Cannon, the Cannonballs, and the Kinsmans. November 11, 2015

Lonesome Lake Trail, Hi-Cannon Trail, Kinsman Ridge Trail, Fishin' Jimmy Trail.
About 13 miles with 4700 feet of elevation gain.

We meant to do a Bonds Traverse this day, but the forecast called for constant rain, high winds, and low temperatures.  We can hike in such weather, but we prefer not to be above treeline.  Total exposure + weather like that = too much risk for hypothermia.

Instead, we decided on Cannon and the Kinsmans.  We had never hiked from Cannon to the Kinsmans before.  Most of the route is below treeline, and the route as described provides quite a workout since one has to go over a series of major bumps called the Cannonballs.  Our friend John, who had planned on doing the Bonds with us, graciously agreed to the destination change.  He's not a fan of hypothermia either.

At the parking lot, the girls horsed around a bit while John and I geared up.

We began on  Lonesome Lake Trail, then we took Hi-Cannon to the ridge.

Hi-Cannon Trail wasn't as steep as I remembered.  It also has this cool ladder.

Here's a spot you don't want to trip toward.

Soon at the top of Cannon.

Hmmm...methinks a sign needs to be replaced.

Onward and upward...

The views as we ascended Cannon's summit tower...

Franconia Ridge

Looking northwest

Our imminent destinations -- the Cannonballs and one of the Kinsmans

Interstate 93 heading south

Happy hikers

We went below the tower to eat our cupcakes (part of our food-themed rounds...Cakes on the 48 this time).

VERY happy hikers

I began to get cold, so we quickly ate our cupcakes and moved on.

We took the Kinsman Ridge Trail over the Cannonballs...near the top of the first one, I turned and got this photo of Cannon...

Here's another photo of Cannon, taken just a few minutes after I took the above image...

Onward...

Getting over all those Cannonballs was tough.  Up down up down up down up down.  Finally, we came to the Kinsman Pond Campsite.

Kinsman Pond

We hiked the short tenth of a mile down to the shelter to check it out.

After a short break, we continued onward and climbed up to North Kinsman.

The summit rock of North Kinsman

The viewpoint by the summit provided some gorgeous scenery.  That's Cannon and the Cannonballs, hugged by clouds.  Hard to believe we had just hiked over all those bumps!

We ate Kit Kats on the Kinsmans (Desserts on the 48)!

Onward, to South Kinsman!

Summit!

Views!!!

Moosilauke to the south

More Kit Kats!

I took many photos while on the summit of South Kinsman -- the views are extensive in all directions -- but after I uploaded all my images to my computer, many of them disappeared.  Not sure what happened.  That's a shame, because I lost some photos not only of the views, but of John sharing some yummy cheese and crackers.  I also lost the photos I had taken of Fishin' Jimmy Trail (our descent route).

We descended via Fishin' Jimmy Trail, which has a bunch of ups and downs but was not as bad as I remembered (the last time I was on that trail was 2010).  There are some steep bits, and parts with iron rungs attached to the rocks, but such is the average hike in the Whites.

We reached Lonesome Lake Hut, took a few swigs of water, and went down to the lake.

From here, it was about 1.5 fairly easy miles back to the car.  We managed to make it all the way down without needing to pull out the headlamps...except for picture-taking purposes.

'Twas another great day in the woods.  Thanks, John, for your excellent company.  Sorry about the below photo.  I'm not the best at nighttime photography.