bintrepidhiker
New member
On a cloudy wet morning Saturday I started out at the Basin and hiked Basin-Cascade Trail to Cascade Brook Trail then to Kinsman Pond Trail. This section wasn't bad. Kinda level to start with a little incline here and there; not a bad way to get warmed up. The falls weren't really flowing but i'm sure they are something in full force.
Kinsman Pond Trail was another story. The entire way it was a steady or steep incline on slimy, slippery rocks. I'm ok with rocks when they are dry and when i'm higher up but doing this was terrible. Felt like this sections took hours and hours and it was just 2.5 miles. Eventually i got past it and arrived at Kinsman Pond, which was a welcome site to see although it was still cloudy and i could have sworn i was gonna get rained on at any moment.
A little later i arrived at Kinsman Junction, had a cliff bar then started up North Kinsman via Kinsman Ridge Trail. Was a tad steep in sections but not bad, made it up there before i knew it. Had a nice girl to share the summit while i snapped pictures of the clouded over Franconia Ridge. After a few minutes i departed for South Kinsman.
Here it was a gentle down then an easier up and arrived at what i thought was the summit. Was open and didn't seem to go up anymore so it had to be the summit right? Well after i sat around for 10 minutes or so and was getting ready to head back to North Kinsman i looked over to my left and saw this huge carn and thought could that actually be the summit. Looked to be about 5 minutes away so i figured i'd check it out. Turns out that was the actual summit so it was a good thing i checked on it! Snapped a few pics to tell the story later and headed back to North Kinsman. By this time the sun was out nearly in full force and the clouds all lifted. Back on North Kinsman I snapped the same pics as before only better this time then made it back down to Kinsman Junction. Here I ate another cliff bar and took Fishin Jimmy Trail to Lonesome Lake.
This was a steep section but not terribly difficult as long as your cautious because one bad step could lead to disaster. Seems like this was a long 2 miles going at a slower rate but it felt nice. About an hour later i arrived at Lonesome Lake. What a great place! Can't get enough of that lake and Lafayette behind it. Couldn't resist a dip so i jumped right in and relaxed for a little bit before walking around the lake and meeting Cascade Brook Trail all the way down. The lake was a busy place with it being in the 80's and being humid.
Cascade Brook Trail heading down was a breeze. Was a steady decline but without rocks to trip over it felt good like i was just walking on flat terrain most of the time. Once I got to the bottom about the crowds had really swarmed into Kinsman Falls. People were everywhere. Can't blame them because it did turn out to be a terrific day after an iffy start. For me it was a 12.5 mile trek that lasted a hair over 7 hours. Little bit slower than what i usually do but concidering the conditions, can you really blame me?
Kinsman Pond Trail was another story. The entire way it was a steady or steep incline on slimy, slippery rocks. I'm ok with rocks when they are dry and when i'm higher up but doing this was terrible. Felt like this sections took hours and hours and it was just 2.5 miles. Eventually i got past it and arrived at Kinsman Pond, which was a welcome site to see although it was still cloudy and i could have sworn i was gonna get rained on at any moment.
A little later i arrived at Kinsman Junction, had a cliff bar then started up North Kinsman via Kinsman Ridge Trail. Was a tad steep in sections but not bad, made it up there before i knew it. Had a nice girl to share the summit while i snapped pictures of the clouded over Franconia Ridge. After a few minutes i departed for South Kinsman.
Here it was a gentle down then an easier up and arrived at what i thought was the summit. Was open and didn't seem to go up anymore so it had to be the summit right? Well after i sat around for 10 minutes or so and was getting ready to head back to North Kinsman i looked over to my left and saw this huge carn and thought could that actually be the summit. Looked to be about 5 minutes away so i figured i'd check it out. Turns out that was the actual summit so it was a good thing i checked on it! Snapped a few pics to tell the story later and headed back to North Kinsman. By this time the sun was out nearly in full force and the clouds all lifted. Back on North Kinsman I snapped the same pics as before only better this time then made it back down to Kinsman Junction. Here I ate another cliff bar and took Fishin Jimmy Trail to Lonesome Lake.
This was a steep section but not terribly difficult as long as your cautious because one bad step could lead to disaster. Seems like this was a long 2 miles going at a slower rate but it felt nice. About an hour later i arrived at Lonesome Lake. What a great place! Can't get enough of that lake and Lafayette behind it. Couldn't resist a dip so i jumped right in and relaxed for a little bit before walking around the lake and meeting Cascade Brook Trail all the way down. The lake was a busy place with it being in the 80's and being humid.
Cascade Brook Trail heading down was a breeze. Was a steady decline but without rocks to trip over it felt good like i was just walking on flat terrain most of the time. Once I got to the bottom about the crowds had really swarmed into Kinsman Falls. People were everywhere. Can't blame them because it did turn out to be a terrific day after an iffy start. For me it was a 12.5 mile trek that lasted a hair over 7 hours. Little bit slower than what i usually do but concidering the conditions, can you really blame me?
