Cannon Mt.
Where: Cannon Mt.
When: 26 May 2021
With: Solo
My plans to continue climbing the 48 NH 4000' peaks were backburnered last year because of the pandemic, so I've been stuck on 23 for a while now. I knew the peak - Cannon Mt. - and route for #24...I just needed a date/time to go. Suddenly, things began to fall into place. COVID restrictions lifted, trail conditions improved from the late spring mix of crumbling snow & mud, and I noted an empty spot in my calendar. Then Cannon Mt. announced that the Tram would resume operations in two days. That was the clincher, since the Tram meant crowds at the summit. I pulled together a backpack, set the alarm for 5AM, and was ready to go.
As it turned out, the alarm wasn't needed. My dog decided to wake me at 4:17, demanding to go out. As I sat on the deck steps while she attended to her needs (as the eclipsed Super Flower Blood Moon set through the trees), I figured I might as well just head out. I was on the road at 5:00, and settled in for 2.5 hours of driving. The early start worked out well in terms of the weather. The forecast for the mountains was for near-90 heat and possible afternoon storms, and I hoped to be off the mountain by noon.
I pulled into the parking area just before 7:30AM and was on my way pretty quickly. Several sites at the Lafayette Place campground were in use, with folks enjoying their morning coffee at one. I passed through on the Lonesome Lake Trail, and turned on to the Hi-Cannon Trail after just a few minutes. It immediately began its rocky ascent through the woods. Cannon's trails are known for being steep and tough, and Hi-Cannon is no exception.
I walked at a slow, deliberate pace, figuring I had plenty of time and didn't need to tire myself out. After 45 minutes, I arrived at the Dodge Cut-Off junction, and took the opportunity to shed some layers and pull out my hiking poles. The signs said I'd gone 0.8 miles, and I had 1.2 to go to get to the Kinsman Ridge Trail. I turned my boots up the trail and resumed my trudging.
Quick note on my boots: This was their first visit to the Whites. I bought them at the end of March and have been test-driving them on local trails and Wachusett Mountain. There's a little adjustment I'd like to make to the right heel, but they seem okay and worked well on this hike.
Back to the hike... It really was just a slow, steady climb up a rocky trail. Every once in awhile I'd stop to drink some water and catch my breath, but most I just kept putting one foot in front of the other. There was a nice break at one point when the trail leveled off and began slabbing around the side of the slope. Views began to appear through the trees, with the highway heading into Franconia Notch leading through the valley below. The air was a bit hazy, but I took a few pictures and texted them home.
As I climbed, I watched for a ladder I'd read about, and after a turn in the trail it appeared. Pretty beaten up by a season's worth of crampons and spikes, but still quite solid. It brought me up into an area of shorter trees and granite ledges, offering views of Lonesome Lake and its AMC hut. Trillium in bloom along the trail added another touch of beauty. And just a short time afterward, I arrived at the junction with the Kinsman Ridge Trail, a little over an hour since I'd left the Dodge Cut-Off junction.
My recollection from various sources I'd read was that the hike to the summit was another 0.8 miles, and another steep ascent. I was thrilled to find it was actually half that distance, and easy, almost level walking. I strode along the path, enjoying the change, and was soon at one final trail junction before the summit, with signs directing Tram hikers around a summit ring trail to get back to the Tram, and warning them away from the path I'd just hiked.
From there, it was just a few steps to the summit. I located the USGS marker under the summit tower, then climbed the stairs to the observation deck. I had the whole place to myself, and enjoyed the views for awhile before beginning my return trip. I snapped one final picture of the tower (which also provided a timestamp for the beginning of the return), and cruised back down the Kinsman Ridge Trail to the Hi-Cannon junction. Easy walking so far, but that was about to change.
The trail effectively dropped off a cliff, dropping nearly 500 feet in about 3/10 of a mile over large boulders. I did my best to be extra careful, using my poles to brace myself and double-checking hand & foot placements. Given my lack of any company on the trails, I didn't want to risk a slip & fall. I kept expecting the trail to level off, but the drop seemed to go on forever. The thought of having to climb UP that section was daunting. Thankfully I was heading down, and my cautious approach got me to the bottom unscathed. There was even a nice surprise at the point where the trail finally leveled off...small patches of ice & snow remaining from the past winter season.
About five minutes after reaching the bottom, I arrived at the junction with my return path, the Lonesome Lake Trail. I peered up the Kinsman Ridge Trail, which continued with a climb up the Northeast Cannon Ball, and was grateful that my route was heading downhill. I turned on to my new trail and began my journey on that path.
It was rocky & rugged, but generally easy going. Nothing especially steep. I cleared a couple of small trees that had fallen across the path, and stepped over a larger fallen pine that would require a work crew. About halfway down this section I met my first other hiker of the day. He was coming up as I was walking down, and we stopped to chat. He had some job with the Forest Service for the summer, and had been checking out the status of the AMC hut at Lonesome Lake so he could provide recommendations for visitors. In his free time, he was exploring the trails and claiming peaks. Like me, he'd looked at his list of the 4Ks he'd climbed and realized he was more than halfway through, so he was going after the remaining peaks. He also mentioned that he'd hiked the northern half of the Appalacian Trail in 2019, starting at Harpers Ferry. Pretty cool.
I warned him about the steep climb ahead (he'd summited Cannon several times, but never from this route), then we parted company. The trail dropped a bit more steeply for a bit, then leveled off and log bridges began to appear as the path made its way through the wetlands feeding Lonesome Lake. These bridges led to another trail junction, one I'd been looking forward to visiting. In January 1994, Chip & I went for a winter camping trip in this area. Our original plans didn't work out, and we set up camp in the snow at a trail intersection. I'm pretty sure I found the spot, though time (and a lack of several feet of snow) made it look quite different.
The trail continued along the margins of the lake, mostly on boardwalks, before coming to yet another junction, with trails leading to the hut and other connecting paths. I began continuing my walk out on the Lonesome Lake Trail, but I realized I'd already walked it (another trip with Chip in 2002) and the Dodge Cut-Off back to the Hi-Cannon Trail also left from the junction. I'd never been on the Cut-Off, so it was an easy choice to take it.
Judging by its condition, the Dodge Cut-Off doesn't seem to get a lot of traffic. Lots of little stuff littering the path, and a small wet area lacked a decent crossing (though there were the remains of a former log crossing). Still, it seemed like a nice, off-the-beaten-path alternative. Then it began to climb. What the heck? I was depending upon the whole route out being downhill, and now I was climbing again. Up rocks!
Thankfully the climbing didn't last too long, and I arrived back at the Hi-Cannon trail, where I had to descend the steepness I'd climbed a few hours earlier, though now with a solid case of rubber legs. I managed to get through it without any incidents, and began meeting more hikers. First a young woman who yielded the path to me, then two young men in t-shirts & trail runners (no packs) who came by while I was wetting down my head with water from a stream.
At last I re-joined the Lonesome Lake Trail. A couple there asked my opinion of that trail, and I told them it wouldn't be too tough of a walk up to the lake. As I set out on the final leg of my hike, a beautiful red dog came bounding down the trail from behind me. I looked back to see his owner walking along, then looked for the dog again. It had vanished, but I found it when I crossed a bridge over a stream and noticed it cooling itself in the water. We played tag the rest of the way through the campground and to my car. It was one minute before noon when I finished the hike.
I took a cue from the dog and soaked my feet in the stream next to the parking lot before packing up and heading south. 2.5 hours later, I was home.
Numbers: According to AllTrails, the loop is 5.6 miles, and has a 2,352 elevation gain. Despite what I felt was an exceedingly slow, deliberate pace, I summited Cannon 30 minutes faster than the 2.5 hours estimate in the AMC guides. My pride in my pace diminished a few days later however when I read a trail report from a group that finished the entire loop an hour faster than me!
