poison ivy
Well-known member
With bpschroder planning to finish his NH48 on Sunday before moving out west, HikerBob & I knew we wanted to be there to cheer Brian on, but that we would be holding everyone else up on the planned Kinsman Ridge traverse. So instead, we decided to hike up the Mt. Kinsman Trail to await everyone’s arrival on the summit. Pictures from the hike are here.
Lucky for me, HikerBob was already waiting at Mt. Kinsman trailhead when I arrived, as I would never have found it. The trail is not signed and is only marked by two stone pillars with a chain running between them. I, in fact, asked Bob at least a couple of times if he was sure this was it because it looked like someone‘s yard to me. As I only had an hour of sleep the night before, I was a little worried I wasn’t going to make it to the summit… but we decided to at least hike up to the Kinsman Ridge Trail and I’d see how I felt then.
So at 6:30 a.m., HikerBob and I headed up the trail, which was really more like a road. Contrary to what the White Mountain Guide says, the trail is blue-blazed and well-marked throughout, so we had no trouble at following it. Within about five minutes of our leaving, we noticed the sky was getting darker instead of lighter and the skies just opened up on us. It basically poured on us for the next three miles or so and the tree canopy did not help us stay dry at all.
Heading up the trail, we passed an old logging yard and a sugar shack with a few bits of rusty equipment laying around before starting to head uphill. The trail was pretty easy -- not too rocky and rooty -- so we were glad we chose this route over anything that involved Fishin Jimmy for our ascent. After two miles, we headed down a side-path to see Kinsman Flume. Although the book says it is just 150 yards, it took forever because the wet ground was treacherous. We arrived to find a giant blowdown in our path, so we could only gaze over at the top of the flume. On a dry day, you could probably get around the blow-down, but we decided not to try it because the area was wet and slippery.
We headed back on the trail and continued our ascent up to the Kinsman Ridge Trail, which we reached at 9:30 a.m. -- just a hair less than booktime, which we were happy about. After a snack break and rest, I felt okay and we decided to head up to South Kinsman to await everyone else. We left a little sign for the rest of the gang and scratched the time in the dirt before heading out. (Of course, nobody saw any of this though!)
The Kinsman Ridge Trail was basically a river, so we took our time and ascended fairly slowly. We only stopped briefly at North Kinsman to try and climb up the boulder near the summit (it was too wet and slippery) before heading on to South Kinsman. We decided to wait in a sheltered area just off the summit for everyone else’s arrival. We met a couple of thru-hikers, Apple Pie and Prune Pirate, who told us a bit about their journey in exchange for donuts and brownies. Cath and Sherpa John arrived shortly after we did and we all waited for Brian’s arrival, which occurred at 1:20 p.m., trying to stay warm and out of the wind.
I won’t go into too much detail about Brian’s finish since I know he’ll be posting his own trip report. He arrived with MEB, BobandGeri Coldmountain, LenDawg, Lei, Chinooktrail, and Drewski, (and a couple who are lurkers on VFTT and were finishing their 47th peak.) We all trooped up to the top to cheer for Brian as he walked up to the giant cairn on South Kinsman to finish his NH48. Congratulations Brian & we will miss you!! Although we only had an occasional glimpse of the view, I think we were on the summit for close to an hour before turning back down the Kinsman Ridge Trail.
We all headed down to the junction with the Mt. Kinsman Trail together, where HikerBob and I headed back down the way we came up. It was amazing how dry the trail had become in the few hours since the rain stopped. We decided to head over to Bald Knob and were treated to our first good views of the day of North Kinsman and Moosilauke… it is a great spot for a picnic! It was an easy stroll back down to our cars and HikerBob drove off to pick up some of the group from Lafayette Place, while I headed over to Woodstock Station to get us all a table. All in all a great day!
- Ivy
Lucky for me, HikerBob was already waiting at Mt. Kinsman trailhead when I arrived, as I would never have found it. The trail is not signed and is only marked by two stone pillars with a chain running between them. I, in fact, asked Bob at least a couple of times if he was sure this was it because it looked like someone‘s yard to me. As I only had an hour of sleep the night before, I was a little worried I wasn’t going to make it to the summit… but we decided to at least hike up to the Kinsman Ridge Trail and I’d see how I felt then.
So at 6:30 a.m., HikerBob and I headed up the trail, which was really more like a road. Contrary to what the White Mountain Guide says, the trail is blue-blazed and well-marked throughout, so we had no trouble at following it. Within about five minutes of our leaving, we noticed the sky was getting darker instead of lighter and the skies just opened up on us. It basically poured on us for the next three miles or so and the tree canopy did not help us stay dry at all.
Heading up the trail, we passed an old logging yard and a sugar shack with a few bits of rusty equipment laying around before starting to head uphill. The trail was pretty easy -- not too rocky and rooty -- so we were glad we chose this route over anything that involved Fishin Jimmy for our ascent. After two miles, we headed down a side-path to see Kinsman Flume. Although the book says it is just 150 yards, it took forever because the wet ground was treacherous. We arrived to find a giant blowdown in our path, so we could only gaze over at the top of the flume. On a dry day, you could probably get around the blow-down, but we decided not to try it because the area was wet and slippery.
We headed back on the trail and continued our ascent up to the Kinsman Ridge Trail, which we reached at 9:30 a.m. -- just a hair less than booktime, which we were happy about. After a snack break and rest, I felt okay and we decided to head up to South Kinsman to await everyone else. We left a little sign for the rest of the gang and scratched the time in the dirt before heading out. (Of course, nobody saw any of this though!)
The Kinsman Ridge Trail was basically a river, so we took our time and ascended fairly slowly. We only stopped briefly at North Kinsman to try and climb up the boulder near the summit (it was too wet and slippery) before heading on to South Kinsman. We decided to wait in a sheltered area just off the summit for everyone else’s arrival. We met a couple of thru-hikers, Apple Pie and Prune Pirate, who told us a bit about their journey in exchange for donuts and brownies. Cath and Sherpa John arrived shortly after we did and we all waited for Brian’s arrival, which occurred at 1:20 p.m., trying to stay warm and out of the wind.
I won’t go into too much detail about Brian’s finish since I know he’ll be posting his own trip report. He arrived with MEB, BobandGeri Coldmountain, LenDawg, Lei, Chinooktrail, and Drewski, (and a couple who are lurkers on VFTT and were finishing their 47th peak.) We all trooped up to the top to cheer for Brian as he walked up to the giant cairn on South Kinsman to finish his NH48. Congratulations Brian & we will miss you!! Although we only had an occasional glimpse of the view, I think we were on the summit for close to an hour before turning back down the Kinsman Ridge Trail.
We all headed down to the junction with the Mt. Kinsman Trail together, where HikerBob and I headed back down the way we came up. It was amazing how dry the trail had become in the few hours since the rain stopped. We decided to head over to Bald Knob and were treated to our first good views of the day of North Kinsman and Moosilauke… it is a great spot for a picnic! It was an easy stroll back down to our cars and HikerBob drove off to pick up some of the group from Lafayette Place, while I headed over to Woodstock Station to get us all a table. All in all a great day!
- Ivy
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