Bob Kittredge
Active member
Felt the need for a winter warmup, so joined a NH AMC trip up Cannon from Lafayette Campground. Nice drive up (tho I had to get up at 5AM). Weather looked promising though there were clouds over Franconia Ridge for much of the day.
Our party of five started up Lonesome Lake Trail a little after 8, and barebooted it for a good while. There are a few inches of crusty, hardpacked snow over ice. Eventually most of us put on either Stabilicers or snowshoes for added traction. Lonesome Lake was frozen and snow covered. Not sure how sturdy the ice is yet, but I will certainly stay off it until January at least. Continued along the LL trail up to Kinsman Ridge and took a left to make the 0.2 mile pilgrimage to the Northeast Cannonball (NE Hundred Highest). This was my first time there, though I'm not trying to do the list (yet). Nice views across the road of Shining Rock and Mount Liberty.
Then we doubled back toward Cannon, meeting Jazzbo, MichaelJ, Audrey and Pat along the way. The steep climb up Cannon was challenging indeed, but the view from the tower was well worth it. The whole tower itself was covered very picturesquely with feathery rime ice. The summits of Lafayette and Lincoln stayed in the clouds until we were halfway down, but Haystack, Liberty, Loon, and the Kinsmans were all in the clear. And it was calm enough so I could linger, eating my lunch and taking in the view.
On our way down we started meeting more people including families headed for the hut. Took us until 3 to get down, and I got more of a workout than I'd been expecting. Feeling more prepared for winter now.
Our party of five started up Lonesome Lake Trail a little after 8, and barebooted it for a good while. There are a few inches of crusty, hardpacked snow over ice. Eventually most of us put on either Stabilicers or snowshoes for added traction. Lonesome Lake was frozen and snow covered. Not sure how sturdy the ice is yet, but I will certainly stay off it until January at least. Continued along the LL trail up to Kinsman Ridge and took a left to make the 0.2 mile pilgrimage to the Northeast Cannonball (NE Hundred Highest). This was my first time there, though I'm not trying to do the list (yet). Nice views across the road of Shining Rock and Mount Liberty.
Then we doubled back toward Cannon, meeting Jazzbo, MichaelJ, Audrey and Pat along the way. The steep climb up Cannon was challenging indeed, but the view from the tower was well worth it. The whole tower itself was covered very picturesquely with feathery rime ice. The summits of Lafayette and Lincoln stayed in the clouds until we were halfway down, but Haystack, Liberty, Loon, and the Kinsmans were all in the clear. And it was calm enough so I could linger, eating my lunch and taking in the view.
On our way down we started meeting more people including families headed for the hut. Took us until 3 to get down, and I got more of a workout than I'd been expecting. Feeling more prepared for winter now.
