Little Sister
New member
The weather hadn't looked so bad for the weekend. Partly sunny on Saturday and then some showers on Sunday...it didn't give Meb and I any reason to cancel our plans for an overnight at Kinsman Pond shelter. Nor did arriving at Lonesome lake trailhead in light showers and gray skies. We donned our heavy packs, draped ourselves in ponchos, and with good spirits headed off toward the hut. We made good time to the hut. Any snow on the trail was well packed and it was easier than other trails to stay on the monorail. We opted not to cross the lake(open water along the edges) 
At the hut, we met the hut master Julia, who had just filled in for the night. We were pleasantly surprised when she said yes to our invitation of joining us. Having a third person made the next stretch of the trail go by way too fast!! The Fishin Jimmy was in better shape than I expected. Pretty wet, but manageable....there were enough rocks and roots above water that you could make it across small trail ponds with relatively dry feet. As we climbed higher, we ran into well packed snow, and continued to bareboot. At the junction, we headed to the newly constructed Kinsman Pond Shelter. Here we enjoyed egg salad sandwiches and dropped some of our gear before heading to North Kinsman. From this point on we used our snowshoes, although the only other person hiking on this wet and miserable day continued to bearboot without trouble.
At the summit of North Kinsman, Julia headed back down to the hut...she had to get back to meet friends and Meb and I continued on to South Kinsman. I found this section of trail quite nice. Recent snow and warmer weather had made the snow a little more level, we were not walking on a balance beam. We hit south Kinsman and then retreated back into the trees, looking forward to returning to the shelter and finally getting out of the rain!!
Back at the shelter, we changed into dry clothes and got into our sleeping bags, enjoying being dry and warm. We sipped hot gatorade and ate lots of yummy food and finally fell into a nice slumber...until....the mouse came out and started nibbling on our packs just behind our heads
Morning arrived and along with it a nice light drizzle. We had a wonderful cup of coffee, packed up our gear and headed down to the hut. The trees were encased in a thin layer of ice, generally everything was wet. By the time we reached the hut we were soaked. We hung out for a while at the hut, hoping the rain would let up. We tried to get some information on the trail to Cannon, but the hut master offered us nothing....just advice to "head down to your car in these conditions" and "you'll need HEAVY traction to get up to Cannon" Sometimes I wonder what the job description is to be a hut person?? Anyway, despite the warm woodstove and yummy breakfast cooking, we made the reckless decision to continue with our plan...hike out over Cannon.
So, geared up again, we headed out in the rain. The trail up to cannon was no problem. We were fine with just our snowshoes, and the one area of concern was easily buchwhacked around(following the tracks of those before us). We made the summit, and then decided to head down the ski trail despite my fears of running into a hungry bear We used our snowshoes for a little ways, and then barebooted the rest. My first time down these slopes and wow, this mountain is steep!! At the bottom, under clearing skies and NO RAIN, we followed the bike path back to our car.
So, what does it take to survive crap weather backpacking? 1. Acceptance - You will get wet!! 2. Real cream for your morning coffee - nothing makes me happier than a good cup of coffee in the morning 3. Good company - you need a crazy sister to do an adventure like this with Fun times MEB!
At the hut, we met the hut master Julia, who had just filled in for the night. We were pleasantly surprised when she said yes to our invitation of joining us. Having a third person made the next stretch of the trail go by way too fast!! The Fishin Jimmy was in better shape than I expected. Pretty wet, but manageable....there were enough rocks and roots above water that you could make it across small trail ponds with relatively dry feet. As we climbed higher, we ran into well packed snow, and continued to bareboot. At the junction, we headed to the newly constructed Kinsman Pond Shelter. Here we enjoyed egg salad sandwiches and dropped some of our gear before heading to North Kinsman. From this point on we used our snowshoes, although the only other person hiking on this wet and miserable day continued to bearboot without trouble.
At the summit of North Kinsman, Julia headed back down to the hut...she had to get back to meet friends and Meb and I continued on to South Kinsman. I found this section of trail quite nice. Recent snow and warmer weather had made the snow a little more level, we were not walking on a balance beam. We hit south Kinsman and then retreated back into the trees, looking forward to returning to the shelter and finally getting out of the rain!!
Back at the shelter, we changed into dry clothes and got into our sleeping bags, enjoying being dry and warm. We sipped hot gatorade and ate lots of yummy food and finally fell into a nice slumber...until....the mouse came out and started nibbling on our packs just behind our heads
Morning arrived and along with it a nice light drizzle. We had a wonderful cup of coffee, packed up our gear and headed down to the hut. The trees were encased in a thin layer of ice, generally everything was wet. By the time we reached the hut we were soaked. We hung out for a while at the hut, hoping the rain would let up. We tried to get some information on the trail to Cannon, but the hut master offered us nothing....just advice to "head down to your car in these conditions" and "you'll need HEAVY traction to get up to Cannon"
Sometimes I wonder what the job description is to be a hut person?? Anyway, despite the warm woodstove and yummy breakfast cooking, we made the reckless decision to continue with our plan...hike out over Cannon.So, geared up again, we headed out in the rain. The trail up to cannon was no problem. We were fine with just our snowshoes, and the one area of concern was easily buchwhacked around(following the tracks of those before us). We made the summit, and then decided to head down the ski trail despite my fears of running into a hungry bear
We used our snowshoes for a little ways, and then barebooted the rest. My first time down these slopes and wow, this mountain is steep!! At the bottom, under clearing skies and NO RAIN, we followed the bike path back to our car.So, what does it take to survive crap weather backpacking? 1. Acceptance - You will get wet!! 2. Real cream for your morning coffee - nothing makes me happier than a good cup of coffee in the morning 3. Good company - you need a crazy sister to do an adventure like this with
Fun times MEB!
