"Failed Kinsmans Attempt"

February 12, 2005 White Mountains (Lonesome Lake and Fishin' Jimmy Trails)

Having had not so good luck with hiking goals recently, I decided on a route that I thought had looked easy enough and would guarantee me at least two more bagged peaks.  I had planned on hiking up North and South Kinsman, and maybe even bag Cannon Mountain if I made good time.  However, if I would have read my AMC White Mountains Guide Book a little more closely, I probably would have ended up picking a different route. 

The hike started out easy enough.  The Lonesome Lake Trail was well packed in, and I shot up the 1.6 mile section to the hut with ease.  However, on the way up, I was actually passed by another hiker.  Not to sound cocky, but that doesn't happen often.  In fact, I couldn't remember the last time it happened, and it made me mad.  My competitive side took over and I vowed to catch up with him. 

The Lonesome Lake Hut is set on the gorgeous lake its named after, and the blue skies made for some nice photography.  I snapped a few shots from around the lake, and found the Fishin' Jimmy trail behind the hut that led up to the North Kinsman.  However, the trail wasn't nearly as packed in as the Lonesome Lake trail.  In fact, there were only one set of snowshoe prints along the path, and they were fresh.  I figured it was that dude that passed me, and off I went to catch him.

Breaking trail is hard work, especially in the 4' of powdery snow which blanketed the trail, so it didn't take long before I caught up with this well-conditioned hiker.  We exchanged greetings and I found out his name was Thomas.  He was originally from Germany and now lived outside of Boston.  We agreed to take turns breaking trail, but he ended up doing most of the work.  The guy was in phenomenal shape, and he made me realize that I had room to improve, which I've since worked at.  It's good to be humbled every now and then.

We encountered extremely steep sections which sometimes took 10 minutes to get up, as well as insane snow drifts that were God knows how deep.  Even with my 36" snowshoes, I would sink 3' into the powder.  It all ended up to be me tiring out quickly.  I wanted to make sure I had enough energy to safely get back, so after about 1.5 miles, I opted to turn around.  Thomas said he was continuing on, but expressed doubts for how long. 

I made it back to the hut and popped in to enjoy a bit of warmth and eat a snack before heading the rest of the way down.  A cute girl appeared to be quite chatty with me, but being tired, I wasn't able to turn on the charm.  Drat!  Another fish gets away. 

After about 15 minutes, Thomas popped in the hut just as I was leaving.  He said the trail hadn't gotten any better. We exchanged goodbyes and I was off to my car.  On the hike down, it began to snow pretty hard, and I was glad I had turned around.  While it was disappointing that I didn't summit, it was still an enjoyable, buttkicking hike.