June 23, 2007
As you can see from the track from my Delorme GPS, I went all over the place today.
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Lynn joined Madison and me today. Lynn likes small hikes so she is going to hike up to Lonesome Lake Hut with me. Madison and I will then tackle the northeast peak of Cannon Balls and then Cannon Mountain. Cannon Mountain gets its name by resembling an artillery cannon, although I'm not sure where you need to be to get that profile. To the southwest of Cannon are several bumps in the ridge resembling cannon balls. The highest of which is on the New England Hundred Highest List. There is parking on both sides of the highway. We parked on the east side and therefore had to start our hike by walking through this tunnel under the highway.
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It was a very cold, windy morning for June.
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We walked through Lafayette Campground before reaching the start of Lonesome Lake Trail.
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We reached our first of many trail junctions today.
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This is one of the easier huts to get to. As a result, the trail was crowded. The trail was steep, but we made it to the lake.
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The hut is on the other side of the lake, so we began to walk around.
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There's bog bridging all the way around the lake which is more of a pond than a lake.
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I rehiked a couple hundred feet of the Appalachian Trail today.
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Lonesome Lake Hut
I went into the hut just long enough to take a picture.
Lynn is at the door keeping an eye on Madison.
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Lynn loves to sit, relax, and talk to people, so she would have a great time at the hut. Madison and I headed off. We walked back down to the lake. I was hoping to show Lynn the great view of Franconia Ridge, but it was overcast today. The weather report was partly cloudy. Well, I guess this is where the clouds ended up. Here is a picture from when I was here last year.
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I met a couple hut workers carrying trash down the mountain. I would meet them again at the end of the day carrying supplies up to the hut.
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Cool Tree
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Madison patiently waiting for me.
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After a steep climb, Madison and I made our way to the top of the Cannon Balls (Northeast Peak). At 3769 feet it just makes it to #100 on the 100 highest list. This is my 57th completed peak on that list. There were a couple viewpoints from near the summit, but it was fogged in today.
Bog Bridging Near the summit.
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Maddie and I retraced our steps back down the steep peak into the col where the trail junction was. Now to tackle Cannon.
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It was a rough trail . . .
. . . with some scrambling required.
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Almost there.
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A sky tram can be taken to the top of this mountain. There is a very nice path that goes around the summit. Let's explore.
That's where we parked this morning.
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I-93 cuts through Franconia Notch.
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What is the significance of this small peak in the foreground? On the otherside of it, is the old site of the Old Man of the Mountain (more on that later).
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I did manage to get a couple patches of blue sky today.
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The trail getting up here was not user friendly, but the path around the 4100' summit was.
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Madison and I climbed the observation tower next.
Looking down to the ski lift.
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This was my 41st White Mountain 4,000 footer and my 58th New England Highest peak.
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Madison and I decided to walk down to the tram. Here's a look back up at the tower.
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This smooth trail was nice.
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Taking the quick way down.
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I couldn't go in because I had Madison, but there is also a cafeteria at the top. It sure smelled good.
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Time to head back down
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As I began my descent I met some hikers coming up.
"Wow, your dog made it," one of them said.
"Yes, she loves the mountains," I said.
"You didn't come up the ladder did you?"
"No," I replied
I wasn't sure what ladder he was talking about. As I continued walking, I realized I had planned to go down another way. Was there a ladder? Would Madison be able to get down?
I came to the trail junction where I took the Hi-Cannon Trail.
A while later, I came to a great lookout where I could see down to Lonesome Lake where Lynn was waiting for me. You can see the roof of the hut near the top and to the right of the lake.
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Another look into the valley
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Next, my fears came true, the dreaded ladder.
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To my surprise Madison had no trouble. She just climbed down the rock area to the side of it. This Greater Swiss Mountain Dog was made for these mountains. I made my way down to Dodge Cut Off then back around the lake to the hut where I met Lynn. Even with my hiking back and forth, I still didn't make my way all the way around the lake, so we took this appropriately named trail.
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Lynn never did warm up from this morning, so I gave her my coat.
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We made our way down the mountain and back to the parking lot. Here's a view of Cannon Mountain.
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We then drove up the road to where you could once see the profile of the Old Man of the Mountain. There was a rockslide on May 3, 2003. Now the Old Man is gone, but he is forever on the back of the New Hampshire quarter. Here's what it looks like now.
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Here is a 2000 picture I found on the Internet.
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Lynn and I were fortunate enough to drive through this area in 2001 where we got a good view of the Old Man before he tumbled into the valley.
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