Mad Townie
New member
The original plan was Garfield, but then they closed the road, and being solo I decided to leave the ski in to the trailhead for a time when there’s more company and more snow! So I decided to sleep in 
and head up to Cannon via the Kinsman Ridge Trail (the short way) instead.
It was a beautiful day, sunshine, snow on the trees and hardly a breath of a breeze, about 14 inches of snow in the woods. Those who have been there know that Cannon is an unrelenting, steep uphill to the outlook knob. I barebooted for awhile, following 1 set of bare boots and 1 set of crampons. At my jacket removal break I decided I might as well put mine on, too. So the rest of the way up I kicked myself for ruining the points on my crampons—there was very little ice and lots of rocks under the snow.
I did meet one person coming down as I was heading up, the guy who had made the crampon tracks. He was the only person I met on the trail all day. I got to the knob where you get the first views of Franconia Ridge. And a beautiful sight it was, too. The sun was shining, making the snow a brilliant white and contrasting it with the dark woods of the ravines. Good spot for lunch—and crampon removal!
From the knob the trail descends into a sag, then heads up the summit cone. The observation tower at the summit is visible most of the way. When I got to the trail junction, most of the way up the cone, I turned right and went over to check out the Tramway building. Since the Tram wasn’t running, there wasn’t much to see! Then I headed up to the summit where I took a short break. I had the place to myself. I got out of the wind, but it was so mild that I didn’t even take out my parka, staying in my T-neck and soft shell.
Then it was time to head back down. The bareboot descent was pretty good. Only a couple places where I had to be particularly careful. By the way, it’s a bit early in the season for buttsliding! No damage done, though.
When I got back to the truck I talked awhile to a guy who was picking up a couple hikers who had done the Kinsman Ridge, all the way from the Notch! They were MIT undergrads. Oh, to be 20 again! Then it was time for the drive back to Maine. Heading along Rte. 3 just before sunset I was treated to a spectacular view of the Prezzies in full, pink, sunset regalia. Beautiful!
That leaves 10/14.
BLOWDOWN ALERT: There are quite a few blowdowns on the Kinsman Ridge Trail, and 2 or 3 of them require crawling on your belly like a reptile. So if anyone intends to ski down after going up some other way, LOOK OUT!
and head up to Cannon via the Kinsman Ridge Trail (the short way) instead.It was a beautiful day, sunshine, snow on the trees and hardly a breath of a breeze, about 14 inches of snow in the woods. Those who have been there know that Cannon is an unrelenting, steep uphill to the outlook knob. I barebooted for awhile, following 1 set of bare boots and 1 set of crampons. At my jacket removal break I decided I might as well put mine on, too. So the rest of the way up I kicked myself for ruining the points on my crampons—there was very little ice and lots of rocks under the snow.
I did meet one person coming down as I was heading up, the guy who had made the crampon tracks. He was the only person I met on the trail all day. I got to the knob where you get the first views of Franconia Ridge. And a beautiful sight it was, too. The sun was shining, making the snow a brilliant white and contrasting it with the dark woods of the ravines. Good spot for lunch—and crampon removal!
From the knob the trail descends into a sag, then heads up the summit cone. The observation tower at the summit is visible most of the way. When I got to the trail junction, most of the way up the cone, I turned right and went over to check out the Tramway building. Since the Tram wasn’t running, there wasn’t much to see! Then I headed up to the summit where I took a short break. I had the place to myself. I got out of the wind, but it was so mild that I didn’t even take out my parka, staying in my T-neck and soft shell.
Then it was time to head back down. The bareboot descent was pretty good. Only a couple places where I had to be particularly careful. By the way, it’s a bit early in the season for buttsliding!
No damage done, though. When I got back to the truck I talked awhile to a guy who was picking up a couple hikers who had done the Kinsman Ridge, all the way from the Notch! They were MIT undergrads. Oh, to be 20 again! Then it was time for the drive back to Maine. Heading along Rte. 3 just before sunset I was treated to a spectacular view of the Prezzies in full, pink, sunset regalia. Beautiful!
That leaves 10/14.
BLOWDOWN ALERT: There are quite a few blowdowns on the Kinsman Ridge Trail, and 2 or 3 of them require crawling on your belly like a reptile. So if anyone intends to ski down after going up some other way, LOOK OUT!
