Cannon Mountain – 4100 Feet

Kinsman Ridge Trail – from the Cannon Mt. ski area

4.5 miles roundtrip – 2200 elevation gain

Difficulty Rating = 6

Enjoyability = 15 (off the charts)

We couldn’t have drawn this one up any better. We had picked Cannon for Jen to end on as its one of the three 4Ks that non-hiker friends and family can ride up in a car, train, tram or chairlift to celebrate with us (the other two being Washington and Wildcat). We had been watching the weather closely all week and all signs were pointing to a beautiful day for Saturday, September 3rd which would also be on Jen’s B-day!

In the pre-hike research on this one we knew it was going to be a relatively straight forward hike (literally) as the Kinsman Ridge Trail pretty much goes straight up from the parking lot with very little warm up – much different from the longer hikes we had done the past few weekends before. Jen was setting a pretty brisk pace from the get go and I had known that something wasn’t quite right with me as I was sucking wind and my calves were very tight. I also hadn’t been very hungry that morning and I hardly touched my coffee which is very unusual for me. I just chalked it up to allergies so I took a few Advil and I felt a bit better after the first mile. This is also where the trail got a bit more interesting as we crossed a ski trail that is probably the steepest and most technical ski trail I’ve ever seen. This was a very narrow glade trail (has sparsely populated trees all along the trail). I used to ski glades at Burke Mtn in college but that was a long time ago and we both commented that there is no way we would ski this trail in fact we really couldn’t completely tell it was a trail in spots except for the fact that the guide book stated that we would cross it four times during the hike so the partially cleared areas we came across were a pretty good sign it was the ski trail. It would be pretty cool to hike this one again in the winter to see if we could get a glimpse of skiers flying down a few feet from us!

We made really good time through this steep section as we typically do towards the end of summer hiking season as we pretty much hike 4ks every other weekend and are in great hiking shape at this point. We both commented on how quickly we made it to the Cannon Cliffs which offer incredible views of Franconia Ridge/Notch and are very close to where the Old Man of the Mountain stood until May of 2003. We snapped a few photos and enjoyed the warming weather but were eager to get to the top so Jen could “bag” Cannon. The rest of the hike had a few ups and downs through the col to the summit, there was also a surprising amount of mud in this section – I suppose cols or saddles typically have a fair amount of mud but August of 2022 in NH has been pretty dry – which is also why we had been hiking so much lately. We made it to the Rim Trail which is pretty much a crushed gravel path that our crew later used to get to the observation tower. It was odd to see benches and signs pointing out the surrounding mountains that make up Franconia Ridge across the way – Lafayette, Lincoln, Little Haystack, Liberty & Flume – but also a really nice, easy .2 to the actual summit which sits directly below the giant observation structure. I got a good video of Jen taking the final 30-40 steps to the summit for her first round of the 48! Such a great accomplishment and no one that I’d rather hike with. I’ve said it before in a few posts but Jen is truly the best hiking partner, she is an amazing athlete and she keeps me going sometimes, but also she never gets rattled or stressed even when she is tired/hungry – I can’t say the same for myself 🙂 Hiking truly is a great microcosm for life, there are a lot of ups and downs and if you have someone by your side that you love and trust and can keep you motivated and help boost you up in the low points then you have a really great partner and teammate – something everyone needs – life is not meant to be an individual sport. That’s exactly what Jen is for me – a great partner, not just in hiking, but she has really made hiking so much more enjoyable – something I didn’t think was possible three years ago. On the very first hike Jen and I went on together (Eisenhower) she commented on how I didn’t really slow down to enjoy the sights (“look at all this pretty moss”) and her only complaint was that her neck was tired from constantly looking down to be sure she didn’t fall as we were flying up and down the trail. That passing comment really hit me – she was right – I was in a self inflicted competition to get to the summit as fast as possible and at most I would spend ~5 minutes at the summits for a quick snack and a sip and then be on my way back to the car. There are more than a few reasons I hiked like this and some I still adhere to (I still get minorly annoyed when I am passed by anyone on any ascent) but in general I definitely enjoy my hikes and the scenery and just being in the woods much more with Jen and for that I’m forever grateful!

Jen will be quick to say that I am the primary reason she started hiking to begin with and although that may be true she has the same passion for getting out in this beautiful area of the world we live and and we are so lucky to be able to enjoy these amazing experiences together. Its such a great feeling to know that we accomplished this together and neither one of us could do it without the other. We never take any of this for granted and we are truly lucky that we have the ability and means to get out and hike to some of the most rugged, remote places in this great country.

After we celebrated and got to the top of the observation tower to soak in some views it was pretty much time to meet our family who were scheduled to arrive on the 11AM tram. The funny/cool thing about this meeting was that even though Jen and I have been dating for three years our parents hadn’t met each other yet, mostly because of Covid, but also because we are adults that are dating and the meeting of the parents isn’t quite the big event that it used to be when like is for people dating in their twenties 🙂 My daughters have of course met and hung out quite a bit with Jen’s immediate family but my parents had not yet met any of them. Its funny to think that they were meeting each other at the base of the mountain while Jen and I were on the trail. The meeting went off without a hitch and they all boarded the tram to meet us at the summit. Jen and I sat on the grass in the sun waiting for the tram to arrive and soon we spotted them!

Once they got off the tram we greeted them, snapped a few photos and then we made out way over to the observation deck to take in the awesome views in the sun and celebrate. When we arrived at the observation tower there were a lot of other people up there who had rode the tram and hiked up (some had also just completed their 48 that day) and since it was such an amazing weather day a lot of people were lingering up there. Somehow we were able to grab one of the two benches to drop our packs, coolers and snacks and the then the celebration began. My mom brought us celebratory ribbons and we had our kids smuggle up two bottles of champagne (Parents of the year material right there) and we laughed, chatted, ate and took a ton of photos. It was by far the longest we ever spent at any summit (over an hour) and it was fantastic.

Jen and I knew that we eventually had to start making our way down and the Advil was definitely wearing off for me so we said goodbye to our families. I definitely wasn’t feeling quite myself as I was more sore/tired than normal and my head hurt pretty bad but we quickly made our way down in a little over an hour and a half and hiked down with some very friendly people that congratulated Jen on her accomplishment. Normally we would’ve tailgated for a bit and relaxed at the trailhead but I was super tired and really just wanted to get home. I’ll cut to the chase, it turned out I had Covid – I tested positive the following morning. In no way had I even suspected I had Covid, not even slightly. I was so surprised at the positive result as surely I couldn’t have just hiked a 4k with Covid – but apparently I did and unfortunately both Jen and my youngest daughter both tested positive in the next few days. Worst B-day present ever! I felt so bad that I had unknowingly gave them Covid and was most concerned about my parents and Jen’s family, especially Jackie who was moving into college for her senior year later that weekend. Luckily no one else got it and within ten days Jen, I and my daughter are all back to normal. Jen and I can’t wait to get back out hiking, hoping it will be Eisenhower on the exact day we hiked it three years ago that started it all for Jen for her love of hiking and of me 🙂 In the meantime we are truly enjoying the extremely memorable day on Cannon, Jen has said its one of her most favorite days ever – full stop. I’m honored to be part of it and so proud of the best hiking partner I could ever ask for.