HikerAmiga
New member
Hiked Cannon Mountain in Franconia Notch, NH (4100 ft elevation) today via the Lonesome Lake and the Kinsmans Ridge Trails. Started a bit late at 10:30am knowing that this would be a shorter hike though the Kinsmans Trail section would be new to me.
When I arrived at the Lafayette Campground parking lot, it was nearly full with two legal parking spots left, one of which I scurried to grab. About 5 minutes later, the 2nd was occupied as well and I began to mull over in my mind some recent warnings about break-ins in this parking lot. I dismissed these quickly as no sense in worrying about these matters as long as one takes every necessary precaution and decided that this would be a wonderful hike.
There was a rather large female hiker group heading up before me and another group—a family of 5. Given the full parking lot and these groups heading up with me, I sensed that this would be a non-lonesome hike for me!! (By the end of the day, I kinda wished I’d been more alone!). ;-)
I must have hiked the Lonesome Lake Trail about half a dozen times already and more recently, I was finding it rather uninteresting and especially annoying from all the traffic noise that lingers for a good part of the hike. Despite this, I chose to hike it on route to Cannon Mountain simply because today I felt the urge to see the lake. ;-) Alternatively, I could have hiked Hi Cannon and/or the Kinsman Ridge Trails alone to the summit, but no, I needed to hike the Lonesome Lake Trail today. Period. (I soooo amuse myself sometimes).
This trail is short at 1.2 miles to the lake, pretty level with good footing. On this day, despite the warm beautiful weather (I believe it was a high of 79F), I made it to the hut in record time for me--65 minutes! Oh and on the plus side too, I didn’t see any of those infamous tree markings--December, 2006 when some friends and I hiked this trail, we saw “AMC, no ethics” graffiti throughout this trail? Well I didn’t notice any of these this time so I believe they were removed somehow and it’s a good thing!
Remember the 5 person family I mentioned that headed up before me? Well, I met up with them again at the hut and got to chatting with them. Apparently, they’re from Toronto and they don’t have any similar mountains there so they’d ventured down to the Whites to get in some decent hiking. (Later on, while descending the Lonesome Lake Trail, I again got to chatting with a fellow I’d met who explained that he was from Minnesota, again, another location where they have foothills for mountains (Northern Minnesota only) and he was quite pleased to be hiking in the Whites as well).
Well, as you may note from the numerous pics I took of the lake, it was a beautiful sight to behold!! There were droves of people around it too, some swimming, some fishing and others just lounging near it. Like Zealand Hut, the advantage of having bodies of water nearby is a perk for the Lonesome Lake Hut and on this day, judging from the table settings I saw prior to dinner, the LL Hut had a full house!
Now, getting back to the trails: LL Trail was great, easy to hike on this day with minimal moisture. I noticed however when headed past the hut towards Around the Lake Trail and towards the junction to go towards the Kinsmans Ridge Trail, that a few too many of the pilings (not sure the right term?) on the boardwalk were damaged and/or broken and sinking. This is a popular trail so I can see how there’s a lot of wear/tear on these. Guess the trail crews have their work cut out for them.
The Kinsmans trail was similarly in good condition with minimal moisture and delightfully absent of bugs as well! Today was a good day to hike! The last quarter mile of this hike near the summit is awfully steep and steep is NOT my favorite aspect of any trail…however, I believe I did well as right before this section, I ate a piece of cheese with some fruit and I swear, this combination gives me a real energy boost. I’ve already experienced this a couple of times and plan to continue this practice because it seems to help me get up faster on the steeps. I put away the hiking poles, pulled out my climbing leather gloves and started scrambling here and there. This part I found interesting and fun even! Nothing like having variety on a trail. There was only one spot which I felt a bit scary and that’s because there was a big drop off with little space to move around some big boulders. I told myself, “Just don’t look down!”
Finally, arriving at the summit around at 2pm and here I spent a good 1.5 hours. I again met the family from Toronto and we chatted a bit. Met another family from Florida that came up on the tram to include some grandparents. The grandpa was very entertaining and I chatted long with him. He explained that when younger, he used to hunt black bear in the Catskills and told me never to underestimate them. He said that they ought to be feared especially encountering a mother with her cubs. I kept him company until his wife (the grandma) returned from her walk around the summit and I am not sure, but she seemed a little annoyed with her husband’s attentions towards me. When she learned I was hiking solo, she admonished me telling me that I should not be hiking alone. I just smiled…later chuckled about this.
I really enjoyed this hike today…all the while, I looked out here and there to see if I’d run into BigEarl who I knew was also hiking Cannon and the Kinsmans. I didn’t volunteer to hike with him because I am generally too slow and dislike holding people back but I was inwardly rooting for him and sensing that most likely too, he was having as grand time as I was.
On the descent, I was accompanied by 4 nice gentleman one of which was the fellow visiting from Minnesota. So by this time, as sociable as I am and really love people, I found myself wishing for a little solitude, just because. So lonesome I wasn’t but for a few moments, wishing I were…
All in all a great hike and a great day to be in the woods! (Come to think of it, any day is a great day to be in the woods! <GRINS> )
Total roundtrip mileage I estimate at 6.6 miles.
Pictures are here: http://hikeramiga.phanfare.com/album/355678#imageID=22106358
When I arrived at the Lafayette Campground parking lot, it was nearly full with two legal parking spots left, one of which I scurried to grab. About 5 minutes later, the 2nd was occupied as well and I began to mull over in my mind some recent warnings about break-ins in this parking lot. I dismissed these quickly as no sense in worrying about these matters as long as one takes every necessary precaution and decided that this would be a wonderful hike.
There was a rather large female hiker group heading up before me and another group—a family of 5. Given the full parking lot and these groups heading up with me, I sensed that this would be a non-lonesome hike for me!! (By the end of the day, I kinda wished I’d been more alone!). ;-)
I must have hiked the Lonesome Lake Trail about half a dozen times already and more recently, I was finding it rather uninteresting and especially annoying from all the traffic noise that lingers for a good part of the hike. Despite this, I chose to hike it on route to Cannon Mountain simply because today I felt the urge to see the lake. ;-) Alternatively, I could have hiked Hi Cannon and/or the Kinsman Ridge Trails alone to the summit, but no, I needed to hike the Lonesome Lake Trail today. Period. (I soooo amuse myself sometimes).
This trail is short at 1.2 miles to the lake, pretty level with good footing. On this day, despite the warm beautiful weather (I believe it was a high of 79F), I made it to the hut in record time for me--65 minutes! Oh and on the plus side too, I didn’t see any of those infamous tree markings--December, 2006 when some friends and I hiked this trail, we saw “AMC, no ethics” graffiti throughout this trail? Well I didn’t notice any of these this time so I believe they were removed somehow and it’s a good thing!
Remember the 5 person family I mentioned that headed up before me? Well, I met up with them again at the hut and got to chatting with them. Apparently, they’re from Toronto and they don’t have any similar mountains there so they’d ventured down to the Whites to get in some decent hiking. (Later on, while descending the Lonesome Lake Trail, I again got to chatting with a fellow I’d met who explained that he was from Minnesota, again, another location where they have foothills for mountains (Northern Minnesota only) and he was quite pleased to be hiking in the Whites as well).
Well, as you may note from the numerous pics I took of the lake, it was a beautiful sight to behold!! There were droves of people around it too, some swimming, some fishing and others just lounging near it. Like Zealand Hut, the advantage of having bodies of water nearby is a perk for the Lonesome Lake Hut and on this day, judging from the table settings I saw prior to dinner, the LL Hut had a full house!
Now, getting back to the trails: LL Trail was great, easy to hike on this day with minimal moisture. I noticed however when headed past the hut towards Around the Lake Trail and towards the junction to go towards the Kinsmans Ridge Trail, that a few too many of the pilings (not sure the right term?) on the boardwalk were damaged and/or broken and sinking. This is a popular trail so I can see how there’s a lot of wear/tear on these. Guess the trail crews have their work cut out for them.
The Kinsmans trail was similarly in good condition with minimal moisture and delightfully absent of bugs as well! Today was a good day to hike! The last quarter mile of this hike near the summit is awfully steep and steep is NOT my favorite aspect of any trail…however, I believe I did well as right before this section, I ate a piece of cheese with some fruit and I swear, this combination gives me a real energy boost. I’ve already experienced this a couple of times and plan to continue this practice because it seems to help me get up faster on the steeps. I put away the hiking poles, pulled out my climbing leather gloves and started scrambling here and there. This part I found interesting and fun even! Nothing like having variety on a trail. There was only one spot which I felt a bit scary and that’s because there was a big drop off with little space to move around some big boulders. I told myself, “Just don’t look down!”
Finally, arriving at the summit around at 2pm and here I spent a good 1.5 hours. I again met the family from Toronto and we chatted a bit. Met another family from Florida that came up on the tram to include some grandparents. The grandpa was very entertaining and I chatted long with him. He explained that when younger, he used to hunt black bear in the Catskills and told me never to underestimate them. He said that they ought to be feared especially encountering a mother with her cubs. I kept him company until his wife (the grandma) returned from her walk around the summit and I am not sure, but she seemed a little annoyed with her husband’s attentions towards me. When she learned I was hiking solo, she admonished me telling me that I should not be hiking alone. I just smiled…later chuckled about this.
I really enjoyed this hike today…all the while, I looked out here and there to see if I’d run into BigEarl who I knew was also hiking Cannon and the Kinsmans. I didn’t volunteer to hike with him because I am generally too slow and dislike holding people back but I was inwardly rooting for him and sensing that most likely too, he was having as grand time as I was.
On the descent, I was accompanied by 4 nice gentleman one of which was the fellow visiting from Minnesota. So by this time, as sociable as I am and really love people, I found myself wishing for a little solitude, just because. So lonesome I wasn’t but for a few moments, wishing I were…
All in all a great hike and a great day to be in the woods! (Come to think of it, any day is a great day to be in the woods! <GRINS> )
Total roundtrip mileage I estimate at 6.6 miles.
Pictures are here: http://hikeramiga.phanfare.com/album/355678#imageID=22106358
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