| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
North Kinsman, South Kinsman, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Mt. Kinsman Trail, Kinsman Ridge Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, November 17, 2019 |
|
 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Short entrance "road" to trailhead parking lot on Rte 116 snowy but well-packed making it easy to access for all vehicles. Room for about 8-10 cars. We were the 5th vehicle in the lot upon arrival at 9:00am. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable) |
|
 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
|
 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Only a few minor crossings on lower end of Mt. Kinsman Trail, all snow-bridged / frozen and easily crossed |
|
 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Mt. Kinsman Trail well-blazed in blue and easy to follow (pay particular attention in the first 1.2 miles as there are a lot of "twists and turns, but all well-marked). KRT from junction of Mt. Kinsman Trail to summit of South Kinsman part of AT, blazed in white. Trails are in great condition with snow depths of 3-5" under about 2,500', then increasing to about 5-8" from that point to summits. Snow was soft and well-packed from recent traffic, making microspikes the traction of choice (although snowshoes would not be overkill from the KRT junction to summits). There were a couple of minor and easily passable blowdowns / duck-unders on Mt. Kinsman Trail. |
|
 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Didn't see any dogs today, but believe this route would be dog-friendly for its moderate non-technical grades pretty much the entire way. |
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 | Bugs: |
One of the many things that make cold-weather hiking great ... none! |
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 | Lost and Found: |
N/A |
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|
 | Comments: |
Despite the date on the calendar, winter has arrived! Started with single digit temps at the trailhead that warmed to the teens by mid-day at higher elevations. It was a great deep blue-sky day and a perfect way to finish these two mountains in all four seasons. Definitely a fan of the Mt. Kinsman Trail ... a nice quiet way to climb up to KRT on moderate terrain (although the view from Lonesome Lake to Franconia Ridge is one of our favorites in all of NH, so we missed that by approaching from this direction).
Wore microspikes from the trailhead and left them on the entire hike. Trail conditions are perfect for spikes right now, although for those itching to snowshoe, that would not be overkill from about 3,000' to the summits. Lower elevation terrain still has rocks and roots protruding above snow cover, but trail is "smoothing" out nicely. Some of the ledgy terrain around N. Kinsman in particular is probably not primed for snowshoes just yet, but soon. Overall, snow was soft-packed throughout with minor stretches of ice. Saw maybe a dozen other hikers today, all in spikes.
We had terrific views from both summits today - from S. Kinsman, the visibility was so clear we could spot all the 4,000 footers along the Long Trail in Vermont! Views to Franconia Ridge, as always, were incredible. |
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 | Name: |
Charlie |
|
 | E-Mail: |
skcharles at comcast dot net |
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| Date Submitted: |
2019-11-18 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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