No. & So. Kinsmans: Mon,10-22-07

[HikerAmiga]

Trails: Mt. Kinsman, Kinsman Ridge, Bald Knob spur
Distance & elevation: 10.8 miles, approx. 4,000 feet
Hikers: RLC and HikerAmiga

Yesterday RLC and I joined forces on this unseasonably (summer-like) fall day to hike the Kinsmans.

The start of this hike on the Mt Kinsmans Trail for me was notable for it's mostly wide and easy to moderate trail, a good portion of it being a logging road with wonderful forest scents, a white birches section and lots of VERY crunchy (dry) leaves so audibly loud that RLC and I had to speak loudly to hear each other especially on the descent! Bald Knob, a short .4 mile side trip at the junction of the above-listed trails, was just a delightful ledgy area, very wide and open, where on this day, the sun shone brightly and warmly to the tune of temps 70F+. Definitely an ideal place to lounge and take in great views. Continuing on, the Kinsmans Ridge Trail was interesting with some wet or moist spots, a varied trail with some steeper sections and scrambles. On this trail, we kept expecting to see at least one ladder (per RLC’s outdated guidebook) but never did and we noticed a steep slab where a ladder could have been useful but none was found.

North Kinsman’s summit was pretty in descript yet the outlook just below the summit had some really nice views towards Franconia Ridge. South Kinsman has what we called a ‘false summit’ which seemed pretty nice until we realized it wasn’t the actual summit and we proceeded on to the right one about .2 miles away.

Coincidentally, yesterday was also my birthday and I believe it’s always nice to spend one's birthday doing something one loves and sharing it with at least one good friend! Indeed, yesterday proved ideal in every sense!

Probaby my only disappointment on this hike was seeing a couple of instances of graffiti on the signage with negative remarks about the AMC! Still our spirits were not dampened and we enjoyed our hike!

Thanks to RLC for the company and for treating me to a nice post-hike birthday dinner!

A short picture album is here: http://hikeramiga.phanfare.com/album/458244

 

[Bobby]

Nice report! What a great way to spend your birthday. Good job, Nilsa.

 

[BIGEarl]

Nilsa, Happy Birthday!

I believe the ladders you're referencing may be the ones that are north of the area where you were hiking - in the Cannonballs.

Here's a shot from a hike I was on with Vegematic & Sweeper earlier this year. That's Sweeper on the left.

Earl

 

[poison ivy]

There used to be a ladder on the Mt. Kinsman Trail but the trail was rerouted to avoid that spot a few years ago.

Hiking is a great way to spend a birthday! Glad you had a good one, Nilsa.

- Ivy

 

[BobC]

Until now I was thinking I could still get away with using my 26th edition of the White Mountain guide. That's the one that indicated that there was a ladder on the Mt. Kinsman trail. It's no big deal because it didn't cause us any problems, but maybe it's time to update my guide. I also noticed what may be another error. The guide said that the distance from the Mt. Kinsman trail to the Bald Knob outlook was .2 miles. When we got to that spur trail, we saw a sign that said "Bald Knob", so we took that trail, but it seemed longer than .2 miles. When we came back to the main trail, we noticed there was another set of signs to the left of the smaller one we first saw. This set said "Bald Knob - .4 miles" (in addition to showing the mileage to the Kinsman Ridge trail - which also differed from the WMG guide). I'm still not sure which is the right mileage, but my guess would be that the sign was correct, and my WMG guide was wrong.

 

[BIGEarl]

Nilsa,

I thought you were referring to the Kinsman Ridge Trail when you mentioned the ladders.

Sorry.

Please disregard everything after Happy Birthday!

Earl

 

[amstony]

Great way to spend your birthday, Congratulations!!

 

[Christa]

Steve and I had the same problem hunting for the ladders on the Mount Kinsman Trail when we hiked it last August. We were mighty surprised to wind up on the Kinsman Ridge Trail without ever encountering them. On the way back down, we saw where the trail had been rerouted so that it no longer encountered the section with the ladder. A little research when we got home found that the reroute had been done around 2-3 years ago.

The description for this trail has been updated in the 28th edition of the WMG so that it no longer includes the ladders - after out adventure with it, Steve got the information about the ladders being missing to Steve Smith in time for it to be included in the new version of the guide.

 

[mtnmama]

Happy Birthday Nilsa!!!!!
What a wonderful way to celebrate.
Sounds like you and RLC had a great day hiking.

Sweet!!!!

 

[Kevin Rooney]

There's a neat gorge on that trail as well, not too far off the main trail. IRRC, there's a small sign at about the 2nd brook crossing - as you head uphill, it's on the right.

 

[HikerAmiga]

Thanks all for the birthday wishes! It was one of the nicest hikes of recent memory!

Kevin: RLC had mentioned the "Flume" area to me as he'd read about it in his guidebook but somehow we missed it on the ascent and again on the descent. We never saw the purported sign??

 

[George]

Sounds like the perfect way to spend your birthday!!

 

[marty]

A belated happy birthday to ya

Great report and photos. I love the Kinsmans!

Marty

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Thanks all for the birthday wishes! It was one of the nicest hikes of recent memory!

Kevin: RLC had mentioned the "Flume" area to me as he'd read about it in his guidebook but somehow we missed it on the ascent and again on the descent. We never saw the purported sign??

It's small, a bit faded, and somewhat above eye level, so it's easy to miss. Next time you go up that trail, scrutinize each brook crossing for a small, rectangular sign on the right-hand side. It's about 1/2 up the pitch, before you get to the turn-off for Bald Knob.

Use care when you work your way up to the edge though - it's got very steep sides and it's deep!

 

[Gris]

...

There's not much to the Kinsman "flume," unlike Kinsman "Falls" (on the other side of the mountain) which is very beautiful.

I've hiked the Mt. Kinsman trail at least 25 times and explored the "flume" many times a looong ways off trail. It's more like a wet fault line.

BTW, legend is Robert Frost used to walk the Mt. Kinsman path quite often. Locals tell me that path has been there many, many years.

And, there are some secret spots in those woods, but I've been sworn not to tell...

 

[HikerAmiga]

...And, there are some secret spots in those woods, but I've been sworn not to tell...

do tell?...

 

[BobC]

Steve and I had the same problem hunting for the ladders on the Mount Kinsman Trail when we hiked it last August. We were mighty surprised to wind up on the Kinsman Ridge Trail without ever encountering them. On the way back down, we saw where the trail had been rerouted so that it no longer encountered the section with the ladder. A little research when we got home found that the reroute had been done around 2-3 years ago.

The description for this trail has been updated in the 28th edition of the WMG so that it no longer includes the ladders - after out adventure with it, Steve got the information about the ladders being missing to Steve Smith in time for it to be included in the new version of the guide.

Yeah, for us it was more a curiosity than anything. It certainly didn't affect our ability to find our way, we were just expecting to find certain landmarks that were described in the guide, like that ladder. But as I mentioned before, ya gotta have the latest guide if you expect the latest info.