Weather: Partly cloudy. Threatening clouds appeared in the afternoon but never produced rain. Low humidity.
Trail: Way up: Lonesome Lake Trail to Kinsman Ridge Trail. Way Down: Hi Cannon Trail back to Lonesome Lake Trail. 5.9 miles. Trail is more challenging than the numbers suggest.
Trail Conditions: The conditions were good overall. Kinsman Ridge section was especially steep with some scrambling.
View: 360-degree panoramic view of the White Mountains from the observation deck – partially obstructed by the hoards of tourists that arrive by tram which can limit your enjoyment. Kinsmans and Franconia Ridge are especially visible from Cannon.
Group: Mike, Brian and Anai
The numbers for this hike, 5.9 miles and 2350 feet of elevation, do not do it justice. I’ve been on hikes that were considerably longer and with a lot more elevation that felt much less challenging than Cannon. But there are definitely some fun sections too that involve a little scrambling.
The Trailhead near the Lafayette Campground
We ended up taking the long way around on the way up. We intended to hit the Joe Dodge Cut-off from Lonesome Lake but somehow missing it (despite the fact that I got a photo of the sign) and ended up taking the Lonesome Lake Trail and Kinsman Ridge Trail. We don’t know what the Joe Dodge Cut-off was like since we missed it both up and down, but the sections we took had some interesting and fun sections to them that involved some scrambling and a ladder climb.
The elusive Dodge Cut-Off
The hike into Lonesome Lake has a very moderate pitch on a well maintained trail. This was Anai’s first hike in over a month. She had been resting after suffering from some tendonitis in her knee. She took it slow for this section and Brian stuck with her. I trudged ahead and waiting for them at the lake. Anai got her legs back along with some confidence and we all hiked together from this lake on.
The Lonesome Lake Trail continues up from the lake and meets up with the Kinsman Ridge Trail. Portions of this trail are particularly steep but can be fun since they involve a decent amount of scrambling over boulders and ledge.
Boulder Hopping
Kinsman Ridge then meets up with the Hi Cannon Trail which is has a fairly easy approach to the summit and overlook to Franconia Ridge.
Franconia Ridge from near the Cannon summit
The summit of Cannon is more easily attained via the tram that services the ski area in the summer. I didn’t even know the tram ran in the summer until we reached the observation deck and were surrounded by people who reached the summit via the tram. There were some who were breathing heavy and sweating profusely from the short hike from the tram house to the observation deck.
Until Cannon all of the mountains we have climbed have had between zero and ten other hikers at the summit. Cannon, by contrast, was a legitimate tourist attraction, the Wally World of the White Mountains, creating what Brian termed “The Griswald Effect”. Don’t hike it expecting peace, tranquility, and great views. You get only one out of three. It is the only summit I have been to where you can buy refreshments (with a credit card) and use flush toilets. So we were surrounded by Griswalds: crying babies, mouthy teenagers, and other tourist types who looked at us funny, appearing to doubt that anyone would chose to actually hike up the mountain when there was a perfectly good tram to take up. After taking in the views from the observation deck and buying a chocolate chip cookie in the tram house (hey, it was there so why not) I quickly led us a distance away from Wally World to a place along the trail where we could eat lunch in peace, partly chased away by an incessantly crying toddler.
Griswalds Enjoy Lunch at the Tram House
We took the Hi-Cannon Trail back to the Lonesome Lake Trail. It involved some downward scrambling, a decent down a ladder, and some cliffs with views of Lonesome Lake.
Lonesome Lake from the Hi-Cannon Trail. The Lonesome Lake Hut is also visible.
The hike up had some good parts but the tourist trap feeling at the top made this one of my least favorite hikes.
Congrats - nice hike! That is the same way a couple of friends and I hiked it about six years ago - as a short person, I distinctly remember the boulder scrambling. It was super foggy/cloudy the day we hiked, it, too. In fact, we couldn't see the Tram house until we were less than 100 yards from it. One of my friends had a hot dog at the snack bar - this is one of the few hikes in the Whites with a snack bar at the summit! Thankfully on the way down, we got under the clouds and had some nice views to Lonesome Lake, Franconia Notch and Lafayette Place Campground.
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