Lonesome Lake hut for this adventure, and the participants were to be Poison Ivy (Amy) and her husband Dave, MichaelJ, my friend Nicole, and me. After months of having this hike on my radar, the weekend arrived. The plan was to summit Cannon Mountain on Saturday and the Kinsmans on Sunday, and the weather was looking good. However, on Saturday morning I got a call from Amy (who had planned to start earlier than us) letting me know that she had only made it up about two tenths of a mile up the trail and had to turn around—she was still recovering from bronchitis and didn’t think it was wise to hike. So, she and Dave turned around, left their share of the food at the trailhead for us, and suddenly, our group of hikers was down to three.
Nicole and I met Michael at the trailhead at 9am, and it was quite a shock stepping outside into the cold and windy air…somehow it felt a lot colder than I thought it would, and the sun was hidden behind many layers of clouds. We layered up, retrieved the food bag left by Amy, got our packs and crampons on (though Nicole only had stabilicers), and started up the trail. The trail up to the hut from Lafayette Place Campground is very short, though pretty steep. As we started hiking up I began to not feel the best, something that stuck with me the rest of the weekend, unfortunately.
Despite not feeling 100%, we had a great hike to the hut, and got there sooner than I thought we would. We picked our bunks, repacked our packs for the afternoon hike, then went to the main hut to have lunch. I had planned on eating my cold quesadilla for lunch, but since we had the time, and the idea of a warm lunch sounded very soothing, I got to heat the quesadilla up on the stove…yumm! Pretty soon after, we set off for Cannon. After walking partway around the lake on our way to the Dodge Cutoff, there is a jumble of signs that briefly confused me as I continued to lead the group around the lake, having missed the turnoff. Michael realized the mistake pretty quickly, we backtracked, and soon we were on the right trail. It had been easy to miss since it was not blazed well, and had not been tracked out since about 4 inches of snow had fallen.
The Dodge cutoff was a nice, wilderness-y feeling trail, with a very narrow trail corridor. I took the lead up the trail, and savored the opportunity to make first tracks in the snow. We reached the junction with the Hi Cannon trail, and continued upward—that trail makes no hesitation in its climb! Soon, we reached the ladder that Michael has been warning us about. It actually did not look as bad as I thought it would, but the dismount onto the ledge above it was going to be a little tricky. But truth be told, I’m not really afraid of heights and I love this kind of a challenge! After the ladder, the trail mellowed and before I knew it we were approaching the summit tower. The wind had picked up a lot, so we layered up and climbed up the tower, ready for 360 degree views. And views we got, sort of! The winter wonderland spread out before me made it so hard to remember that just a few miles south of Franconia notch, there wasn’t even any snow on the ground!
After a couple minutes looking around and taking photos, we made our way down to the summit lodge for some hot cocoa, chili, and bathrooms. There were surprisingly few skiers in the lodge, probably because most of them were avoiding the very windy summit, complete with freezing temps and blowing snow. One of my favorite moments of the day was when we were leaving the summit lodge and putting the crampons back on, and a father and son walked by. The little boy pointed to our crampons and said “Daddy, what are those things?” and I felt pretty hardcore as the father explained crampons to his son, explaining that someone wearing crampons could walk on the big icy patch nearby without falling! His looks of wonder toward us were priceless.
The hike down was filled with interesting moments…I had hiked the Kinsman Ridge Trail down from Cannon before, but didn’t remember the steepness, and couldn’t even comprehend the ice flows that we were to discover on the trail. Most of the trail was manageable, even for Nicole in her stabilicers, but there was one section that Michael started to attempt, and then decided to turn around and scout a way through the woods after Nicole had already done so. I had brief moments thinking that I could find a way down the ice, but then I came to my senses and retreated into the woods with the rest. I also took a mini video of Nicole on a very treacherous spot along the trail, as she used an ice axe to control her glissade (kinda) and let out a great yell as I laughed! All in good fun
As we hiked down, I think I only drank my water once, which most likely contributed to my extreme sleepiness and lethargy that evening. On top of not feeling well from the start, I was now dehydrated, so for the rest of the evening I wasn’t the greatest company…you’ll notice in the photos that I didn’t take any on Saturday night! I did have a great conversation with two women from a Pioneer Valley hiking club, and one of them gave me some lemon tea/electrolyte stuff that was just perfect for how I was feeling. I had an excellent night’s sleep that night….
In the morning, we reconfirmed with each other that the original plan to hike the Kinsmans was being abandoned. We had heard from a group who had attempted the hike the day before that crampons were ESSENTIAL, and even with crampons there was a 20 foot section or so in which they belayed each other for safety. I decided summiting peaks #30 and #31 could wait for a safer day! As I always say, the mountains will always be there to come back to.
So, realizing that we were not in a hurry to get on the trail, we had a somewhat leisurely morning, and ate freshly baked chocolate chip cookies for breakfast, courtesy of Nicole. They were supposed to be Saturday night’s dessert, but we had never gotten around to that. Eventually, we packed up and got on the trail, and made it down very quickly, probably 45 minutes or so. Back at the cars, there was a fresh layer of snow to dust off, and we decided to hit up Peg’s in Lincoln for a yummy breakfast before getting on the road. All in all, it was a wonderful weekend. I am really glad that I hiked Cannon, and got in one last peak before winter’s end. I had great trail companions, and the adventure was so much fun—as always. We missed Amy and Dave, just means we have to plan another weekend!
See http://community.webshots.com/album/548766907JxyNbs for photos.
-katie
Nicole and I met Michael at the trailhead at 9am, and it was quite a shock stepping outside into the cold and windy air…somehow it felt a lot colder than I thought it would, and the sun was hidden behind many layers of clouds. We layered up, retrieved the food bag left by Amy, got our packs and crampons on (though Nicole only had stabilicers), and started up the trail. The trail up to the hut from Lafayette Place Campground is very short, though pretty steep. As we started hiking up I began to not feel the best, something that stuck with me the rest of the weekend, unfortunately.
Despite not feeling 100%, we had a great hike to the hut, and got there sooner than I thought we would. We picked our bunks, repacked our packs for the afternoon hike, then went to the main hut to have lunch. I had planned on eating my cold quesadilla for lunch, but since we had the time, and the idea of a warm lunch sounded very soothing, I got to heat the quesadilla up on the stove…yumm! Pretty soon after, we set off for Cannon. After walking partway around the lake on our way to the Dodge Cutoff, there is a jumble of signs that briefly confused me as I continued to lead the group around the lake, having missed the turnoff. Michael realized the mistake pretty quickly, we backtracked, and soon we were on the right trail. It had been easy to miss since it was not blazed well, and had not been tracked out since about 4 inches of snow had fallen.
The Dodge cutoff was a nice, wilderness-y feeling trail, with a very narrow trail corridor. I took the lead up the trail, and savored the opportunity to make first tracks in the snow. We reached the junction with the Hi Cannon trail, and continued upward—that trail makes no hesitation in its climb! Soon, we reached the ladder that Michael has been warning us about. It actually did not look as bad as I thought it would, but the dismount onto the ledge above it was going to be a little tricky. But truth be told, I’m not really afraid of heights and I love this kind of a challenge! After the ladder, the trail mellowed and before I knew it we were approaching the summit tower. The wind had picked up a lot, so we layered up and climbed up the tower, ready for 360 degree views. And views we got, sort of! The winter wonderland spread out before me made it so hard to remember that just a few miles south of Franconia notch, there wasn’t even any snow on the ground!
After a couple minutes looking around and taking photos, we made our way down to the summit lodge for some hot cocoa, chili, and bathrooms. There were surprisingly few skiers in the lodge, probably because most of them were avoiding the very windy summit, complete with freezing temps and blowing snow. One of my favorite moments of the day was when we were leaving the summit lodge and putting the crampons back on, and a father and son walked by. The little boy pointed to our crampons and said “Daddy, what are those things?” and I felt pretty hardcore as the father explained crampons to his son, explaining that someone wearing crampons could walk on the big icy patch nearby without falling! His looks of wonder toward us were priceless.
The hike down was filled with interesting moments…I had hiked the Kinsman Ridge Trail down from Cannon before, but didn’t remember the steepness, and couldn’t even comprehend the ice flows that we were to discover on the trail. Most of the trail was manageable, even for Nicole in her stabilicers, but there was one section that Michael started to attempt, and then decided to turn around and scout a way through the woods after Nicole had already done so. I had brief moments thinking that I could find a way down the ice, but then I came to my senses and retreated into the woods with the rest. I also took a mini video of Nicole on a very treacherous spot along the trail, as she used an ice axe to control her glissade (kinda) and let out a great yell as I laughed! All in good fun
As we hiked down, I think I only drank my water once, which most likely contributed to my extreme sleepiness and lethargy that evening. On top of not feeling well from the start, I was now dehydrated, so for the rest of the evening I wasn’t the greatest company…you’ll notice in the photos that I didn’t take any on Saturday night! I did have a great conversation with two women from a Pioneer Valley hiking club, and one of them gave me some lemon tea/electrolyte stuff that was just perfect for how I was feeling. I had an excellent night’s sleep that night….In the morning, we reconfirmed with each other that the original plan to hike the Kinsmans was being abandoned. We had heard from a group who had attempted the hike the day before that crampons were ESSENTIAL, and even with crampons there was a 20 foot section or so in which they belayed each other for safety. I decided summiting peaks #30 and #31 could wait for a safer day! As I always say, the mountains will always be there to come back to.
So, realizing that we were not in a hurry to get on the trail, we had a somewhat leisurely morning, and ate freshly baked chocolate chip cookies for breakfast, courtesy of Nicole. They were supposed to be Saturday night’s dessert, but we had never gotten around to that. Eventually, we packed up and got on the trail, and made it down very quickly, probably 45 minutes or so. Back at the cars, there was a fresh layer of snow to dust off, and we decided to hit up Peg’s in Lincoln for a yummy breakfast before getting on the road. All in all, it was a wonderful weekend. I am really glad that I hiked Cannon, and got in one last peak before winter’s end. I had great trail companions, and the adventure was so much fun—as always. We missed Amy and Dave, just means we have to plan another weekend!
See http://community.webshots.com/album/548766907JxyNbs for photos.
-katie
