Today I attempted the Kinsmen by the Kinsman Pond Trail. It is much less used than the Fishin' Jimmy Trail, but appears to get enough use to be broken out most of the time, and thus seems to me a preferable approach to those peaks.
As expected the Basin Cascades and Cascade Brook trails were packed solid; they are easy trails that go along a lovely frozen stream. The crossings were all totally solid.
The Kinsman Pond Trail was clearly broken out, as it had been when I previously used it on 3/17/01. Still I felt that snowshoes were needed, as it was definitely not packed. The trail is pleasant in winter, as the stream which makes it so unpleasant in summer is frozen. Grades are moderate most of the way, though there is a steep section towards the end. For a few tenths of a mile before the pond there were deep snow drifts.
This year the broken trail went all the way to the pond, where the real trail disappeared and all footprints went on the solidly frozen pond. In 2001 the broken path lost the true trail a short distance before the pond, which was reached by a short bushwhack through rather dense new growth.
Near the shelter there was a clear path, and the real trail was broken out to Kinsman Junction. I noted that the Kinsman Ridge Trail northbound was also broken out.
By then I decided that was enough hiking for me today. Returning to the shelter I saw were the real trail continues but it was completely unbroken, and the snow was so high that the branches were three or four feet above the snow level. So I returned the way I had come, over the lake, where I stopped for a wonderful scenic lunch.
If you do the Kinsmen by the Kinsman Pond Trail you can bushwhack down to that trail from the col between the two peaks, saving yourself the ascent of the north peak on the return trip.
As expected the Basin Cascades and Cascade Brook trails were packed solid; they are easy trails that go along a lovely frozen stream. The crossings were all totally solid.
The Kinsman Pond Trail was clearly broken out, as it had been when I previously used it on 3/17/01. Still I felt that snowshoes were needed, as it was definitely not packed. The trail is pleasant in winter, as the stream which makes it so unpleasant in summer is frozen. Grades are moderate most of the way, though there is a steep section towards the end. For a few tenths of a mile before the pond there were deep snow drifts.
This year the broken trail went all the way to the pond, where the real trail disappeared and all footprints went on the solidly frozen pond. In 2001 the broken path lost the true trail a short distance before the pond, which was reached by a short bushwhack through rather dense new growth.
Near the shelter there was a clear path, and the real trail was broken out to Kinsman Junction. I noted that the Kinsman Ridge Trail northbound was also broken out.
By then I decided that was enough hiking for me today. Returning to the shelter I saw were the real trail continues but it was completely unbroken, and the snow was so high that the branches were three or four feet above the snow level. So I returned the way I had come, over the lake, where I stopped for a wonderful scenic lunch.
If you do the Kinsmen by the Kinsman Pond Trail you can bushwhack down to that trail from the col between the two peaks, saving yourself the ascent of the north peak on the return trip.
