bignslow
Active member
7/18/2010 - NE115 Finish on Cannon
We spent Weds-Sun of last week hiking in the Whites to finish our 48/67/115. On Wednesday we hiked Jackson after leaving it off our prezzie traverse a few weeks ago. On that hike we visited mizpah hut on the way down which was final AMC hut we needed to see.
On Thursday we went rock climbing at Rumney
Friday we hiked Isolation with our friends Nate and Peggy. It was a long day but doable. We got soaked in the rain in the afternoon but it cooled us off a bit so it made the hike a little more tolerable.
On Saturday we hiked North Twin. It was a very enjoyable hike, we managed to not fall in the river crossings and it was nice to have a "short" day where we could chill on the summit as long as we wanted.
We had originally hoped to have a big party on the summit of Cannon in August but we knew people's schedules were quickly filling up and we knew the weather was going to be nice enough on Sunday so we just decided to go for it.
We parked at the trailhead for lonesome lake before heading up the trail to the lake. I planned on using the Dodge cutoff not knowing it was in pretty sad shape. We were able to follow it pretty well but the blowdown and mud was a bit of a pain. Eventually we reached the hi-cannon-trail and we began the real climb. Sometimes it is nice to have a hike that is more of a climb than a hike to make it something more than just walking. I enjoyed the challenge and some of the scrambles.
When we eventually reached the ladder I started laughing because I could not see that ladder being designed to support a "BigNSlow" hiker. I was the first one up and I made it a point to climb mostly on the rocks, using the ladder only when absolutely necessary. Obviously the ladder held and Nicole and Nate climbed it with ease. We continued our climb, dealing with a lot of wet rocks and mud puddles from the rain the day and night before. When we finally reached the upper trail junction I started to get more excited about the prospect of finishing.
We soon reached the rim "trail" (aka sidewalk) and made our way to the tower. Once on the tower Nicole dispensed our party favors and we celebrated our completion of the 115 with a Hawaiian luau. We broke out the bubbly and took some pictures. After waiting on the summit for a break in the clouds we were treated to views of the Kinsman ridge and Franconia ridge. we stayed on the top for a while, enjoying the view before heading down.
We took the Kinsman ridge trail back down to the lonesome lake trail (with NE cannonball for good measure (finish one list, start another). Once we got back to the lake (still wearing our luau attire by the way) we began the descent of the lonesome lake trail. We jogged most of the way down, getting some of the funniest looks from people along the way.
Overall the day was sort of anti-climactic. I'm happy we're done with the list, I'm especially happy that I can now go and hike whatever I want knowing that I've experienced everything the NE has to offer (on the 4k lists). I know we enjoy hiking so much that finishing the list will have little impact on the amount of hiking we're doing.
We've shared experiences with so many great people along the way that I definitely feel this is one of the best experiences of our lives.
Nicole and I agree that our favorite hike was Katahdin via the knife edge. Others were great but that one was the best. We didn't really have an official least favorite as every hike tends to have its bad times and its good times.
Pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mvirdone/20100718HikingCannon115Finish#
We spent Weds-Sun of last week hiking in the Whites to finish our 48/67/115. On Wednesday we hiked Jackson after leaving it off our prezzie traverse a few weeks ago. On that hike we visited mizpah hut on the way down which was final AMC hut we needed to see.
On Thursday we went rock climbing at Rumney
Friday we hiked Isolation with our friends Nate and Peggy. It was a long day but doable. We got soaked in the rain in the afternoon but it cooled us off a bit so it made the hike a little more tolerable.
On Saturday we hiked North Twin. It was a very enjoyable hike, we managed to not fall in the river crossings and it was nice to have a "short" day where we could chill on the summit as long as we wanted.
We had originally hoped to have a big party on the summit of Cannon in August but we knew people's schedules were quickly filling up and we knew the weather was going to be nice enough on Sunday so we just decided to go for it.
We parked at the trailhead for lonesome lake before heading up the trail to the lake. I planned on using the Dodge cutoff not knowing it was in pretty sad shape. We were able to follow it pretty well but the blowdown and mud was a bit of a pain. Eventually we reached the hi-cannon-trail and we began the real climb. Sometimes it is nice to have a hike that is more of a climb than a hike to make it something more than just walking. I enjoyed the challenge and some of the scrambles.
When we eventually reached the ladder I started laughing because I could not see that ladder being designed to support a "BigNSlow" hiker. I was the first one up and I made it a point to climb mostly on the rocks, using the ladder only when absolutely necessary. Obviously the ladder held and Nicole and Nate climbed it with ease. We continued our climb, dealing with a lot of wet rocks and mud puddles from the rain the day and night before. When we finally reached the upper trail junction I started to get more excited about the prospect of finishing.
We soon reached the rim "trail" (aka sidewalk) and made our way to the tower. Once on the tower Nicole dispensed our party favors and we celebrated our completion of the 115 with a Hawaiian luau. We broke out the bubbly and took some pictures. After waiting on the summit for a break in the clouds we were treated to views of the Kinsman ridge and Franconia ridge. we stayed on the top for a while, enjoying the view before heading down.
We took the Kinsman ridge trail back down to the lonesome lake trail (with NE cannonball for good measure (finish one list, start another). Once we got back to the lake (still wearing our luau attire by the way) we began the descent of the lonesome lake trail. We jogged most of the way down, getting some of the funniest looks from people along the way.
Overall the day was sort of anti-climactic. I'm happy we're done with the list, I'm especially happy that I can now go and hike whatever I want knowing that I've experienced everything the NE has to offer (on the 4k lists). I know we enjoy hiking so much that finishing the list will have little impact on the amount of hiking we're doing.
We've shared experiences with so many great people along the way that I definitely feel this is one of the best experiences of our lives.
Nicole and I agree that our favorite hike was Katahdin via the knife edge. Others were great but that one was the best. We didn't really have an official least favorite as every hike tends to have its bad times and its good times.
Pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mvirdone/20100718HikingCannon115Finish#
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