alspal
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This hike was significant as it would be the final two summits that Albee needed to complete the four thousand footers in winter. I felt a need to be there, I was on my first winter hike when Al began his quest in 2002 on the Hancock loop.
I met up with Al and Sherpa John in Boscawen and we zipped up 93 to the Lafayette campground. I do mean “zipped” as Al was under time constraints. He would be meeting up with another group back in Boscawen at 2:00 and heading up to the Canadian border for a weekend of hiking. Sherpa John did not seem happy to be heading out hiking. He did a hilarious imitation of Cameron from the Ferris Bueller movie. “I better go, he’ll keep calling and calling”.
John was reluctant to get out of the warm car, it was about five degrees and the wind was howling. We exited the car at 8:20, already twenty minutes behind schedule. I took almost 10 minutes to get to the trailhead with stopping to put on my snowshoes. John trudged on ahead of us. The Lonesome lake trail was in great shape, solidly packed and probably could have been bare-booted. It took me about 20 minutes to get feeling in my hands after messing with my snowshoes. After warming them up, I didn’t wear gloves for most of the hike. The sun was shining, temps were in the single digits, but out of the wind it was just perfect.
John was grumbling as he hiked, I’m not sure if this is typical for him but I found it endlessly amusing. He may have been suffering from the 30 mile training run he’d done a couple of days before. His mood may have been exacerbated by the HUGE pack he was carrying. Al jokingly asked “How big is the tent you’re carrying”? He was easily carrying five times what I had.
Al and I pushed on ahead a bit quicker as Al had a reservation in the restroom at the Lonesome lake hut. It was a reservation he was loath to miss. We hit the lake 48 minutes and nearly 1,000’ after leaving the car. This was our first taste of how strong the wind was blowing. We crossed the lake quickly, despite the interesting views. Pretty much every view is interesting to me as I’ve pretty much never seen any of these places before.
We took 15 at the hut and John left his pack behind as we headed up Fishin’ Jimmy. Al took a good header and used his face to stop his fall, fortunately there was a lot of powder and he just dusted himself off and continued on. We settled into a decent rhythm and reached the Kinsman pond junction in less than an hour. The trail was in very good shape and the 1,400 feet of climb went by easily. The Kinsman ridge trail was broken out in the Southern direction but looked less used heading towards Cannon. That fact along with us being a little behind schedule meant that the Cannon Balls would have to be saved for another trip.
We took 24 minutes to get to the top of North peak and went down the path marked “view”. It was a nice spot but the lenticular clouds (known meteorologically as altocumulus standing lenticularus), which result from strong wind flow over rugged terrain, blocked out most of the Garfield and Franconia ridge. We dipped down and headed on to the South Peak. The wind had blown a lot of snow onto the trail in this section and there were one or two spots where I wasn’t exactly sure which way we were going. I plunged up to my waist at one point, but was able to extract myself after a bit of wiggling. We took just over 30 minutes to get to South Kinsman.
I really liked the barren look of the landscape and the 540 degree view. Al tagged off on the top of the Cairn and John and I both did the same. Now came the (more) fun part, we had over 3,500 feet of elevation to lose over the next five miles as we headed back down the way we had ascended. We made good time, 30 minutes back to North Peak, including Al climbing the boulder to get onto the “exact” high point. I took a few more pictures to document the official end of his winter 4,000 footers pursuit.
We bounded down the trail making quick work (13 minutes) down to the Kinsman pond. John headed on down Fishin’ Jimmy as we detoured over to the check out the shelter and the scenery at Kinsman pond. I like being able to look up and see where we just finished coming from. The lake was windswept and there was a huge amount of snow pressed up on the western side of the pond. We double-timed back to Fishin’ Jimmy and slid, jogged down the steeper parts.
We caught John just before the hut and hiked together for a bit. Al was a bit anxious (as anxious as Al gets which isn’t all that much) about the time as his ride would be waiting for him. We ran the last 1.2 miles down the Lonesome lake trail in 11 minutes. Sherpa John bare-booted down and reached the bottom only a few minutes after we’d retrieved the car from the Northbound side of the highway.
Totals for the day: North and South Kinsman 10 miles round trip 3,500’ climb/descent 5:03.
I met up with Al and Sherpa John in Boscawen and we zipped up 93 to the Lafayette campground. I do mean “zipped” as Al was under time constraints. He would be meeting up with another group back in Boscawen at 2:00 and heading up to the Canadian border for a weekend of hiking. Sherpa John did not seem happy to be heading out hiking. He did a hilarious imitation of Cameron from the Ferris Bueller movie. “I better go, he’ll keep calling and calling”.
John was reluctant to get out of the warm car, it was about five degrees and the wind was howling. We exited the car at 8:20, already twenty minutes behind schedule. I took almost 10 minutes to get to the trailhead with stopping to put on my snowshoes. John trudged on ahead of us. The Lonesome lake trail was in great shape, solidly packed and probably could have been bare-booted. It took me about 20 minutes to get feeling in my hands after messing with my snowshoes. After warming them up, I didn’t wear gloves for most of the hike. The sun was shining, temps were in the single digits, but out of the wind it was just perfect.
John was grumbling as he hiked, I’m not sure if this is typical for him but I found it endlessly amusing. He may have been suffering from the 30 mile training run he’d done a couple of days before. His mood may have been exacerbated by the HUGE pack he was carrying. Al jokingly asked “How big is the tent you’re carrying”? He was easily carrying five times what I had.
Al and I pushed on ahead a bit quicker as Al had a reservation in the restroom at the Lonesome lake hut. It was a reservation he was loath to miss. We hit the lake 48 minutes and nearly 1,000’ after leaving the car. This was our first taste of how strong the wind was blowing. We crossed the lake quickly, despite the interesting views. Pretty much every view is interesting to me as I’ve pretty much never seen any of these places before.
We took 15 at the hut and John left his pack behind as we headed up Fishin’ Jimmy. Al took a good header and used his face to stop his fall, fortunately there was a lot of powder and he just dusted himself off and continued on. We settled into a decent rhythm and reached the Kinsman pond junction in less than an hour. The trail was in very good shape and the 1,400 feet of climb went by easily. The Kinsman ridge trail was broken out in the Southern direction but looked less used heading towards Cannon. That fact along with us being a little behind schedule meant that the Cannon Balls would have to be saved for another trip.
We took 24 minutes to get to the top of North peak and went down the path marked “view”. It was a nice spot but the lenticular clouds (known meteorologically as altocumulus standing lenticularus), which result from strong wind flow over rugged terrain, blocked out most of the Garfield and Franconia ridge. We dipped down and headed on to the South Peak. The wind had blown a lot of snow onto the trail in this section and there were one or two spots where I wasn’t exactly sure which way we were going. I plunged up to my waist at one point, but was able to extract myself after a bit of wiggling. We took just over 30 minutes to get to South Kinsman.
I really liked the barren look of the landscape and the 540 degree view. Al tagged off on the top of the Cairn and John and I both did the same. Now came the (more) fun part, we had over 3,500 feet of elevation to lose over the next five miles as we headed back down the way we had ascended. We made good time, 30 minutes back to North Peak, including Al climbing the boulder to get onto the “exact” high point. I took a few more pictures to document the official end of his winter 4,000 footers pursuit.
We bounded down the trail making quick work (13 minutes) down to the Kinsman pond. John headed on down Fishin’ Jimmy as we detoured over to the check out the shelter and the scenery at Kinsman pond. I like being able to look up and see where we just finished coming from. The lake was windswept and there was a huge amount of snow pressed up on the western side of the pond. We double-timed back to Fishin’ Jimmy and slid, jogged down the steeper parts.
We caught John just before the hut and hiked together for a bit. Al was a bit anxious (as anxious as Al gets which isn’t all that much) about the time as his ride would be waiting for him. We ran the last 1.2 miles down the Lonesome lake trail in 11 minutes. Sherpa John bare-booted down and reached the bottom only a few minutes after we’d retrieved the car from the Northbound side of the highway.
Totals for the day: North and South Kinsman 10 miles round trip 3,500’ climb/descent 5:03.
