Hiked by Tim & Valerie via Lonesome Lake Trail and Kinsman Ridge Trail on Saturday, January 12, 2008
The weather has been horrific (rain, sleet, freezing rain) in past days and we expected that the trails would be a complete mess. Our plan was to take the Lonesome Lake Trail up to the hut. If the trail was bad, we would just have a snack and then come back down. If it was decent, we would try for Cannon.
We were surprised right from the start. We put on our Stabilicers at the car, and they did the job for quite awhile. No slush, no post-holing and no ice on the way up to the hut. There was a lot of evidence that the snow had been softer on previous days. Deep postholes. Someone had a lousy hike, but we stayed on top of the frozen granular trail very well. We met several groups of people on the way to the hut. Only one couple coming down from the hut, everyone else headed up.
At the lake, we turned right and followed the trail around the lake for a couple tenths of a mile. This area was a little more messy - the summer bog bridges were showing in several places and we had to go over or through some open water. Once we pulled away from the water and started heading up the mountain, it was better again.
When we reached the Kinsman Ridge Trail, we turned right towards Cannon.
This area of the trail contained the toughest conditions that we saw all day. There were several sections of significant ice. At one point, it looked like a giant waterfall was flowing from right to left across the trail. It was nerve-wracking to go across it with no handholds that weren't glazed in inches of ice. The group in front of us were using snowshoes, and having significant difficulty. Some ended up bypassing the entire section by going out and around in the woods. We switched from Stabilicers to crampons and although it was a bit breathtaking at times, we didn't have any mishaps.
After we reached the intersection with the Hi-Cannon trail, then it all leveled out and became just granular snow. No problem at all. We left the crampons on and continued on to the summit.
We took some pictures from the observation tower, then used the Rim Trail to get around to the ski lodge.
We went to the cafeteria and had a snack, then changed into drier clothes and headed back down. The trip back down seemed easier than the way up, with the exception of the few icy sections already mentioned. We took a few more pictures on the way down, as the sky was growing clearer as the day progressed.
Near the lake, we came across a patch of woods that had been stripped of bark by a moose.
Lonesome Lake was looking beautiful in the setting sun as we came around the south shore.
Conditions/Stats: Six hours round trip, no wind, temps in the low 30's.