Saturday February 26, 2005

Cannon

Today we headed to the summit of Cannon mountain.

This is the route we took today up to the summit of Cannon.

Directions to the trailhead: Rte 93 north to exit 34c (1st exit for Cannon Mountain). Go under Rte 93 and turn left to head south on Rte 93. A mile or south of the exit turn into the Layfayette Place Campground.

Time to summit: 2:15

This is the profile of the hike to the summit of Cannon.

A 3-D view of our hike.

We started under blue skies at the Lafayette Campground. Looking up we could see the tower on top of Cannon Mountain.

We began on the Lonesome Lake trail which leaves from the campground.

The trail was well packed. As we were heading out we ran into Denise who Bob hiked with here last month with an AMC group.

Ten minutes from the start, we took the Hi-Cannon trail which goes straight up.

Temps were at 7 degrees when we started, but 20 minutes after our start we were warmed up and removed a layer.

This trail was also packed out and easy to follow. Although we carried our crampons and snowshoes with us, we did not use them. The snow was still light and dry, and easy to get good footing.

We spent most of the day looking at the Lafayette Ridge. With bight blue skys and no clouds the view was spectacular.

We both ended up with some color from the bright sunshine.

The Hi-Cannon trail traverses some cliffs. Here we chatted with a group of 4 from CT who also were bare booting. The only others we saw on our ascent were two guys who did wear snow shoes.

A view from the cliffs. This area was very easy to traverse, although we were distracted by the views.

Just after the cliffs we came across a ladder.

Here is Geri making her way up the ladder.

As the trail moves away from the cliffs we had a clear view of Lonesome Lake and the AMC hut.

Here the trail became narrower and the trees more laden with snow.

Still no clouds and great views.

At last the tower on top of Cannon comes into view. The wind started to pick up a little, but was still fairly calm. Other than the tower that we climbed, wind was not an issue.

Just below the summit was a lookout that we checked out.

Proof that Geri doesn't hike alone.

The trail went under some interesting trees.

A view of the Kinsmans which is our destination for tomorrow's hike.

One more view of Lafayette before we head over to the lodge where we met up with a couple of friends who were skiing.

It seemed weird to be at a ski area and not to have skis with us.

We descended via the same trail. Here Geri descends the ladder. Just over 2 hours to reach the summit on the way up, and approx 1.15 for the trip down.

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