This was a solo traverse from the Kinsman Ridge Trailhead at Cannon Mt. to Mt. Moosilauke.
Start: Saturday, 9:30 am 02June2012, Kinsman Ridge Trailhead
End: Sunday, 8:10 am 03June2012, Beaver Brook Trailhead (after out/back to Moosilauke)
4000 footers: Cannon, North Kinsman, South Kinsman, Moosilauke
Distance: 24.6 miles
Elevation gain: 9,883’
Time hiking (including short stops): 12:06
Time stopped to camp: 10:34
Starting logistics: I left Cape Cod at 3:15 am, drove to the Kinsman Ridge Trailhead at Cannon, stashed my pack (minus food), drove to the Beaver Brook Trailhead in Kinsman Notch below Moosilauke, left the car, biked 17 miles back to the Kinsman Ridge Trailhead, stashed the bike, retrieved and reassembled the pack, and was finally hiking at about 9:30 am.
It rained pretty much the whole bike shuttle, and the wind was raging near the top of Franconia Notch whipping Profile Lake into a froth of whitecaps. I worried about what this meant for the wind up on the ridge, but enjoyed the noticeable push up some of the bike path hills. In places it was a curious sight to see nothing but the whitish undersides of every leaf on every tree as the wind blew from behind me.
With good luck, the rain ceased for almost the entire climb up Cannon, and only a t-shirt was needed. After than it was a steady, but never torrential, rain for most of the day and night. The wind on the exposed bits of the Kinsmans was strong enough to making walking difficult, and I could imagine what it was like on Washington this day. Surprisingly, there were tons of people on the Kinsmans, probably mostly out for day hikes from Lonesome Lake Hut (as were the one couple I talked to). The drop off S. Kinsman was pretty steep and difficult, and at one point I had trouble going down because the wind was pushing me so hard back up. After that the trail gets noticeably smoother for the most part. Eliza Brook Shelter is a beautiful new structure, and contained one sound-asleep guy stretched out on a very comfortable looking air mattress.
I got to Kinsman Notch and the start of the Beaver Brook Trail around 5:30 p, but rather than continue up to higher and colder elevations towards Moosilauke that day (or jump in my car, which was very tempting!), I made camp. I found a level enough spot just barely beyond the ¼ mile forest protection zone from the highway. Really there’s only about 50 feet between the sign that says it’s O.K. to camp now and where the terrain becomes steep.
After listening to the rain come down almost the entire night, I got going up the Beaver Brook Tr. with the headlamp at about 4:00 am, and thankfully it was just misting the rest of the hike, not really raining. As the sky lightened, I make my way up the amazing series of wooden blocks somehow glued to the steeply sloping rocks (how was that done, and by who?), all the while following the impressive rain-swollen cascades of Beaver Brook. This part of the Beaver Brook Trail is a real grunt of a climb, rising over 2000’ in about 1.5 miles. After getting to the top of that, the trail to the summit spends some time traversing a ridge and going up/down a bit before finally cresting out on the broad treeless dome of Moosilauke. The wind of the previous day was gone, but it was cold and misting heavily (no view of course), and I only spent seconds at the top to avoid getting chilled. On the way back I visited the Beaver Brook Shelter, which is another nice shelter and has a great view (I could imagine). I was thankful to get back to the car and get out of the wet, but glad to have been out there.
Start: Saturday, 9:30 am 02June2012, Kinsman Ridge Trailhead
End: Sunday, 8:10 am 03June2012, Beaver Brook Trailhead (after out/back to Moosilauke)
4000 footers: Cannon, North Kinsman, South Kinsman, Moosilauke
Distance: 24.6 miles
Elevation gain: 9,883’
Time hiking (including short stops): 12:06
Time stopped to camp: 10:34
Starting logistics: I left Cape Cod at 3:15 am, drove to the Kinsman Ridge Trailhead at Cannon, stashed my pack (minus food), drove to the Beaver Brook Trailhead in Kinsman Notch below Moosilauke, left the car, biked 17 miles back to the Kinsman Ridge Trailhead, stashed the bike, retrieved and reassembled the pack, and was finally hiking at about 9:30 am.
It rained pretty much the whole bike shuttle, and the wind was raging near the top of Franconia Notch whipping Profile Lake into a froth of whitecaps. I worried about what this meant for the wind up on the ridge, but enjoyed the noticeable push up some of the bike path hills. In places it was a curious sight to see nothing but the whitish undersides of every leaf on every tree as the wind blew from behind me.
With good luck, the rain ceased for almost the entire climb up Cannon, and only a t-shirt was needed. After than it was a steady, but never torrential, rain for most of the day and night. The wind on the exposed bits of the Kinsmans was strong enough to making walking difficult, and I could imagine what it was like on Washington this day. Surprisingly, there were tons of people on the Kinsmans, probably mostly out for day hikes from Lonesome Lake Hut (as were the one couple I talked to). The drop off S. Kinsman was pretty steep and difficult, and at one point I had trouble going down because the wind was pushing me so hard back up. After that the trail gets noticeably smoother for the most part. Eliza Brook Shelter is a beautiful new structure, and contained one sound-asleep guy stretched out on a very comfortable looking air mattress.
I got to Kinsman Notch and the start of the Beaver Brook Trail around 5:30 p, but rather than continue up to higher and colder elevations towards Moosilauke that day (or jump in my car, which was very tempting!), I made camp. I found a level enough spot just barely beyond the ¼ mile forest protection zone from the highway. Really there’s only about 50 feet between the sign that says it’s O.K. to camp now and where the terrain becomes steep.
After listening to the rain come down almost the entire night, I got going up the Beaver Brook Tr. with the headlamp at about 4:00 am, and thankfully it was just misting the rest of the hike, not really raining. As the sky lightened, I make my way up the amazing series of wooden blocks somehow glued to the steeply sloping rocks (how was that done, and by who?), all the while following the impressive rain-swollen cascades of Beaver Brook. This part of the Beaver Brook Trail is a real grunt of a climb, rising over 2000’ in about 1.5 miles. After getting to the top of that, the trail to the summit spends some time traversing a ridge and going up/down a bit before finally cresting out on the broad treeless dome of Moosilauke. The wind of the previous day was gone, but it was cold and misting heavily (no view of course), and I only spent seconds at the top to avoid getting chilled. On the way back I visited the Beaver Brook Shelter, which is another nice shelter and has a great view (I could imagine). I was thankful to get back to the car and get out of the wet, but glad to have been out there.
