North and South Kinsman - 1/may/99
Map of the route.
It was a fine spring day, and Brenda and I were looking for a relatively
short trip that would get her two new 4000'ers and was a reasonably short
drive. Since Ed and Kathy were joining us, the closer to Hanover the better.
Sifting through all that info, we settled on the Kinsman. As it turns out,
Kathy (and Jobildunk) were under the weather, so it was just a threesome that
set out that fateful morn from the Lafayette Place Campground. There was no
snow on the ground there, but we could see it up higher. I suggested that we
carry our snowshoes, ensuring that we wouldn't need them. By 10:00 we were off.
The trip up to Lonesome Lake was uneventful. We met some folks coming down who
said that wished they had brought snowshoes as beyond the hut the snow got deep.
We didn't really encounter snow until just before the lake.
At the hut we got some nice views of the lake and the ridge,
but we could tell that it was just going to get better and better the higher we
went. And it did. There was a hard ridge of snow in the
center of the trail that had been compressed by snowshoes all winter. As long as
you stayed on it, you were fine, but if you ventured off the center you sank. It was
a bit of work, but we made it to the summit before long. The
summit is just a bump next to a cairn right before you hit the
great ledges that face west.
We grabbed the first half of our lunch here, lying in the sum and soaking up the view.
There really isn't a better ledge in the Whites, all things considered. Climbing up
Franconia Ridge is great, but you don't get to see it when your on top of it. After
the appropriate amount of Sol worship we pushed on to South Peak. The trail drops
fairly quickly from the North summit, and the trail was in bad shape
with winter blowdowns. On the way there is a nice view of the
broad summit of South Peak. The climb back up was marked by a few wonderful
postholes, but we got there and had the place all to ourselves. There's actually a
view from the summit cairn on this peak. It's a great feeling
to be alone on a summit on a sunny spring day, not a worry in the world. After a rest,
water, and a Powerbar, we headed back. Just after we started down again there's a
great view back to North Kinsman.
It seemed very quick getting back to South Peak. It's only about a mile, but having just
done it an hour before the trip back seemed to take no time at all. I let Ed and Brenda
down past the main ledges to the lower ledges which have a great
view of Kinsman Pond. They're a little more exposed, but worth the extra 2 minutes journey.
Finally we gave up the views and headed back down for good. Some of the stream/falls
crossings were pretty interesting, having iced up a bit in the late afternoon and with
our momentum pushing us downhill, we had a few close calls. Finally we got back to
the hut and took a relaxing moment on the shores of Lonesome Lake
before finishing up at the car.
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