| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Cannon Mountain, Northeast Cannonball, North Kinsman, South Kinsman, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Lonesome Lake Trail, Hi-Cannon Trail, Kinsman Ridge Trail, Fishin’ Jimmy Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Friday, March 4, 2022 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parked at Lafayette Place parking area. This area was well plowed. Parking for 10-15 vehicles. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Nothing of significance. Everything was frozen over or had a human-made bridge. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
I would not recommend dogs on Hi-Cannon due to the ladder. All other trails ok for dogs. |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Route:
Lonesome Lake > Hi-Cannon > Kinsman Ridge (out and back to Cannon summit then out to S. Kinsman summit) > Fishin’ Jimmy > Lonesome Lake (actual lake itself) > Lonesome Lake Trail
Lonesome Lake: well blazed in yellow. Popular trail. Simple to follow trench. I was the first one on trail this morning so I broke out the inch or so of new snow up to the Hi-Cannon junction. By my return this afternoon, the trail had been well travelled by both snowshoers and spikers and was most certainly a concrete sidewalk (not complaining, just an comparison).
Hi-Cannon: infrequent faded blue blazes. I broke trail for the entirety (in snowshoes). 2 inches of fresh powder in lower elevations, 4 or so inches in the upper parts. All the snow was light and fluffy. The corridor was simple to follow. The ladder was completely covered in snow. After brushing this off I noted a large amount of ice on the rungs. There is also a sturdy yellow rope to help get up the ladder. I was able to get up the ladder in snowshoes. Once at the top of the ladder I had to really dig out some handholds to get across the snow and ice covered rock slab to get to safe footing.
Kinsman Ridge:
- From the junction with Hi-Cannon to the summit of Cannon: this is blazed in blue and was not broken out this morning. It is now though! Trench simple to follow even with the fresh deposit of snow. I remained in snowshoes.
- From Cannon summit to the junction with Lonesome Lake: well blazed in blue. Be prepared to deal with intimidating ice. After snowshoe skiing down the steep sections I saw the “ice obstacle.” No wonder people turned back. Jeeze. There was A LOT of thick yellow ice. No, a phenomenal amount of ice on that already tricky part when some boulder fell into the trail. Soooo, I had my crampons, but I elected to make an alternate route. I retraced some steps back up the trail and entered the thick trees sidehilling until I got past the trouble area. It worked and I had trees I could hold on to. From there I slip/ slid through snow that was covering sneaky blue ice down to the junction.
- The Cannonballs (from junction with Lonesome Lake to junction with Fishin’ Jimmy): blazed in blue. Not broken out. *Sigh* Due to the snow depth I kept my snowshoes on and broke trail to the junction with Fishin’ Jimmy. I was able to discern the corridor in most parts, even without my glasses. Gaia had to help me twice as the large drifts were obscuring my view. I forgot how exhausting this trail can be, especially when breaking through multiple inches of fresh powder. It sure was pretty, though. No tricky parts, very little ice.
- From the junction with Fishin’ Jimmy to the summit of South Kinsman: this is the AT as the trail is blazed in standard white blazes. Finally ran into the first people I’d seen all day. They “broke trail” in spikes, but as this point I was super stoked to not have to break trail so I really didn’t care what they were wearing on their feet. There were no postholes and only a few drifts near South Kinsman summit. There are a few small sections of ice. I couldn’t justify changing footwear for this so I stayed in snowshoes. Of the groups of people I encountered later, most wore spikes, some wore snowshoes. Summit carin on south Kinsman visible above the snowpack.
Fishin’ Jimmy: this is the AT and is blazed in white. The groups of people traveling up had broken this out nicely so the trench was simple to follow. I stayed in snowshoes and was glad as I could use them to bypass the ridiculous amount of ice in a couple of sections. I think spikes would be OK for these icy sections. If I changed footwear I’d put on crampons. The sections aren’t long nor are they exposed. But they are covered in thick, thick yellow ice. Oh Mama don’t like ice…
Lonesome Lake: frozen enough to permit me to walk across it. There were numerous footpaths across the lake. Walk at your own risk. |
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 | Name: |
Remington34 |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2022-03-04 |
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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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