uphillklimber
Member
This was our third attempt up the Kinsmans. A couple springs ago, we bailed as we were thoroughly unprepared for the snow conditions. A month ago, we could not find the trailhead of our choice. This time, we were gonna make, come he!! or high water. Well, the water on the trail was plenty high, due to recent rains, I suspect. I had a brand new pair of LL Bean Crestas, maiden hike, and they kept my feet plenty dry. I was packing around 35 lbs, while my wife packed 31 lbs.
We headed up from the Lafeyette campground parking lot. Up to Lonesome Lake was a gently ascending trail, and we made good time up to that point. We took in the views at the lake and checked out the hut. First time to view a hut, it was very nice, but I don't think it is $87.00 a night nice (each). I'd rather stay in Conway with a jacuzzi. I think the huts are just great for folks from the big city who think they want a wilderness experience. To be fair, it comes complete with meals. Starting today, it is open, self serve for in the high $20 range. Kitchen with dishes, stove, and utensils and water is available. You need only bring your food, sleeping bag and clothing. The bunk rooms are completely unheated. Maybe we'll do a winter visit with them, but not in the dead of winter.
After that, we headed to the Kinsman Pond shelter. It seemed it would not be too busy at the shelter and all the tent platforms were covered in snow. This shelter is some 30 feet wide, enclosed on the normal 3 sides and 8 feet in from the sides on both sides of the front. We pitched our tent, a North Face Rock 22, just 2 sleeping bags wide in one of thse alcoves and dropped mucho gear there. We got lunch and headed out to the kinsmans with a much lighter load. Being around 2PM, we figured darkenss for 6PM and set 4PM as the turn around time, but figured if it came to that, we'd turn around at 3:30. The higher we got, the more treacherous the wet ice became. Careful foot placement was the order of the day. Needless to say, we didn't want to bail a third time, and we didn't need to. We made it up to both peaks in good time. Although, at South Kinsmand, there seemed to be a cairn on the trail indicating the high point, and yet we found what appeared to be a higher point just before we reached the peak. We hit both to be sure.
Going down was to prove dicey. The wet ice, only expanded as each person walked and left a little water behind. 3 areas were very dicey, and we debated using the stabilicers. We did not wish to lose time putting them on and off, and did not want to dull them walking over the rock. Careful footing was decided upon, and we managed to never slip. Most all of the rock was very coarse, and provided solid footing, even when wet. You just had to watch for ice glazing over the rock. We managed to get back to the shelter around 5 PM, so we made comfortable time.
What was not appearing to be a busy place was soon recognized as very busy. Seems everyone had the same idea. Foilage past it's peak, tourists gone, winter well on the way, snow on the ground up high....shucks, there won't be many people there. All 4 tent platforms were filled. the shelter was filled, and 2 guys came in late. We all offered to squeeze over for them, then they located "overflow" shelter space on the backside of the shelter. There was a 3 foot wide shelf under the rear overhang, and they made camp there. All was good for everyone!
There was a group of thre college students, from Portugal, Spain and Germany who stayed at the shelter. We listened in on their conversations as we drifted off to sleep. There point of view on politics was very interesting to listen in on. In the morning, everyone is curled up in their bags, nice and warm. The fellow from Spain seemed to be actually cold, trying to get warm. You know that look of someone freezing inside their bag? The girl from Germany was down at the pond, so we threw her bag over him. Later I asked if he was cold last night. He replied only this morning, he said it seemed much colder than -2 C. He was fine.
We took our near 12 year old dog, Suzy, with us. That night she ate 3 bowls of food (Normally only 1). Temps were to dip below 30 that night. She was wet from the trail. In the morning, she was not shivering or cold, but still wet on the legs. She was also a little lame (we had done some 7- 8 miles or so, and a couple thousand feet elevation gain), and was not limbering up much in the cold. I found her muscles and massaged them several times, gave her 2 more bowls of dog food for breakfast, and some hot water in our oatmeal bowls to lick out. Soon she was limbered up and ready and raring to go!
The trip down was cool at first, and some of the rock formations we clambored over yesterday were iced up and looked way different from the top than they did from the bottom. I spent a good deal of time assisting the dog and my wife over some areas. About 20 minutes before the Lonesome Lake hut, we came across the waterfall we admired yesterday. Only thing is, now the sun was shining right on it! And there were no logs or flotsam trappped in it. Nice photo op!
When we got to the hut, we chatted with the caretakers, who were packing up everything for the copter to pull out soon. They had a bunch of pancakes, and we fed 2 to the dog. We had a couple as well as some chocolate chip bars. As we were leaving, it starts to snow. We bundle up for a while and after 15 minutes peel a few layers. It is only spitting snow, and it would change to rain as we got lower. This portion of the trail was very easy comparde with what was above the hut on the Fisher Jiminy trail. We were to pass a good many of immigrants, I presume Somolian, who were trekking up the mountain, many speaking their native tongue. I was pleased to see these folks all getting out there and enjoying what this new (To them) land had to offer. There must have been 40 or more of them, few carrying packs or anything. Just out for a stroll in the woods.
We chatted with a good many folk, from all over the world and had a good time. And it sure felt good to actually do the Kinsmans on the third try!
__________________
We headed up from the Lafeyette campground parking lot. Up to Lonesome Lake was a gently ascending trail, and we made good time up to that point. We took in the views at the lake and checked out the hut. First time to view a hut, it was very nice, but I don't think it is $87.00 a night nice (each). I'd rather stay in Conway with a jacuzzi. I think the huts are just great for folks from the big city who think they want a wilderness experience. To be fair, it comes complete with meals. Starting today, it is open, self serve for in the high $20 range. Kitchen with dishes, stove, and utensils and water is available. You need only bring your food, sleeping bag and clothing. The bunk rooms are completely unheated. Maybe we'll do a winter visit with them, but not in the dead of winter.
After that, we headed to the Kinsman Pond shelter. It seemed it would not be too busy at the shelter and all the tent platforms were covered in snow. This shelter is some 30 feet wide, enclosed on the normal 3 sides and 8 feet in from the sides on both sides of the front. We pitched our tent, a North Face Rock 22, just 2 sleeping bags wide in one of thse alcoves and dropped mucho gear there. We got lunch and headed out to the kinsmans with a much lighter load. Being around 2PM, we figured darkenss for 6PM and set 4PM as the turn around time, but figured if it came to that, we'd turn around at 3:30. The higher we got, the more treacherous the wet ice became. Careful foot placement was the order of the day. Needless to say, we didn't want to bail a third time, and we didn't need to. We made it up to both peaks in good time. Although, at South Kinsmand, there seemed to be a cairn on the trail indicating the high point, and yet we found what appeared to be a higher point just before we reached the peak. We hit both to be sure.
Going down was to prove dicey. The wet ice, only expanded as each person walked and left a little water behind. 3 areas were very dicey, and we debated using the stabilicers. We did not wish to lose time putting them on and off, and did not want to dull them walking over the rock. Careful footing was decided upon, and we managed to never slip. Most all of the rock was very coarse, and provided solid footing, even when wet. You just had to watch for ice glazing over the rock. We managed to get back to the shelter around 5 PM, so we made comfortable time.
What was not appearing to be a busy place was soon recognized as very busy. Seems everyone had the same idea. Foilage past it's peak, tourists gone, winter well on the way, snow on the ground up high....shucks, there won't be many people there. All 4 tent platforms were filled. the shelter was filled, and 2 guys came in late. We all offered to squeeze over for them, then they located "overflow" shelter space on the backside of the shelter. There was a 3 foot wide shelf under the rear overhang, and they made camp there. All was good for everyone!
There was a group of thre college students, from Portugal, Spain and Germany who stayed at the shelter. We listened in on their conversations as we drifted off to sleep. There point of view on politics was very interesting to listen in on. In the morning, everyone is curled up in their bags, nice and warm. The fellow from Spain seemed to be actually cold, trying to get warm. You know that look of someone freezing inside their bag? The girl from Germany was down at the pond, so we threw her bag over him. Later I asked if he was cold last night. He replied only this morning, he said it seemed much colder than -2 C. He was fine.
We took our near 12 year old dog, Suzy, with us. That night she ate 3 bowls of food (Normally only 1). Temps were to dip below 30 that night. She was wet from the trail. In the morning, she was not shivering or cold, but still wet on the legs. She was also a little lame (we had done some 7- 8 miles or so, and a couple thousand feet elevation gain), and was not limbering up much in the cold. I found her muscles and massaged them several times, gave her 2 more bowls of dog food for breakfast, and some hot water in our oatmeal bowls to lick out. Soon she was limbered up and ready and raring to go!
The trip down was cool at first, and some of the rock formations we clambored over yesterday were iced up and looked way different from the top than they did from the bottom. I spent a good deal of time assisting the dog and my wife over some areas. About 20 minutes before the Lonesome Lake hut, we came across the waterfall we admired yesterday. Only thing is, now the sun was shining right on it! And there were no logs or flotsam trappped in it. Nice photo op!
When we got to the hut, we chatted with the caretakers, who were packing up everything for the copter to pull out soon. They had a bunch of pancakes, and we fed 2 to the dog. We had a couple as well as some chocolate chip bars. As we were leaving, it starts to snow. We bundle up for a while and after 15 minutes peel a few layers. It is only spitting snow, and it would change to rain as we got lower. This portion of the trail was very easy comparde with what was above the hut on the Fisher Jiminy trail. We were to pass a good many of immigrants, I presume Somolian, who were trekking up the mountain, many speaking their native tongue. I was pleased to see these folks all getting out there and enjoying what this new (To them) land had to offer. There must have been 40 or more of them, few carrying packs or anything. Just out for a stroll in the woods.
We chatted with a good many folk, from all over the world and had a good time. And it sure felt good to actually do the Kinsmans on the third try!
__________________
