| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Cannon Mountain, NH |
|
 | Trails: |
Kinsman Ridge Trail |
|
 | Date of Hike: |
Thursday, January 7, 2021 |
|
 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Plenty of space in the hikers lot. Well plowed and only a couple of other cars there when we arrived at 3:30pm. Only ones left at 6:30pm. |
|
 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder |
|
 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
|
 | Water Crossing Notes: |
None |
|
 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
The trail is blazed in blue. Don’t really recall how frequently. Of course most of it it covered in the section that flirts with tree line and the shrub and I don’t believe there’s any cairns here. This section can get drifted and be hard to follow but it was pretty well packed and easy to follow even in the dark and fog this evening. There is one mid-sized and very annoying blowdown partway up (I’m guessing 0.75-1mi in) that you’ve really got to crouch down to get under. Would be nice if that one were taken care of. |
|
 | Dog-Related Notes: |
None seen and it would have been a cold night for them. Pretty steep but not really ever scramble al most hiking dogs could probably handle it if given appropriate winter gear. |
|
 | Bugs: |
None |
|
 | Lost and Found: |
None |
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|
 | Comments: |
A nice post-work hike with a friend to get Cannon for my January grid. This was my 7th 4000 footer this month, 4th hike this month, and 17th 4000 footer in total. 31 more peaks to go!
We left snowshoes in the car which was fine and while I wouldn’t have used them even if we brought them, I will say that things were a bit looser than I would’ve hoped. Definitely slowed us down on the way up. I figured I’d be slipping and sliding, and falling on my ass a lot on the way down but only did that a few times ;) Someone warned us that visibility was very bad and the summit and it was very cold and windy. We hit the summit later than predicted and it was totally dark but the time we started to flirt with tree line. That combined with being in the clouds (on the way up, cloud cover likely started around 2500ft but rises to maybe 3000ft by the time we descended) made visibility actually pretty bad. The headlamps probably didn’t help in that sense either. The winds weren’t as bad as we thought they’d be except up on the tower (tolerable enough that we went up though) although we stopped in the woods shortly thereafter and were surprised how quickly we got cold. A balaclava was necessary. At the summit loop jct we went to the left as we heard that to the right was very drifted. The left side of the loop had been blown in just enough at times to obscure the footprints but was still very followable. Nice to meet Kathy out on the trail. |
|
 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
|
 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
|
| Date Submitted: |
2021-01-07 |
|
 | 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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