Mad Townie
New member
The lineup for the Kinsman hike changed several times over the few days preceding it. “I think probably;” “Don’t think I can make it;” “The skiing’s going to be great;” “The driving’s going to be terrible.” So Little Sister, Gary and I headed out of Portland toward Franconia Notch and the Kinsmans, knowing that we’d meet MEB there. Surprise! Kmac changed her mind, hit the road at 3 a.m., and joined us. Another surprise! Dr. Wu is coming.
So we hit the trail a bit later than expected, but not much later. It was a beautiful morning, the sun shining and promising a great day. The walk up to Lonesome Lake, while consistent and not hard, does gain some altitude. We quickly got down to basic layers as the day got warmer.
At Lonesome Lake we ignored the “Thin Ice” sign, thanks to advance information from that fount of knowledge, Views from the Top. Good thing, too, because there were some great views from the lake surface: a Cannonball, our destinations for the day (North and South Kinsman), and best of all, Franconia Ridge against a wonderful blue sky. Lots of photo ops!
So we took a brief break at the hut and headed up the Fishin’ Jimmy Trail. SherpaK had warned me that the trail heads downhill from the hut before doing any real uphill, and when I found myself walking down a gradual incline I thought, “This isn’t as bad as he said.” Wrong. I should know better than to doubt the word of the Sherp. Soon we headed down a steep incline, and another, and another, all with the knowledge that we would have to regain all of this lost altitude on our way to the summit. And we did. The trail soon got wicked steep, with a couple but not many icy spots that were easily navigated thanks to the prior night’s snowfall. There wasn’t as much new snow as we’d expected, but there was enough.
After a break at the trail junction we headed toward North Kinsman, meeting the only hiker who had been up there before us that day. The climb wasn’t as hard as it looked from the bottom, and in no time we were on the North Kinsman summit, enjoying the views and our lunches. Then it was time to leave our packs behind and head off to South Kinsman. This was Gary’s second time ever on snowshoes, and because he didn’t want to slow us up he decided to return to North Kinsman and head slowly down the trail.
The rest of us broke trail (some more than others!) to the South Kinsman summit ridge, first the “not-summit,” then the actual summit. By this time the clouds, which had been gathering gradually since we left the hut, filled the sky. Soon it began to snow lightly. I was hoping to see Moosilauke from South Kinsman, but all I saw was cloud where the mountain was supposed to be. I took my friends’ words for it really being there! I guess if I want to see it I’ll have to climb it myself.
We returned to North Kinsman, grabbed our packs and headed on down the hill. After jamming my toes into the fronts of my boots last week on the Sugarbush ski trails, heading down the steepness of Fishin’ Jimmy didn’t feel all that great. Of course, all that descending trail we had experienced on our way to the summit was now going uphill! Little Sister caught up with Gary just before the hut, and after the briefest of breaks we headed out on the last leg of our walk. The sky had become completely overcast, quite a change from the morning. Still, the clouds were high enough that we had good views of Franconia Ridge as we crossed the pond.
As we walked along we first saw the highway, then heard the highway, then smelled, well, not the highway but the snowmobiles going by through the valley. In no time we were back to the parking lot, ready for dinner. Dr. Wu had to head out, but the rest of us headed to Woodstock Station, where we didn’t see any other VFTTers. Where were all of you?
Photos are here.
So we hit the trail a bit later than expected, but not much later. It was a beautiful morning, the sun shining and promising a great day. The walk up to Lonesome Lake, while consistent and not hard, does gain some altitude. We quickly got down to basic layers as the day got warmer.
At Lonesome Lake we ignored the “Thin Ice” sign, thanks to advance information from that fount of knowledge, Views from the Top. Good thing, too, because there were some great views from the lake surface: a Cannonball, our destinations for the day (North and South Kinsman), and best of all, Franconia Ridge against a wonderful blue sky. Lots of photo ops!
So we took a brief break at the hut and headed up the Fishin’ Jimmy Trail. SherpaK had warned me that the trail heads downhill from the hut before doing any real uphill, and when I found myself walking down a gradual incline I thought, “This isn’t as bad as he said.” Wrong. I should know better than to doubt the word of the Sherp. Soon we headed down a steep incline, and another, and another, all with the knowledge that we would have to regain all of this lost altitude on our way to the summit. And we did. The trail soon got wicked steep, with a couple but not many icy spots that were easily navigated thanks to the prior night’s snowfall. There wasn’t as much new snow as we’d expected, but there was enough.
After a break at the trail junction we headed toward North Kinsman, meeting the only hiker who had been up there before us that day. The climb wasn’t as hard as it looked from the bottom, and in no time we were on the North Kinsman summit, enjoying the views and our lunches. Then it was time to leave our packs behind and head off to South Kinsman. This was Gary’s second time ever on snowshoes, and because he didn’t want to slow us up he decided to return to North Kinsman and head slowly down the trail.
The rest of us broke trail (some more than others!) to the South Kinsman summit ridge, first the “not-summit,” then the actual summit. By this time the clouds, which had been gathering gradually since we left the hut, filled the sky. Soon it began to snow lightly. I was hoping to see Moosilauke from South Kinsman, but all I saw was cloud where the mountain was supposed to be. I took my friends’ words for it really being there! I guess if I want to see it I’ll have to climb it myself.
We returned to North Kinsman, grabbed our packs and headed on down the hill. After jamming my toes into the fronts of my boots last week on the Sugarbush ski trails, heading down the steepness of Fishin’ Jimmy didn’t feel all that great. Of course, all that descending trail we had experienced on our way to the summit was now going uphill! Little Sister caught up with Gary just before the hut, and after the briefest of breaks we headed out on the last leg of our walk. The sky had become completely overcast, quite a change from the morning. Still, the clouds were high enough that we had good views of Franconia Ridge as we crossed the pond.
As we walked along we first saw the highway, then heard the highway, then smelled, well, not the highway but the snowmobiles going by through the valley. In no time we were back to the parking lot, ready for dinner. Dr. Wu had to head out, but the rest of us headed to Woodstock Station, where we didn’t see any other VFTTers. Where were all of you?
Photos are here.
