Cannon Mountain: Good to be Home

Cannon is really special to me because I grew up skiing here every weekend for about ten years. The one family activity that we did on a regular basis growing up was skiing. Every Friday night we would pack up the car and go up to Cannon for the weekend. Some of my fondest childhood memories are at Cannon, and I consider it my home away from home!

Yesterday started off smoothly with Lucy and me out of the house by 7:00. We met up with some friends at the trailhead fifteen minutes later, and after some gear adjustments we were on the trail at 7:35. The trail was a steady incline and the weather was okay with the temperature around 65 and cloudy. The Kinsman ridge trail was moderate with no real flat spots, but not too steep on the way up.

Snowless kinsman glade

The trail had many switchbacks across Kinsman glade, a steep and difficult backwoods trail adjacent to the path the tram takes to the top of the mountain. I was a little ambivalent looking at the trail with no snow, but I knew soon enough there will be more than enough fresh powder to ski in! I love summer, but the coming heat wave is making me miss the winter months just a little bit. We kept pushing on without a break until we got to the first viewpoint, around 9:15. We stopped for a few moments just to give the dogs water and take pictures, but we were in the clouds so the photo ops were not great. We got to the Cannon lodge around 10:00 and everything was still engulfed in clouds.

Hoping that the clouds would blow over to reveal the beautiful view from the summit, we took a long break at the lodge. It was nice to sit for a little bit after the somewhat steep climb. We decided after about 45 minutes to go up to the summit, but it was still very cloudy up there. At this point it was about 10:45 and we knew the descent was going to be a little bit tricky since Lucy isn't the most agile dog in the world.

As we started the descent, the fog blew over and the sun came out. It was so beautiful! We took another long break at the viewpoint because it was so nice out! The dogs took a quick nap which was much needed for continuing on. The descent was long and difficult, especially for Lucy. Her nails are always very short because we walk on pavement so much, and the rocks filed them down to the quick making it necessary for me to put boots on her. She's also very timid on rocky paths going downhill, so getting her down was a bit of a struggle. It was also getting much warmer now that the sun was out, so that added another level of difficulty for the pups.

Lucy being silly at the viewpoint

We got back to the parking lot around 2:25, and I think we were all relieved that the downhill part was over. I had forgotten my trekking poles so it made everything a little bit more difficult, and Lucy had had enough of the rocky descent. Overall this hike was a bit more challenging than the other ones we've done, but it was really great to be back at Cannon. The trail was pretty quiet and the views on the way down were amazing! It was a great day and a nice hike for both of us.

#3: Cannon Mountain [4.0 mi, 4100 ft, 6:50] via. Kinsman Ridge Trail

See our photo album for the day here.

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