SteveHiker
New member
I'll keep this short since I suck at writing these things. I wouldn't bother except that I got lost and can't figure out what happened. Maybe somebody can explain it to me.
The plan was to go up Hi-Cannon, summit Cannon, then descend via the Kinsman Ridge trail and hit at least one of the Cannonballs (the NE one) and then decide where to go from there based on time, weather, and remaining energy. Unfortunately, things didn't go according to plan.
I parked at the lot for OBP and left the car at 10 am. By the time I got to the Hi-Cannon junction on the Lonesome Lake trail, my left Achilles was flaring up. This is something else I could use help with, namely a good remedy for that. Anyway, maybe it was because I was paying more attention to my discomfort than where I was going. I thought I was following Hi-Cannon, but after about 1/2 hour or so, I emerged on the Lonesome Lake trail. It took about 15 minutes to get to the lake from where I hit it. I don't see any side trails on any of my maps so I must have followed somebody's shortcut?
I went around the lake and up the Lonesome Lake trail to Kinsman Ridge. Just before the junction there are some icy/snowy spots. I turned left and went up the top of NE Cannonball. This section had a lot of ice and is pretty steep. Near the top, the mud was knee-deep. And I found out the hard way. At this point, it looked like it was going to rain soon, so I went back towards Cannon, figuring I could go over Cannon and down to the tramway parking lot before it rained too hard and then walk back on the Pemi trail in the rain would be no big deal. Kinsman Ridge up to Cannon is very steep and intermittently hardpacked snow and ice and bare rock. It was barebootable but I found myself using my hands quite a bit. A couple minutes from the tower, I met a lady heading back down. She had made the same mistake as me! Now I was convinced it must be the blazing, or lack thereof.
I spent about 25 minutes on the tower and then headed down. It wasn't raining yet so I headed for Hi-Cannon, determined to figure out what had happened to me. There was some ice and snow this way too, but not too bad. About 2 o'clock it started to lightly rain which worsened the footing. I made it down without too much trouble, although the ladder is loose at the bottom and is probably intended for those of you that weigh less then 200 lbs. The rest of the way down, I was on the lookout for where I turned wrong but couldn't see anything obvious. And the blazing was more than adequate, so it really was me. I got back to my car about 3:20 still puzzling over what happened.
ok, so maybe I didn't keep it that short.
The plan was to go up Hi-Cannon, summit Cannon, then descend via the Kinsman Ridge trail and hit at least one of the Cannonballs (the NE one) and then decide where to go from there based on time, weather, and remaining energy. Unfortunately, things didn't go according to plan.
I parked at the lot for OBP and left the car at 10 am. By the time I got to the Hi-Cannon junction on the Lonesome Lake trail, my left Achilles was flaring up. This is something else I could use help with, namely a good remedy for that. Anyway, maybe it was because I was paying more attention to my discomfort than where I was going. I thought I was following Hi-Cannon, but after about 1/2 hour or so, I emerged on the Lonesome Lake trail. It took about 15 minutes to get to the lake from where I hit it. I don't see any side trails on any of my maps so I must have followed somebody's shortcut?
I went around the lake and up the Lonesome Lake trail to Kinsman Ridge. Just before the junction there are some icy/snowy spots. I turned left and went up the top of NE Cannonball. This section had a lot of ice and is pretty steep. Near the top, the mud was knee-deep. And I found out the hard way. At this point, it looked like it was going to rain soon, so I went back towards Cannon, figuring I could go over Cannon and down to the tramway parking lot before it rained too hard and then walk back on the Pemi trail in the rain would be no big deal. Kinsman Ridge up to Cannon is very steep and intermittently hardpacked snow and ice and bare rock. It was barebootable but I found myself using my hands quite a bit. A couple minutes from the tower, I met a lady heading back down. She had made the same mistake as me! Now I was convinced it must be the blazing, or lack thereof.
I spent about 25 minutes on the tower and then headed down. It wasn't raining yet so I headed for Hi-Cannon, determined to figure out what had happened to me. There was some ice and snow this way too, but not too bad. About 2 o'clock it started to lightly rain which worsened the footing. I made it down without too much trouble, although the ladder is loose at the bottom and is probably intended for those of you that weigh less then 200 lbs. The rest of the way down, I was on the lookout for where I turned wrong but couldn't see anything obvious. And the blazing was more than adequate, so it really was me. I got back to my car about 3:20 still puzzling over what happened.
ok, so maybe I didn't keep it that short.
