| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
North Kinsman, South Kinsman, Northeast Cannonball, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Lonesome Lake Trail, Cascade Brook Trail, Fishin' Jimmy Trail, Kinsman Ridge Trail, Hi-Cannon Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Friday, November 14, 2025 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Parked at Lafayette place (on Southbound side). Lot was unplowed. Usually, they plow to the right of the entrance down to the underpass, but in case they didn't I didn't want to get stuck on the way out trying to come up the hill so parked to the left...this doesn't get plowed, but early season enough cars drive on it that it packs it down which is what happened today...by the time I left it was a nicely packed ice rink and the other side had in fact been plowed. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Drifts, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Slush |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Unless your dog is a mountain champion, you don't want to take it over Cannonballs, up KRT from Lonesome Lake side, or on Hi Cannon in winter conditions. |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
~4 inches of fresh snow from parking lot up to Lonesome lake. Not a ton more than that up top. I wore spikes, not sure they helped as the snow was deep enough that they didn't really bite and it wasn't particularly slippery. A hiker passed me about half way up to the lake bare booting and he was doing fine. First tracks up Fishin' Jimmy, was glad for the spikes on some of the slabs although had to clean the snowballs off any time I needed the grip. Bear tracks crossing the trail in the col between the Kinsmen. Finally saw some other folks as I was descending back to KP tent site...they all came up from the other side (which apparently has suspended the parking fees), and reported no snow in the lot on that side. Cannonballs were tough. Could see some tracks from before the storm which helped with navigation. Some pretty steep ups/downs that seem to never end. You should have a healthy appreciation for type 2 recreation if you choose this route in winter conditions. The climb up to Cannon on the KRT trail is a handful, and there are some very steep sections where a slip would be consequential. A group of young hikers without traction turned around when it started getting spicy...which was wise. One other hiker went up this route today.
The most snow of the day was on Hi Cannon, maybe 8" in places and more in the drifts. Also lots of places where the water under the snow hadn't frozen. The footing is fairly technical still, so I would use spikes again as opposed to snowshoes until we get a little more snow to fill in between the rocks. 1 other set of tracks on Hi Cannon.
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 | Name: |
Borealis |
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 | E-Mail: |
kdwelch1@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2025-11-14 |
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 | Link: |
 https://www.strava.com/activities/16460343458 |
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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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