The Kinsman Mountains

The hike started as expected. It would not be long before we would find that we had underestimated the White Mountains once again.

My friend Nick was in hot pursuit of the 4000 Footers of New Hampshire, and I agreed to hike the Kinsman Mountains with him before heading off to Vermont for a week of backpacking.

My climb to the peaks had taken place more than seven years earlier. I could not recall as to the trail’s difficulty, but I didn’t hold a memory of it being particularly hard such as my climb to Madison or Adams.

In my mind’s eye, I could see the clouded view-less summit I had encountered on my original hike. I had arrived at South Kinsman back then, sweaty and dejected to find a simple cairn on a slab of ledge. The only reward for my efforts was a granola bar and conversation with a fellow hiker. Perhaps this time I’d find the hike more interesting.

Nick and I debated the route we would follow to our goal. I had originally climbed via the Cascade Brook Trail. This path featured a gradual ascent compared to it’s neighbor, the Fishin’Jimmy Trail. There was also an option to climb via a trailhead on Rt116 in Franconia. The route was similar to the Cascade Trail in terms of length and ascent profile. I had used this trail during the Covid plague to climb Bald Peak. It would be a longer drive to access the trail, and the new trailhead was on private land. The owner of the lot was charging an exorbitant fee to out of town hikers to use the trailhead, and I was loathe to reward his price gouging admittance fee when I could park at the Basin and hike up Cascade for free.

Ultimately, we chose the shorter Cascade Brook route. Arriving in New Hampshire the night before the hike allowed us to make an early go of it on Saturday morning. The sky was overcast, but temperatures were mild and rain was not expected.

Hiking up from the trailhead at the Basin, we enjoyed an easy hike past Kinsman Falls. It’s quite popular with tourists visiting Franconia State Park.

Soon we made our way across several water crossings that required a little careful footwork to stay dry, and were of little concern.

After a brief period of deceptively flat terrain, the trail became more difficult.

The trail followed Cascade Brook over wet and mossy boulders. The damp earth was a morass of mud, water and slippery tree roots that meant every step had to be carefully placed to avoid a twisted ankle.

The wet slabs of ledge were sometimes bridged with soggy ladders of questionable integrity. I used them, but carefully assessed their sturdiness before buying in.

Kinsman Pond was cloaked in early morning fog when we arrived. Bullfrogs called to us from its murky surface as we passed by on our way to the tent site located on our way to North Kinsman.

The tent site and shelter were busy with hikers who had camped the night before and we hastened on our way, already well behind schedule in our plan to reach the summits.

After numerous scrambles, we finally reached North Kinsman. History would repeat itself and offer my hiking companion a view of only clouds and evergreens.

Now an older man, I sat on the same ledge near the small cairn of rocks on South Kinsman and munched a granola bar. We did not stay long. The return trip would be slow and arduous, climbing back over those same wet rocks we had navigated on our ascent.

Returning to our cars at the Basin, I was completely exhausted. A ten mile hike had taken us nine hours! I dragged myself behind the wheel, and now late in the day headed west to Vermont.