Cannon 10/22/07

Date(s) Hiked:10/22/07

Trails(s) Hiked:Ascent=Lonesome Lake Trail/Hi-Cannon/Kinsman Ridge
Descent=Kinsman Ridge/Lonesome lake/Lonesome lake loop/ back to Lonesome Lake

Total Distance:6.1 Miles 2700 Ft. of Elevation Gain

Difficulty:Hi-cannon Steep in sections, beginning much eroded lonesome lake, very tricky for decent, lots of large boulders to hop.

Conditions:Perfect

Special Required Equipment:Sun Screen

Trip Report: My buddy Matt and I decided that Cannon Mt would be a good hike for this beautiful day. Trip was pretty un-eventful. Hi-Cannon Trail is much eroded and if not careful one could miss a switchback. At upper Hi-Cannon you have the ladder to deal with, which I thought was pretty cool. There are also many cliffs that could be dangerous when wet, some of which offer views of Lonesome Lake.

We made it to the summit tower, and then over to the lookout on Kinsman Ridge to eat lunch and watch the people up on Franconia Ridge with binoculars.

Up to this point we had seen only two people, and we would only see 4 others down by the hut later in the day.

We took Lonesome Lake Trail to descend. The top of this trail was very difficult like an obstacle course of giant boulders. It took us quite some time to get down this section.

Once this section is done the rest is a cake walk. We also did the loop around Lonesome like which was pretty cool.

I can't even imagine the work that goes into building and maintaining the bog bridges around the lake.

Weather was perfect, and no crowds. All and all it was a good day. I think next is Kinsman North and South.

Here are some pictures

Lafayette


Taft Ski Trail from Tramway side


Matt Descending Steep Section of Lonesome Lake Trail



Franconia Ridge line From Lonesome Lake


Franconia Ridge line looking Down 93


Me Posing

Nice. I did Lonesome Lake this past weekend but your photos turned out much better than mine due to a overcast afternoon when I was up there. Lonesome Lake has a fantastic view, probably second only to the view from Cannon Cliffs on Kinsman Ridge Trail in terms of views in the Notch. BTW, the second picture labelled Kinsman Ridge Trail is not the KRT. The KRT descends down to Cannon Cliffs and does not extend further down the ridge past the ski area.

riverc0il said:

BTW, the second picture labelled Kinsman Ridge Trail is not the KRT. The KRT descends down to Cannon Cliffs and does not extend further down the ridge past the ski area.

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I only knew that it started out by the tramway parking area at cannon and assumed that that was the KRT. You know what the say about Assuming!

So what trail is that then on the second hump to the left of the ski lift?
Thanks

Mike

Taft Ski Trail

One aspect of hiking the Cannon side of the Franconia Notch is the ever present highway noise.
It's always there and it really spoils the experience of hiking.
When I hike in the mountains I really want to get away from the motor generated noises that all around me all the time. The constant whoosh coming up from Rt 93 below is just always there.

The other side of the notch seems to be much less prone to this noise intrusion.

riverc0il said:

Taft Ski Trail

Click to expand...

Thanks fixed the title too!

Bumpsis said:

One aspect of hiking the Cannon side of the Franconia Notch is the ever present highway noise.
It's always there and it really spoils the experience of hiking.
When I hike in the mountains I really want to get away from the motor generated noises that all around me all the time. The constant whoosh coming up from Rt 93 below is just always there.

The other side of the notch seems to be much less prone to this noise intrusion.

Click to expand...

The noise was pretty noticable until we came close to the summit, it pretty much disappeared hiking back on the Lonesome Lake Trail.

As far as the other side of the notch the last time i was on Franconia Ridge was probably close to 15 years ago and it was March, over Cast and snowing like a bastard so car noise was not noticable at all.

There's one redeeming reason for hiking the Notch side of Cannon ... on the Kinsman Ridge Trail between the tramway parking lot and the summit is a side trail that leads out to some wide open ledges (above the Cliffs) with a tremendous in-your-face view of Franconia Ridge.

I agree the view from the cliff is great, true, it's close to the highway but you feel like you are hanging out over the notch. (well as close as you can be without being a technical climber)

Incredible shots. Why were you not on Lafayette on a day like that???

Mike P. said:

I agree the view from the cliff is great, true, it's close to the highway but you feel like you are hanging out over the notch. (well as close as you can be without being a technical climber)

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I guess that I'll have to hike it that way next time sounds pretty awesome

thetrailboss said:

Incredible shots. Why were you not on Lafayette on a day like that???

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Its my wifes dreams to hike the ridge with me and according to her i'm not allowed to do it without her....

I'll be hiking it this winter though because she would never hike it in the winter therefore it doesn't count!:lol: