the Other Side of Franconia: Hiking the Kinsman Ridge to Cannon Mountain

Last weekend my son & I spent a glorious weather day hiking the Franconia Ridge loop. This weekend in his quest to complete the White Mountain 4000 footers we hiked the other side of Franconia Notch, Cannon Mountain to the Kinsmans. It was a good (and painful) reminder of how stiff long days in the White Mountains can be. While my little mountain goat skipped ahead I was often hobbled with sore knees. But let me begin at the beginning.

We started the day with our now usual weekend routine: organize day packs the night before, eat an early breakfast, check the weather one last time (a quick stop for a cup of coffee for Dad) and drive to the trailhead before 8 a.m. The two sides of Franconia Notch could not be more different. Instead of hiking off the parking lot almost straight onto trail, the west side requires going through Lafayette campground before hitting the trail. Instead of multiple brook crossings and falls, the Lonesome Lake trail is a steep walk in the woods. Instead of feeling crowded on the ascent, we only passed 4 groups on our entire hike up. The Hi Cannon Trail is steeper than Falling Waters. Sadly it has also been severely eroded by the heavy storms the past two years. We passed several washed out spots where roots dangled from under cut dirt ledges. But once we got above the first look out and the ladder on the Hi Cannon trail, the grade slackened and the trail was in better shape. The boy had to check out the scariest view spot in the Notch. Midway on the Hi Cannon trail a down angle slab leads to sheer drop. It feels to me like you are going to roll off Cannon Cliff standing anywhere on it.

Once we reached the loop trail at the top of Cannon Mountain we had a snack and climbed the observation tower. The top of the tower gave us nice views as the morning fog was just about burned away from Mt. Lafayette and Lincoln. This was also the only spot all day where the breeze cooled us down enough to add a layer. Coming down the first Cannon Ball we hit the steep rocky technical terrain that are infamous in the White Mountains. Less than 1/2 a mile into the descent we crossed paths with a German (?) couple that we had seen at the top of Cannon. They asked if the rest of the trail was this difficult. I said not all, but it would continue to be challenging for a while. They did not look very happy at my answer. I was starting to be unhappy myself as both knees were swelling on the descent.

The Cannonballs did get easier as we traversed south. But they do grind away at a hikers legs before getting to Kinsman Pond. By the time we got there my son need a bio break, and I needed a rest. While the climb up to North Kinsman is not demanding by White Mountain standards, the miles and demands of the route were apparent in my pace. We enjoyed a long lunch break on North Kinsman. I marveled at the great view of the Franconia Ridge. The whole route is a tour of Mt. Lafayette views. It's good to keep looking at the same beautiful mountain from different spots for a day. The final climb of the day to South Kinsman went quicker than I expected. We now only had the hike back to the bottom of Franconia Notch ahead.

The Franconia Ridge see from North Kinsman

Memory is a funny thing. I normally remember trails in detail. I vaguely recalled the descent from the Kinsman's as pleasant hard pack dirt. What I was recalling was the Lonesome Lake Trail, not the Fishing Jimmy Trail. The later is steeper, rockier, and filled with cut slab face steps. My sore knees were less than happy with this descent. While my son ran ahead of me, I limped carefully down the trail. Not carefully enough as I jammed my left foot on a down step, bruising my big toe (I hope I don't lose the toenail). At long last the Lonesome Lake hut came into view. We were gifted one last amazing view of Mt. Lafayette. This view alone made the hike worthwhile.

Mt. Lafayette from Lonesome Lake

Truly the west side of Franconia Notch is the polar opposite of the east side. Where the east side is exposed alpine terrain, the west side undulates in the woods. Where the Franconia ridge presents it's challenges in an obvious way, the Cannon Balls hide their difficulty until one is in the middle of them. Where the descent to Greenleaf is an open scree field, the hike down Fishing Jimmy is a winding set of stairs and steep dirt. The two sides combine to present all that is wonderful & difficult in hiking the White Mountains.