U
Unregistered
Guest
Cannon Mountain to Coppermine, 8/6/2016
Random Group of Hikers, party of 6. We ascended Cannon from the northeast via the Kinsman Ridge Trail at the Tramway lot, and descended the mountain using back-country ski trails to the Coppermine Trail and Bridal Veil Falls, thence out to the Coppermine trailhead. From the summit of Cannon, we hiked the highest ski trail along the ridge to Mittersill Peak. This is a very wide and obvious ski trail than begins a little higher than the Tramway summit building and runs conspicuously across the ridge crest. We continued along the same ski trail beyond Mittersill for a few tenths then turned SW on an obvious but narrower and less used backcountry ski trail with a "closed" sign in front of it. We followed this SW via many switchbacks to a point just to the N pitch of a col between Mittersill and a small knob, where we found an even narrower backcountry ski trail marked with flagging. The turnoff is not invisible but it requires some attention to notice (continuing straight would presumably take us W into the town of Franconia). We continued southerly along this trail and eventually crossed Coppermine Brook. Thence the trail continued W, rising high above the brook and parallel to it, with signs of very recent weed whacking. At a point equal to the Falls lean-to, we bushwhacked steep slope down to the Coppermine Trail, as we were unsure how far W the ski trail and Coppermine converged. On the way out we noticed the convergence just a tenth or so beyond where we bushed in.
We found the backcountry ski trail routes enjoyable and fairly easy to follow. They are well maintained and trimmed, though there were a few short sections where the brush is starting to close in. There was an abundance of ripe berries along the upper parts of our route (blueberry, mountain cranberry, snowberry and patches of bunchberry so dense the ground looked painted red from a distance). The area around the falls was quite slippery with lots of algal buildup on rocks. The flow was diminished somewhat due to drought but still substantial enough to make the visit worthwhile.
Shoeless Paul. [email protected]
Photos pending: https://www.meetup.com/random-hikers/photos/27175427/
Random Group of Hikers, party of 6. We ascended Cannon from the northeast via the Kinsman Ridge Trail at the Tramway lot, and descended the mountain using back-country ski trails to the Coppermine Trail and Bridal Veil Falls, thence out to the Coppermine trailhead. From the summit of Cannon, we hiked the highest ski trail along the ridge to Mittersill Peak. This is a very wide and obvious ski trail than begins a little higher than the Tramway summit building and runs conspicuously across the ridge crest. We continued along the same ski trail beyond Mittersill for a few tenths then turned SW on an obvious but narrower and less used backcountry ski trail with a "closed" sign in front of it. We followed this SW via many switchbacks to a point just to the N pitch of a col between Mittersill and a small knob, where we found an even narrower backcountry ski trail marked with flagging. The turnoff is not invisible but it requires some attention to notice (continuing straight would presumably take us W into the town of Franconia). We continued southerly along this trail and eventually crossed Coppermine Brook. Thence the trail continued W, rising high above the brook and parallel to it, with signs of very recent weed whacking. At a point equal to the Falls lean-to, we bushwhacked steep slope down to the Coppermine Trail, as we were unsure how far W the ski trail and Coppermine converged. On the way out we noticed the convergence just a tenth or so beyond where we bushed in.
We found the backcountry ski trail routes enjoyable and fairly easy to follow. They are well maintained and trimmed, though there were a few short sections where the brush is starting to close in. There was an abundance of ripe berries along the upper parts of our route (blueberry, mountain cranberry, snowberry and patches of bunchberry so dense the ground looked painted red from a distance). The area around the falls was quite slippery with lots of algal buildup on rocks. The flow was diminished somewhat due to drought but still substantial enough to make the visit worthwhile.
Shoeless Paul. [email protected]
Photos pending: https://www.meetup.com/random-hikers/photos/27175427/
