Cannon Mtn (4,100 ft) 9-11-21

Distance: 4.75 mi.
Elevation: 2,147 ft (overall) 2,421 ft (total)
Time: 1:41 (View Above Old Man Site) 2:13 (Summit) 3:50 (Total)
Trails: Kinsman Ridge Trail

Just like we did two years ago, today we hike Cannon Mountain for Flags on the 48. Being the 20th anniversary, our group leader Jim wanted to bring out his big flag, so we needed a peak that had somewhere to use it. Drapping it over the side of the building on Cannon Mtn has worked before, so that was the peak we picked for this year. We also had our normal size flag again, and a couple others to honor paramedics and firefighters as well as a soldier that was killed overseas in the war that followed 9-11.

We had quite a few people in our group this year and luckily we had enough people taking the tram up that we could send most of the poles, flags, and hardware needed up with them so the hike up would be easier. Some of the slower hikers in the group decided to get and earlier headstart so that we could catch up to them later on in the hike.

Two years ago someone that is working on a documentary about the american flag and what it means to people got some footage of us during the event. With the wind and clouds that day, some of the audio wasn't as good as he liked and there were no views to incorporate, so this year he had another photographer/videographer hike with us to get some more footage. It was interesting having someone document the hike as he didn't know much about the event before tagging along. He also got some great footage of the flags and the hike that should be good to use in the documentary and for their own personal uses.

We had all of our flags up by noon with 3 on poles and the big one draped down over the side of the building on the summit. Lots of people were out to enjoy the event and the views today. It made for a great atmosphere at the summit while we were up there. After packing up the gear after 2pm, the non hikers helped bring it all down in the trams again while we hiked down. Once they were down at the bottom of the mountain they started getting a big barbecue ready so as soon as we finished the hike down we could all have something good to eat. We offered food and drinks to everyone that was hiking down today with many other hikers taking us up on the deal. It made for a great end to the day.

The trail is steep from the start

One large wet slab to climb up

A rest at the view point

Getting one of our flags ready

Multiple flags are up

Zeppelin has the names of the rescue dogs involved on his vest

Other flags were visible with the nice weather

We brought the big flag out today

View down through the notch

The Kinsmans

Franconia Ridge

After hike barbecue

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go to my gallery on SmugMug

Stinson Mtn. (2,900 ft) 8-15-14

Distance: 4.82 mi.
Elevation: 1,325 ft (overall) 1,410 ft (total)
Time: 2:39 (Summit) 4:36 (Total)
Trails: Stinson Mountain Trail, Stinson Lake Outlook Path, Snowmobile Trail, Stinson Mountain Trail

Today's hike would be another one with my daughter while working on her 52 With a View list. This would be the first time for either of us here so we could bother check this one off the list. It would be #4 for here and #17 for me. Plus it would get me a bit of redlining in as well.

The trail starts off nice and easy with a flat surface and almost no incline. This makes for a nice warm up as you start out the hike. It gradually starts to gain elevation, but stays easy for quite a while. There are some rocks in the trail that are easy to get around and today there were just a few spots that were a bit muddy.

The trail starts off nice and easy

Gradually the trail gets steeper and narrower, but stays pretty easy. Slowing my pace down to that of a 7 year old today, I was able to find lots of smaller things along the trail to point out to my daughter so that I could teach her more about the forest while we hiked today. After pointing out some different mushrooms along the trail, today's hike quickly turned into her pointing out all the mushrooms along the hike.

A little rougher as the trail climbs

After the section of trail that follows the snowmobile trail is where the trail finally gets steeper and rougher. Those sections come in short bursts where it will be real rocky for a bit, then smooth again, then rocky again. Liliana made good work of these sections and found some fun in climbing over the bigger rocks instead of going around them.

A large rock in the trail

A rocky section near the top

The summit has a nice opening in the trees that provides a great view to the south out over the town of Rumney. From the higher points on the rocks or the old footings for the long gone fire tower you can also see over the trees to the northeast further into the big mountains of the Whites. We spent quite a bit of time on the summit today since the weather was so nice and I wanted to give Liliana a nice break so she wasn't too tired for the hike down. She was also having a fun time climbing over the rocks at the summit and finding all the grasshoppers that were jumping around.

View from the summit

View from the summit

Liliana at the top

As we left the summit we took the short side path that led to an overlook of Stinson Lake. There isn't much room at the viewpoint, but it does provide a great view over the lake and towards Mt. Moosilauke as well. The wind was blowing straight in at us from this direction, so we didn't stay too long as Liliana started to get a bit cool while not being on the move.

Stinson Lake from the side path

For the descent we used the snowmobile trail instead of the regular trail at the top. I like doing loops instead of following the same trail back down all the way, plus I figured the snowmobile would be smoother and easier hiking for coming down. The trail is wide and grassy, but enough people use it that there is a beaten path going down it so you don't have to walk through the tall grass. Once back to the normal trail, we followed that all the way back to the truck though.

Upper section of snowmobile trail

Lower section of snowmobile trail

This ended up being a very enjoyable hike with my daughter today. I think this is a very family friendly hike that isn't super hard for someone that doesn't have a lot of experience. The views at the top are nice and the side path to the view over the lake provides another good view that helps make it more interesting. Definately a hike we will repeat once my youngest daughter gets old enough to hike as well.

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go to my gallery on SmugMug

Mt. Moosilauke (4,802 ft) 7-31-21

Distance: 11.8 mi.
Elevation: 2,313 ft (overall) 3,435 ft (total)
Time: 3:56 (Summit) 5:49 (Total)
Trails: Al Merrill Loop, Asquam-Ridge Trail, Beaver Brook Trail, Carriage Rd, Snapper Trail, Gorge Brook Trail

In my previous three attempts of Mt. Moosilauke I have yet to have good views in all directions. Either It was cloudy in every direction or the summit was right on the edge of the clouds limiting the views to only one direction. So with today's good forecast, I decided it was time to try again for good views as well as take a longer than normal route to get in some redlining miles as well. Today's loop would start out using the All Merrill Loop over the height of land along it before dropping back down and joing onto the Asquam-Ridge Trail. This trail starts off very gentle with lots of small foot bridges crossing water bars along the trail. As it gets higher the waterbars go away and the trail stays nice and gentle. It does a couple switchbacks as it ascends up some old woods roads.

Gentle grades along the Al Merrill Loop

At the height of land along this trail there is a small clearing that provides a view of the summit. There were still some clouds around the summit when I got there, but I could see things were clearing up nicely.

View from the high point of the trail

Dropping back down to the Asquam-Ridge Trail, the Al Merrill Loop gets narrower and has more rocks than the gentle hike up. It is also a bit steeper. This section of trail seemed to take longer than I expected, but it was still nice going. Once at the junction I turned right and started heading back uphill again. The Asquam-Ridge Trail is steeper and rockier, but still made for an enjoyable hike. There are some interesting things to see along the trail and the woods along the trail go through some changes as you hike too.

A very mossy section of trail

This loop was certainly a good way to avoid some of the crowds as I didn't see my first hiker until near the junction with the Beaver Brook Trail after crossing over Mt. Jim. There was a small path that lead to the high point of Mt. Jim just a few feet off trail. I took this just in case it counted for anything. I would be reminded when I got home and looking at other lists that this made the peak count towards my Trailwrights 72 list. Glad I made the 30 foot excursion so it would count.

I bypassed the path to Mt. Blue from the Beaver Brook Trail. Turns out that is also on the Trailwrights list, but you can only bag one peak per hike. I will have to get it when I come back to redline the rest of the Beaver Brook Trail. With how much rain we got in the last few days of this week, I was surprised to find that they only real muddy spots were along the Beaver Brook Trail a little bit before coming out above treeline. There was plenty of it when I did find it though.

Mud along the Beaver Brook Trail

The trail pops out above treeline just after passing the junction with the Benton Trail. While a nice hike above treeline, it was disappointing to see the paths on both sides of the trail that have trampled the vegetation above treeline. I guess multiple signs clearly telling hikers not to do this just isn't enough. The trail wasn't that rough or wet so as to make it necessary to walk over the plants instead of along the trail.

The summit was a pretty busy place today, but the views were great and people were spread out pretty well so it was still enjoyable. Since it was the best views I have had up here in four hikes, I spent plenty of time looking around and taking pictures.

View north from the summit

View west from the summit

View east from the summit

Mt. Lafayette and Mt. Lincoln off in the distance

For the descent today I would start down the Carriage Road. I have been on the upper section of this a couple times now, but I would be following it further this time to get more redlining done on it. Footing is good to start with it being a little bit rocky though. Once starting into the trees it gets pretty smooth with firm dirt which makes for quick moving.

Coming down the Carriage Road before entering the trees

I bypassed the South Peak this time since I have been there before and just wanted to continue on my way. I did take a couple pictures around the junction though were I saw a mouse pop out from under a rock just to turn back around to run and hide. The Carriage Road below this junction was rockier than I expected. This made it a little slower going than I normally go while descending and it could be a bit harder on the knees for those that have issues with that. It was still sunny though, with few other hikers, and there were some views along the way.

Descending the Carriage Road

Once down to the junction I would take the Snapper Trail over to the Gorge Brook Trail. This would let me redline the Snapper Trail which is just over a mile. The trail had one small brook crossing and has a number or larger rocks in it that are easy to get around or over.

Descending the Snapper Trail

I followed the Gorge Brook Trail back down to the Baker River where I took a few more pictures and then used the nice bridge to cross over. The Ravine Lodge was still closed to non guests/staff due to Covid so I couldn't go in and check it out. Since the last time I was here it has been completely redone. I guess I will have to check it out some other time. After following the path ways around the lodge, it was just a short walk back down the road to my truck. Vehicles were parked all along the road today, but I got an early enough start to be pretty close.

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go to my gallery on SmugMug

Stratton Mountain (3,936 ft) 2-21-21

Distance: 7.51 mi.
Elevation: 1,835 ft (overall) 2,068 ft (total)
Time: 2:17 (Summit) 3:53 (Total)
Trails: Long Trail

With little time so far this winter for hiking, it was time to get in my first "winter" hike of the season. I picked Stratton Mountain because I wanted to get back here when the views were clearer than the last time I was here, and I also knew it would be an easier hike due to the gradual incline and lower elevation gain for a New England Hundred Highest peak. But also, and maybe more importantly, my hiking partner Miles the Mountain Monkey needed this peak to get closer to finishing up his hundred highest peaks.

For some reason I was thinking that the Stratton-Arlington Road wasn't plowed all the way to the summer trail head and that I would be hiking in from the IP Road to get to the trail crossing there. I was a bit surprised to find it was and that there wasn't any tracks heading out the IP road. From the summer trail head though there was a nice packed trail. This meant a bit longer hike than I initially planned, but probably better conditions and not needing to avoid snowmobile traffic walking up the side of their trail to get to where the Long Trail crosses is.

Starting the hike at the normal summer time trail head

The trail to the crossing of the snowmobile trail is mostly flat and today was well packed. It made for a good warm up for the hike. There are a couple small brooks through here, but they all had bridges or were easy to step across. Once to the snowmobile trail I quickly crosses even though you could easily hear if someone was coming. I took a quick break to adjust just off to the side before continuing on.

A nice easy start to warm up with

After crossing the snomobile trail the hiking trail starts to gain a little elevation, but still stays pretty mellow. There was what appeared to be one brook crossing through here that looked like the terrain under the snow was pretty rocky. This was a bit messy to snowshoe across mostly because it appears recent traffic was more from skiers and it wasn't packed well.

As you continue up the mountain it slowly gets a little bit steeper about two thirds of the way up, but it never really gets that steep. I still think this is one of the easiest hikes on the NEHH list. Gradually you do work out of the hardwoods and into more spruce trees. A lot of snow has accumulated on the branches in places and quite often I had to lean out and around branches or duck under low hanging ones. Near the summit the trail levels out a little bit again before going though a narrower opening in the trees just before the summit area and tower.

Snow covered trees closer to the summit

As expected in the winter, today the tower was covered in snow and ice that had built up on it. That means going up the stairs is a bit tricky since they aren't flat, they can be slippery, and there isn't much room for your feet. I carefully made my way up to get the views and take some pictures. I didn't stay up as long as I normally would have because it was pretty cold and very windy above the trees today. You could go up into the cabin to get out of the wind, but all the windows are also covered in snow and ice so you wouldn't be able to see anything. The views are great in all directions though and it wasn't anywhere near as hazy as the last time I was here.

Summit tower

Summit view to the south

Summit view to the north

The tower had a thick layer of snow and ice

After a fair amount of time on the summit enjoying the blue sky and sun, I left the other hikers that had shown up and headed back down the mountain. The hike down went smoothly considering the snowshoe that I noticed had a broken binding at the start of the hike broke even more. It stayed on well, but twisted side to side too much at times. In the end conditions were good enough I could have used spikes for the descent. About half of the people today were wearing them anyways.

Hiking back down with low branches to duck under

Limited view to the south on the descent

Back to the open hardwoods

Today turned out to be a great hike on a nice gentle peak. It was good to get out for the one winter hike I actually had time for. The only thing that could have been better were if there was less wind so I could have stayed on the tower longer. But below the trees the wind wasn't bad at all so I can't complain.

Google Earth representation of the hike

For all the pictures from the hike, just go to my gallery on SmugMug