It was a last minute thing. The message came in, a hiking companion had to bail (the daughter), and going it alone in winter conditions just wasn’t going to happen because, quite simply, it’s more dangerous. A companion was needed! We answered the call. Redline Guide Chase Hall was available and ready to take the lead. Stunt Hiker, at your service!
Our guest, actually returning to us after a few years, having experienced a couple of setbacks, was back at it, chipping away at her 4000-footers. She had a number of them out of the way, but more were needed. She floated a couple of the ones still unchecked on her list, but there was concern about stream crossings making some of the options unsuitable, or at least unpredictable.
The team decided on Cannon Mountain at the northern end of Franconia Notch Sate Park. Taking Kinsman Ridge Trail they climbed to the top from the Cannon Mountain lot. It’s a steep, direct, no-nonsense way to go. This was perfect as there was more to this than just hiking 4000-footers, anyway. This was also a training mission. From here we’ll let Chase reveal the rest — and provide some trail conditions!
[…] Our guest is going to be climbing Mt Kilimanjaro (19,341’/5,895m) with her daughter in two months and wanted to get in some serious elevation gain before the big hike. I brought our guest up the Kinsman Ridge Trail to the summit of Cannon Mountain. The hike was 4.1 miles round trip and had an elevation gain of 2,263 feet.
The conditions were frozen snow offering good traction. We used our snowshoes up and switched over to spikes when we reached the summit plateau. We were protected for the majority of the hike until we reached the bottom of the summit observation deck. That’s when 30+ mph north gusts just sent chills through us. It was pretty neat to feel the temperature differences at various elevations. We were on the deck for a summit selfie and then retreated to the Cannon Mountain Cafe (“Cafe 4080”) and had lunch in the warmth as we watched skiers come and go, enjoying their last few runs of the season. —Chase
