Alternate Title #1: Northeast Cannonball - The Hard Way
Alternate Title #2: 17 Miles of Mud, Pud and Slippery Rocks
Alternate Title #3: Slip Sliding Away
Alternate Title #4: (Wading Away Again In) Mosquitoville (apologies to Jimmy Buffet)
The start: Cannon Mountain, Tramway lot (1980')
The finish: Beaver Brook Lot, route 112 (1870')
The trail: Kinsman Ridge Trail
The hikers: Tim, Ed (OldMan) and Larry (of Girlscout cookie fame)
The particulars: 17 miles, 5750 feet, 13 hours
The peaks: Cannon (4100), Northeast Cannonball (3769), North Kinsman (4293), South Kinsman (4358) (and Wolf at 3478)
I have wanted to do the Kinsman Ridge Traverse for a while. It is listed on Mohamed's web site under What are some other big hikes?. Ed wanted the Kinsmans for his summer list, and Larry got talked into coming along. Larry and I met Ed at the Beaver Brook lot at 6am, left a car, and drove to the Tramway lot to begin the hike by 6:30am. If the predicted forecast, or worse, were to transpire, we planned to go as far as South Kinsman and return via Fishing Jimmy, Lonesome Lake and the bike path. The conditions from the ground suggested the peaks would be in and out of the clouds for the morning at least. Ascending Cannon to the Rim Trail while steep was not as wet or muddy as that which was to come. We made the first viewpoint in about 45 minutes. After an hour and 25 minutes, we came out on the exposed shoulder below the Rim Trail. Clouds were blowing through at about this same elevation. Two hours in we climbed the tower. For a day with a 90% chance of rain and T-storms, the views were pretty decent. I think Liberty and Flume remained cloud-free all day.
After two hours, Cannon was complete and we struck off for the Northeast Cannonball, which was a new peak for me and for Ed (I believe Larry had been there before.) An unremarkable wooded bump with a small clearing where the GPS showed 3776 (3769 being the listed elevation), it did have a few views back towards Cannon on the way up. Of course the KRT from Cannon to the Lonesome Lake trail is very steep, with large boulders, and was trickier than usual given the copious amount of water. Somewhere in this stretch, it began to rain for the first time. Out came the pack covers and shortly afterward our shells. From the Northeast Cannonball, the KRT continues over the northwest shoulder of the Middle Cannonball. At some point it crossed over, or very near, the summit of the West Cannonball, after which point it descends to Kinsman Junction where it becomes the AT. A quick check of water showed we could make it either to Eliza Brook, or at least to South Kinsman and back, so we skipped the detour to Kinsman Pond.
The rain has been generous to the bunchberries which were literally everywhere, as they have been for a few weeks. At the higher elevations, plenty of Labrador tea blossoms were out. Beyond Kinsman Junction the rain stopped and we stowed jackets for the remainder of the day. The approach to North Kinsman was very sloppy, with plenty of mud and standing water. If you were very careful and prodded uncertain spots with a pole you could usually find stepping stones. Of course North Kinsman was in the clouds. Last time I was there it was foggy (and there was 24" of fresh snow too). A quick chat with a solo hiker on the summit and we were on our way. Along the ridge connecting the Kinsmans, there were occasional view - views which weren't there last time.
South Kinsman served as our official break - where we sat down, took off packs, and had our lunches. The clouds came and went, offering occasionally decent views across the notch. Again it seemed that Liberty and Flume escaped the clouds. I used by cell phone (good signal, BTW) to call my wife and get the updated weather - the chance of T-storms was lowered and there were a few small spots of rain on the radar - nothing ominus. We took a vote and unanimously decided to go on. 6.9 miles down, only 10 more to go! After carefully picking our way down some 900 feet, we arrived at Harrington Pond, where the trail was blissfully level, if only for a short while.
Another 500 feet of lost elevation later and we crossed over Eliza Brook (trivial crossing). It was far from swollen, but the intense green in the area showed it was still plenty wet. For the next three-quarters of a mile, and another 500 feet lost, the trail follows the river bank. There are 3 or 4 very nice pools beneath some equally nice cascades and several times I was tempted to take a swim. It would have been bracing and given the humidity I wouldn't have dried (which really didn't matter anyway as I was wet for the entire trip anyway.) At the re-crossing of Eliza Brook is the namesake shelter. I pumped a liter of water to supplement my supply as there was still 7 more miles to go. Another rain shower came and went.
Mount Wolf... what an annoying peak. There are so many ups and downs in this area, it was hard to be sure we were really climbing it, or when it was really past us. Luckily there is a sign for an "Outlook", which I presumed to be the summit, but maybe not. Anyway, we did take the short detour (less than .1 miles round-trip) and the views were pretty darn good. Maybe the best of the day as the sky had cleared somewhat. Returning to the KRT we set off in pursuit of the Gordon Brook Trail, our next marker. Another shower or two came and went. The ups-and-downs continued. The main annoyance was the new hemlock growth and its high moisture content. From this point, conversation waned, or at least thinned to subjects like "Are we there yet?" and "What, we're going up again?!?" The very last junction, where the Dilly Trail heads left, we went right. The Dilly Trail was labeled "Very Difficult", which given the previous 16.3 miles was hard to believe. The final .6 miles on the KRT did prove to be very steep and treacherous for our tired legs as it gives up the last 800 feet.
All photos here
Tim
Alternate Title #2: 17 Miles of Mud, Pud and Slippery Rocks
Alternate Title #3: Slip Sliding Away
Alternate Title #4: (Wading Away Again In) Mosquitoville (apologies to Jimmy Buffet)
The start: Cannon Mountain, Tramway lot (1980')
The finish: Beaver Brook Lot, route 112 (1870')
The trail: Kinsman Ridge Trail
The hikers: Tim, Ed (OldMan) and Larry (of Girlscout cookie fame)
The particulars: 17 miles, 5750 feet, 13 hours
The peaks: Cannon (4100), Northeast Cannonball (3769), North Kinsman (4293), South Kinsman (4358) (and Wolf at 3478)
I have wanted to do the Kinsman Ridge Traverse for a while. It is listed on Mohamed's web site under What are some other big hikes?. Ed wanted the Kinsmans for his summer list, and Larry got talked into coming along. Larry and I met Ed at the Beaver Brook lot at 6am, left a car, and drove to the Tramway lot to begin the hike by 6:30am. If the predicted forecast, or worse, were to transpire, we planned to go as far as South Kinsman and return via Fishing Jimmy, Lonesome Lake and the bike path. The conditions from the ground suggested the peaks would be in and out of the clouds for the morning at least. Ascending Cannon to the Rim Trail while steep was not as wet or muddy as that which was to come. We made the first viewpoint in about 45 minutes. After an hour and 25 minutes, we came out on the exposed shoulder below the Rim Trail. Clouds were blowing through at about this same elevation. Two hours in we climbed the tower. For a day with a 90% chance of rain and T-storms, the views were pretty decent. I think Liberty and Flume remained cloud-free all day.
After two hours, Cannon was complete and we struck off for the Northeast Cannonball, which was a new peak for me and for Ed (I believe Larry had been there before.) An unremarkable wooded bump with a small clearing where the GPS showed 3776 (3769 being the listed elevation), it did have a few views back towards Cannon on the way up. Of course the KRT from Cannon to the Lonesome Lake trail is very steep, with large boulders, and was trickier than usual given the copious amount of water. Somewhere in this stretch, it began to rain for the first time. Out came the pack covers and shortly afterward our shells. From the Northeast Cannonball, the KRT continues over the northwest shoulder of the Middle Cannonball. At some point it crossed over, or very near, the summit of the West Cannonball, after which point it descends to Kinsman Junction where it becomes the AT. A quick check of water showed we could make it either to Eliza Brook, or at least to South Kinsman and back, so we skipped the detour to Kinsman Pond.
The rain has been generous to the bunchberries which were literally everywhere, as they have been for a few weeks. At the higher elevations, plenty of Labrador tea blossoms were out. Beyond Kinsman Junction the rain stopped and we stowed jackets for the remainder of the day. The approach to North Kinsman was very sloppy, with plenty of mud and standing water. If you were very careful and prodded uncertain spots with a pole you could usually find stepping stones. Of course North Kinsman was in the clouds. Last time I was there it was foggy (and there was 24" of fresh snow too). A quick chat with a solo hiker on the summit and we were on our way. Along the ridge connecting the Kinsmans, there were occasional view - views which weren't there last time.
South Kinsman served as our official break - where we sat down, took off packs, and had our lunches. The clouds came and went, offering occasionally decent views across the notch. Again it seemed that Liberty and Flume escaped the clouds. I used by cell phone (good signal, BTW) to call my wife and get the updated weather - the chance of T-storms was lowered and there were a few small spots of rain on the radar - nothing ominus. We took a vote and unanimously decided to go on. 6.9 miles down, only 10 more to go! After carefully picking our way down some 900 feet, we arrived at Harrington Pond, where the trail was blissfully level, if only for a short while.
Another 500 feet of lost elevation later and we crossed over Eliza Brook (trivial crossing). It was far from swollen, but the intense green in the area showed it was still plenty wet. For the next three-quarters of a mile, and another 500 feet lost, the trail follows the river bank. There are 3 or 4 very nice pools beneath some equally nice cascades and several times I was tempted to take a swim. It would have been bracing and given the humidity I wouldn't have dried (which really didn't matter anyway as I was wet for the entire trip anyway.) At the re-crossing of Eliza Brook is the namesake shelter. I pumped a liter of water to supplement my supply as there was still 7 more miles to go. Another rain shower came and went.
Mount Wolf... what an annoying peak. There are so many ups and downs in this area, it was hard to be sure we were really climbing it, or when it was really past us. Luckily there is a sign for an "Outlook", which I presumed to be the summit, but maybe not. Anyway, we did take the short detour (less than .1 miles round-trip) and the views were pretty darn good. Maybe the best of the day as the sky had cleared somewhat. Returning to the KRT we set off in pursuit of the Gordon Brook Trail, our next marker. Another shower or two came and went. The ups-and-downs continued. The main annoyance was the new hemlock growth and its high moisture content. From this point, conversation waned, or at least thinned to subjects like "Are we there yet?" and "What, we're going up again?!?" The very last junction, where the Dilly Trail heads left, we went right. The Dilly Trail was labeled "Very Difficult", which given the previous 16.3 miles was hard to believe. The final .6 miles on the KRT did prove to be very steep and treacherous for our tired legs as it gives up the last 800 feet.
All photos hereTim
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