February 17, 2008
I was looking forward to hiking tomorrow on Presidents Day, but the weather forecast is rain all day with temperatures in the 30's. That's a recipe for hypothermia. That is about the only time I won't go hiking. I usually don't hike on Sunday but with Monday a wash, I decided to make an exception. I joined Ed Hawkins for a hike of Cannon Mountain. It's just the two of us today. Ed has hiked about 4 days in a row now, so we picked an easy hike for today. We left the parking lot about 9:30. Part of the trail is shared with skiers. I cannot believe people ski this trail. Twisting, turning, and dodging trees on this very steep obstacle course.
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We had awesome views on the way up. Ed estimated 40-50 miles of visibility.
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Winter Wonderland
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There's more than one way to the top of this mountain.
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Near the top we had a choice. We could fight our way through the unbroken section of trail that had a lot of bend overs (trees covered with snow blocking the trail) or we could head up the ski slope. We choose the later.
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Looking across to Mount Lafayette
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"That must have been a cold ride," said Ed.
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Ed nears the tower on the 4100' summit.
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This was my 3rd time on Cannon. It made 50+ times for Ed. Our blue skies were quickly disappearing. We decided to climb the tower before our view disappeared.
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I couldn't find a place to put the quarter in this viewer.
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Looking over to North and South Kinsman which we climbed yesterday.
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Equipment covered with rime ice.
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Ed on the tower.
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Before coming down the tower I took a video clip. We descended over the same route and finished about 12:30. Just a small hike. I spent more time driving than hiking today.
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