A Lonesome Lake and Cannon adventure

[bunchberry]

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

 

[poison ivy]

So sorry we bailed... my lungs were telling me that it was not a hiking weekend, though it killed me to miss this trip and the last weekend of winter besides. I enjoyed seeing the pictures of all the fun we missed.

- Ivy

 

[marty]

Great trip report, Katie. Unlike you, that ladder on Hi Cannon and the ledge above it definitely brought out my mild acrophobia. Hope you are feeling 100%.

Call me if you are looking for a group to do the Kinsmans. I know a couple of other VFTTers who need to do them and I would enjoy doing them again.

Regards,
Marty

 

[MichaelJ]

I've been telling her she should do the Kinsmans as a summer backpack, as Ivy & I did last year. That was a long two days but a beautiful trip.

Anyway, here's my take on the whole thing. I wrote this for my own journal so I'll just cut-and-paste and voila!

My pictures are here.

The day started with two ominous events. First, Ivy called to say she and her husband couldn’t make it; she had bronchitis. She tried to go up early and hike in anyway, but got barely a quarter-mile before having to turn around. She promised to leave their share of the group food that they were carrying at the trailhead for us. The second event was a huge speed trap around mile 92 on I-93, one which I was fortunate enough to have noticed from far enough away to go through at the speed limit.

I met up with Bunchberry and her friend Nicole at the Lonesome Lake trailhead, in Lafayette Campground, right on time. It wasn’t too cold, around 15°F, but the wind was whipping through that parking lot making it much more unpleasant. Fortunately, we would soon be on the trail and in the trees, stripping off our outer layers with the self-induced warmth of lugging a 45lb pack up 960’ over 1.7 miles. We got to the hut right on schedule, claimed a bunkroom, stored our food, dumped most of our gear, had lunch, then started up Cannon Mtn.

We took the Dodge Cut-Off to the Hi-Cannon Trail to the summit, a route that would encompass 2.4 miles and 1300’ of elevation gain. We easily overcame our first problem, which was finding the trail; it had not been hiked since about four inches of snow had fallen, and the first few blazes were very indistinct. Once we got far enough, the corridor was obvious, and after a short time joined up from the cut-off to the main trail.

Back in the fall I had taken the Hi-Cannon Trail, and while steep in spots, overall I knew it to be technically easy except for one spot: the ladder. Well, for a reason I hadn’t expected, it was even harder: at the top, the flat “balcony” like rock that you step onto from the ladder was covered with a curving slope of ice. This meant that you couldn’t sit, couldn’t kneel, could only carefully sidestep. While my photo in this trip’s album of Nicole standing atop the ladder makes it look easy, keep in mind that she’s standing on about a 14” wide platform of ice and the dropoff is about 15’ straight down. It was not pleasant for someone scared of heights (me).

From there, though, it was an easy walk through the snow-laden woods up to the summit. After taking in the view from the windblown observation platform we made our way to the ski area summit lodge, for the very non-nature, but appreciated, experience of a warm, dry room, hot cocoa, a hot bowl of chili, and real toilets. While there, one of the ski patrol rangers told us about a rescue taking place over on Franconia Ridge, a hiker with a broken leg or ankle. Considering where they were at the moment (the Skookumchuck / Garfield Ridge junction, 4.2 miles from the road), it was going to a long, difficult evening for a lot of people. Unfortunately, Bunchberry wasn’t feeling well and we were running behind schedule, so we couldn’t stay too long before having to head back across the summit and down the Kinsman Ridge Trail.

This would prove to be an … interesting … experience. I knew it was going to be steep. What I didn’t predict was the ice. There were spots where the trail was nearly vertical, and though this wasn’t a problem for me with my crampons, Bunchberry’s crampons weren’t working as well, and Nicole didn’t even have them; she only had Stabilicers, which are just not meant for this kind of activity. I ended up giving her my ice axe so she could control herself and intentionally slide down (glissade) the steeper sections. There was one spot that I wouldn’t even attempt – a solid, smooth ice flow went right across the trail and straight down the other side. One slip and it would be 50’ slide with no hope at all of even slowing down before slamming into trees and rocks at the bottom and breaking a lot of body parts, if not dying. Would you believe I forgot to take a picture of the thing? Anyway, Nicole cut through the woods above the flow, and after some debate, I followed, as did Bunchberry. Considering the difficulty of this bit, I was shocked that this trail had been trodden out, while the route we took up was untouched.

As with most adventures, this one passed, and we eventually made it back down the 2.5 miles of this route back to the hut, where after changing into dry clothes we cooked up a tasty dinner and relaxed in the hut, which with 40+ people in it, eating and cooking, as well as a roaring wood stove, was in the 70’s while outside it would drop to a low of 5°F overnight. I played cribbage with one of the other guests, Nicole read her book, and Bunchberry, still not feeling well, absorbed the heat of the fire. It was the late hour of 8:30 when we finally curled up in our fluffy sleeping bags for a cozy and warm night in the unheated, uninsulated bunkhouses.

Sunday morning the sky was full of lightly falling snow, which in fact never stopped the entire time we were there. Even in the middle of the night, when with a squinted eye I could see the partially-obscured stars in the sky, it was still simultaneously snowing. Notch weather can be remarkable.

Our plan had been to climb North and South Kinsman, but given a report from other hut guests advised us that without full crampons, it would be far too dangerous for Nicole to attempt those trails, we instead had a lazy morning. I spent some time talking to a woman and her daughter who now live in the town where I grew up; it was amusing to share notes on high school teachers I’d had 20 years ago that this girl now has. Eventually, though I packed my gear and we all flew down the trail to the cars. From there, a delicious breakfast at Peg’s in Lincoln could only be topped by timing the drive just right to listen to A Prairie Home Companion rebroadcast of a show from Nashville with incredible music (Alison Kraus, BR549, and Katie Bellville among others) on the way home.

This trip had been planned months ago, but turned out to be a perfectly-timed recharge. Almost as good as skiing.

 

[poison ivy]

I've been telling her she should do the Kinsmans as a summer backpack, as Ivy & I did last year. That was a long two days but a beautiful trip.

Believe it or not that was two years ago Michael! But I agree that was a fun way to hike the Kinsmans and a great trip.

- Ivy

 

[sli74]

NICE !!! I am glad you guys had a good time. I thought of you while I swooshed down the slopes of Attitash on Sunday.

Katie, i will likely be backpacking up and over the Kinsmans sometime this summer or Fall, let's talk . . . maybe we can get a group together or get Kevin to join us or both

sli74

 

[MichaelJ]

Believe it or not that was two years ago Michael!

Yikes!

NICE !!! I am glad you guys had a good time. I thought of you while I swooshed down the slopes of Attitash on Sunday.

I have to watch what I say; if I mention skiing another time I think both Katie and Nicole will push me off an icy cliff...

 

[bunchberry]

Marty and/or Seema, sounds like a great plan! I could definitely be up for a Kinsman backpack...Let me know as soon as you come up with some date ideas, you know like I do how quickly summer weekends fill up! I am sure glad I am saving the Kinsmans for a better day...why risk it?

-katie

 

[roadtripper]

Marty/Seema/Katie,

My friend Candy and I would probably be interested in a Kinsman backpacking trip as well if you wouldn't mind some additional company (depending on the weekend picked, of course). She needs both Kinsmans and I'd love to revisit them.

- Greg

 

[MEB]

Nice trip report and pictures everyone! Sounds like a successful weekend of hiking and fun! It's amazing how much ice there is on trails right now.

-MEB

 

[LenDawg]

Great T/R's, both MichaelJ and Katie! Hope everyone is feeling better!

 

[Kevin Rooney]

I can sympathize with you on the Kinsman Ridge trail. From the jct near the summit down to Coppermine Col it's truly the Trail from Hell. Unfortunately, because it's not under the jurisdiction of either the AMC or USFS, it's unlikely to get better any time soon.

 

[LarryD]

Bunchberry: Great report. I think we met at one of the recent Boston Beer Works gatherings. I (along with Little Bear and Rols) was one of those involved in the belaying adventure on the Fishin Jimmy Trail on Saturday. The primary reason we used the rope (Rols always comes prepared) was that one of the hikers we met on the trail had only instep crampons, and was having some difficulty on a couple of steep icy spots. I think we could have navigated these sections without rope, but it was an extra level of comfort/safety. If you had crampons you probably would have been OK. On the other hand, the Kinsmans will be there next winter.

P.S.--We ran into a large group of children snowshoeing in the LL hut area on Saturday afternoon, on our way down. I'll bet the hut was full that night.

 

[MichaelJ]

Yup, we talked to the guy from WMass who had the insteps; he said that he was grateful for the belay, and that everyone else (with full crampons) went along with the opportunity. I'd love to have seen what you were dealing with.

The group was a scout troop - 20 kids. Very well-behaved, but between those 20 and another 11, it meant that they were all trying to sit together and space in the hut at the tables was very tight.

 

[MichaelJ]

Better late and edited/rotated than never or making you creak your neck. Here is Bunchberry's movie of her friend Nicole glissading down the Kinsman Ridge Trail. 2.5MB, Quicktime (Sorenson 3). Be nice to my web server!

 

[albee]

LOL

Nice video! Textbook self-arrest form, complete with Tarzan yell!