BIGEarl
Well-known member
December 29, 2009: Cannon
Trails: Lonesome Lake Trail, Hi Cannon Trail, Kinsman Ridge Trail
Summits: Cannon
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue), JustJoe (Joe) and me
The forecast for the day was for low temperature and high northwest wind. Neither was a real concern. According to the National Weather Service the total precipitation (snow) for the previous day was less than an inch and there had been no other snow since the rain of a few days ago. On paper everything looked pretty good.
Sue and I met Joe at the trailhead parking next to Lafayette Place Campground a little after 6:30am and prepared to hike. The drive north from Tilton (perhaps a little further south) was in a snow storm. The snow was falling at a rate that made driving difficult due to limited visibility at times. It was a slow ride. The first detail that was obvious was the amount of new snow. We were faced with roughly 8 to 12 inches of new snow that had drifted in many places. It was going to be a snowshoe day right from the parking place. The wind was blowing hard but we would be sheltered from it once we made our way onto the trail. The plan was to hike a loop of Cannon and The Kinsmans but the trail breaking because of the deep new snow had me concerned.
We set off a little later than planned on the Lonesome Lake Trail. Unlike last January when Sue and I hiked this area in similar conditions there were no campers in the campground – the place was deserted. At the first bridge above the campground we passed under a relatively new blowdown – it’s a big one. Then, in a short distance we reached the junction with the Hi Cannon Trail, made the turn, and started the real climb. Already we were generally out of the wind with only a light breeze at ground level.
One of the tough parts of trail breaking early in the season is there is no real base that has been established. All of the boulders, roots, and other rough spots that exist in summer were hiding under the fresh snow. On the steep sections, trail breaking was as much crawling as it was anything else. Hi Cannon Trail has some steep places that took a little extra work to get through. We made it to the junction with the Dodge Cutoff, paused briefly, and kept moving.
With a consistent snow cover and all of the leaves down it’s easy to imagine various directions for a trail if the trail isn’t well marked or in a defined corridor. There are a couple places where the snow had trees leaned over the actual trail making other directions appear the proper way. On one occasion we spent some extra time looking for the trail route on the climb. Overall the trail was relatively easy to follow. We reached the Hi Cannon ladder and I was interested in seeing how we would climb it. One by one we all climbed the ladder, with snowshoes.
From the top of the ladder the trail mellowed out a little. We were still faced with a significant amount of new snow and drifting but the steepness was generally gone. We followed the trail as it contoured around the upper elevation on Cannon. As we made our way to the southwest side of the mountain we also started to get hit with more wind, and drifting snow. The dense growth generally provided a solid shelter from the wind. We reached the junction with the Kinsman Ridge Trail and had only a short climb to the summit. In the trailhead lot there were a number of vehicles that had been there overnight. I had assumed they were from people staying at Lonesome Lake Hut that would likely set off for a morning hike – hopefully to Cannon. The Kinsman Ridge Trail had no sign of traffic at all. It was a solid bed of deep white. We made the turn and headed for the summit.
As expected, the wind was blowing strong across the summit. I asked if we could make a stop at the Cannon snack shack at the top of the tram, Sue & Joe agreed. We made our way in high wind to the ski area. When we arrived I was surprised with a couple things; the very high wind didn’t stop the operation of the chair lifts or the tram, and there were quite a few people there. We left our snowshoes in the building at the top of the tram and headed inside.
At this point we were running approximately 75 percent over book time on the hike. I did some quick calculations and could see if we were to continue with our plan we could expect to be out around 10:30pm, or a little later. The temperature was forecast to drop significantly during the later part of the day and evening. Most likely, we were faced with trail breaking all of the way over the Cannonballs and Kinsmans and probably at least to the Lonesome Lake Hut. We all discussed our choices and decided to call it a hike with only Cannon.
As we were leaving the tram building there was a skier on the deck in front of us. The wind blew him off the side of the deck and a large A-frame for ski storage went off the deck with him. We still had brisk conditions. Once we cleared the summit area for a second time we were quickly in the spruce and sheltered from the strong wind. We made our way back down the Hi Cannon Trail. On the way, we enjoyed a glimpse of the views that are usually part of this hike. We enjoyed a view over Lonesome Lake including the Lonesome Lake Hut buildings. A short distance further and we all descended the ladder on snowshoes. Up and down the ladder on snowshoes with no blood – not bad!
A couple hours after leaving the summit area we were back at the trailhead. The conditions there were nearly as uncomfortable as they were on the summit. The wind sure blows through the notch!
The bad part of the day was not being able to complete the hike as planned; with only the three of us we were simply unable to move along the planned route at an acceptable pace – more sets of snowshoes were needed. The good part of the day was both Sue and Joe moved their W48 list completion along one more notch. Well done!
Thanks Joe. This was our first hike together – hopefully there will be many more. Thanks to Sue for another fun day wandering in the woods (I really like when you are on vacation).
A frozen camera resulted in very few pictures but some will be posted of the climb.
It was a tough day for pictures but here are a few from the hike.
BIGEarl's Pictures
Straight to the slideshow
Trails: Lonesome Lake Trail, Hi Cannon Trail, Kinsman Ridge Trail
Summits: Cannon
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue), JustJoe (Joe) and me
The forecast for the day was for low temperature and high northwest wind. Neither was a real concern. According to the National Weather Service the total precipitation (snow) for the previous day was less than an inch and there had been no other snow since the rain of a few days ago. On paper everything looked pretty good.
Sue and I met Joe at the trailhead parking next to Lafayette Place Campground a little after 6:30am and prepared to hike. The drive north from Tilton (perhaps a little further south) was in a snow storm. The snow was falling at a rate that made driving difficult due to limited visibility at times. It was a slow ride. The first detail that was obvious was the amount of new snow. We were faced with roughly 8 to 12 inches of new snow that had drifted in many places. It was going to be a snowshoe day right from the parking place. The wind was blowing hard but we would be sheltered from it once we made our way onto the trail. The plan was to hike a loop of Cannon and The Kinsmans but the trail breaking because of the deep new snow had me concerned.
We set off a little later than planned on the Lonesome Lake Trail. Unlike last January when Sue and I hiked this area in similar conditions there were no campers in the campground – the place was deserted. At the first bridge above the campground we passed under a relatively new blowdown – it’s a big one. Then, in a short distance we reached the junction with the Hi Cannon Trail, made the turn, and started the real climb. Already we were generally out of the wind with only a light breeze at ground level.
One of the tough parts of trail breaking early in the season is there is no real base that has been established. All of the boulders, roots, and other rough spots that exist in summer were hiding under the fresh snow. On the steep sections, trail breaking was as much crawling as it was anything else. Hi Cannon Trail has some steep places that took a little extra work to get through. We made it to the junction with the Dodge Cutoff, paused briefly, and kept moving.
With a consistent snow cover and all of the leaves down it’s easy to imagine various directions for a trail if the trail isn’t well marked or in a defined corridor. There are a couple places where the snow had trees leaned over the actual trail making other directions appear the proper way. On one occasion we spent some extra time looking for the trail route on the climb. Overall the trail was relatively easy to follow. We reached the Hi Cannon ladder and I was interested in seeing how we would climb it. One by one we all climbed the ladder, with snowshoes.
From the top of the ladder the trail mellowed out a little. We were still faced with a significant amount of new snow and drifting but the steepness was generally gone. We followed the trail as it contoured around the upper elevation on Cannon. As we made our way to the southwest side of the mountain we also started to get hit with more wind, and drifting snow. The dense growth generally provided a solid shelter from the wind. We reached the junction with the Kinsman Ridge Trail and had only a short climb to the summit. In the trailhead lot there were a number of vehicles that had been there overnight. I had assumed they were from people staying at Lonesome Lake Hut that would likely set off for a morning hike – hopefully to Cannon. The Kinsman Ridge Trail had no sign of traffic at all. It was a solid bed of deep white. We made the turn and headed for the summit.
As expected, the wind was blowing strong across the summit. I asked if we could make a stop at the Cannon snack shack at the top of the tram, Sue & Joe agreed. We made our way in high wind to the ski area. When we arrived I was surprised with a couple things; the very high wind didn’t stop the operation of the chair lifts or the tram, and there were quite a few people there. We left our snowshoes in the building at the top of the tram and headed inside.
At this point we were running approximately 75 percent over book time on the hike. I did some quick calculations and could see if we were to continue with our plan we could expect to be out around 10:30pm, or a little later. The temperature was forecast to drop significantly during the later part of the day and evening. Most likely, we were faced with trail breaking all of the way over the Cannonballs and Kinsmans and probably at least to the Lonesome Lake Hut. We all discussed our choices and decided to call it a hike with only Cannon.
As we were leaving the tram building there was a skier on the deck in front of us. The wind blew him off the side of the deck and a large A-frame for ski storage went off the deck with him. We still had brisk conditions. Once we cleared the summit area for a second time we were quickly in the spruce and sheltered from the strong wind. We made our way back down the Hi Cannon Trail. On the way, we enjoyed a glimpse of the views that are usually part of this hike. We enjoyed a view over Lonesome Lake including the Lonesome Lake Hut buildings. A short distance further and we all descended the ladder on snowshoes. Up and down the ladder on snowshoes with no blood – not bad!
A couple hours after leaving the summit area we were back at the trailhead. The conditions there were nearly as uncomfortable as they were on the summit. The wind sure blows through the notch!
The bad part of the day was not being able to complete the hike as planned; with only the three of us we were simply unable to move along the planned route at an acceptable pace – more sets of snowshoes were needed. The good part of the day was both Sue and Joe moved their W48 list completion along one more notch. Well done!
Thanks Joe. This was our first hike together – hopefully there will be many more. Thanks to Sue for another fun day wandering in the woods (I really like when you are on vacation).
A frozen camera resulted in very few pictures but some will be posted of the climb.
It was a tough day for pictures but here are a few from the hike.
BIGEarl's Pictures
Straight to the slideshow
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