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10/11/2008 Cannon Mountain

severine

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10/11/2008 Cannon Mountain, NH

Date Hiked: 10/11/08

Trails Hiked: Kinsman Ridge, Cannon Mountain, NH

Total Distance: 2.08 mi

Difficulty: Moderate IMHO (quite a bit of rock scrambling)

Conditions:
Trails in great shape, some muddy spots and wet rock, but not bad

Trip Report: I'm terrible at hiking reports, so bare with me; it's been over 2 years since my last "hike." We were camping in NH this weekend and wanted to do a hike Saturday morning but slept a little late :oops: so the original plan to try Tux was squashed. Lafayette was a zoo. So we tried Cannon. Neither Brian nor I had hiked Cannon before. We checked before heading up about the policy for one-way tickets but elected not to buy right away in case we decided to hike down, as well.

Started the hike at 12:38PM with only 1 hiking pole (my son had disassembled the other right before we left Friday and lost a piece). Had some friendly ladies who trailed us the whole time so that was nice. Kept a moderate pace going the entire way, which was impressive for me; it's been a long time since I've hiked, but this was my best hiking experience yet. The only stops we made were to adjust layers or let others pass by. :D

I'm a little vague on details, so forgive me... but we hiked up to where you could take the diverging path to the cliffs that overlook Rt 93. BEAUTIFUL! So glad we did it! Crystal clear skies allowed for gorgeous views. It was a little windy (I think the bottom reported that the top was around 40 degrees that day... the base was around 60 degrees when we started) but with the sun beating down on us, plus being warmed up from the hike, we were feeling pretty good. Lunched on the cliffs before we headed to the summit.

I wasn't expected the little bit of downhill rock scramble from that point forward and it proved to irritate my left knee (the one I partially-tore the ACL on 8 months ago... and had twisted earlier in the week so it was a little tweaked anyway). It was at this point that I decide it would be a one-way hike - my knee just wasn't up to the journey down. When we got to the top, it was CROWDED. It was prime leaf-peeper weekend, after all. But the summit tower wasn't too bad and we had no problems getting on the tram to ride down.

I enjoyed it and will definitely do it again - including the downhill portion next time. Brian has a GPS track of the hike that I loaded on MapMyRun. The final figures included about 2 hrs 20 min (I think?) of moving time, HRM said I burned 1734 calories.

I'm working on uploading pics...
 
Last edited:

deadheadskier

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Didn't know you and B were heading up to hike Cannon. That's awesome the two of you were able to break away and head up to NH yesterday. :grin: Couldn't ask for better weather
 

severine

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We didn't finalize plans until mid-week, and the hiking location was chosen that morning. It was indeed a beautiful day!!!

The trams from the trail:
10_1112_2008NH_020.sized.jpg


Brian coming up a steep rock scramble:
10_1112_2008NH_029.sized.jpg


On the cliffs:
Looking out at Lafayette & the Agonies:
10_1112_2008NH_040.sized.jpg


10_1112_2008NH_041.sized.jpg


Me with Rt 93 and Franconia Notch in the background:
10_1112_2008NH_046.sized.jpg


The cliffs are on the other side of this hump (as viewed from the summit tower):
10_1112_2008NH_064.sized.jpg


10_1112_2008NH_065.sized.jpg


Color was a little past peak, but it was still beautiful.
 

thetrailboss

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Nice pics. Cannon via that route is a short but steep hike. It is also interesting that you hike through the Kinsman Glade. Did you make it to the New England Ski Museum?
 

bvibert

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Nice pics. Cannon via that route is a short but steep hike. It is also interesting that you hike through the Kinsman Glade. Did you make it to the New England Ski Museum?

Hiking through the Kinsman Glade was cool! It looked wicked steep. Yes, we did make it to the Ski Museum. Pretty neat, I'll have to go back sometime when my stomach isn't growling so I can pay more attention to the exhibits... ;)
 

ComeBackMudPuddles

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Really nice pix, thanks!

Hiking the Lafeyette range was a really great experience, but seeing the range from Cannon is even more picturesque.
 

severine

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:D I rarely contribute to the hiking section but I'm glad to see people read my report. :D Can't believe that was only 2 weeks ago... Next time, I'm hiking up and down, definitely.
 
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