The Kinsmans via Fishin' Jimmy Trail (Winter)

Trip Details
Date: January 16^th, 2015
Total Distance: 9.96 mi (via White Mountain Guide Online)
Total Time: 5 hours
Total Elevation: 2890 ft gained
Click here for more details. (This is only a partial GPS track due to battery issues.)

BishopX and I started this one early knowing that a wind chill advisory was in effect for later in the day and that temperatures would continue to drop. The weather forecast was for a 40% chance of snow, but I still hoped for a view as when I previously hiked the Kinsmans I was in the clouds. Sadly, the clouds rolled in on the higher summits as soon as we started and brought with them a few inches of fresh snow.

We decided on the Fishin' Jimmy Trail to make our way to the Kinsman Ridge Trail as I had previously hiked up these via the Mt Kinsman Trail and he had summited them via the Kinsman Pond Trail. I knew we were in for some pointless up and downs on this trail and potentially some exposed ice on the rocks, but other reports had not indicated that anything beyond light traction was needed. We would use microspikes for the entire trip.

The Lonesome Lake Trail was well packed down all the way to Lonesome Lake. We followed a path across the lake and we arrived at the Lonesome Lake Hut.

The trail crosses this bridge and works through the campsites at Lafayette Campground.

The only view of the Franconia Ridge for the entire day.

Lonesome Lake Hut from across the lake.

Getting a view on the summits does not look good...

It was instantly obvious when we stepped onto the Fishin' Jimmy Trail that it had not seen nearly the traffic that the Lonesome Lake Trail had. It was still packed down, but had some unconsolidated powder on top of it. The pointless up and downs were not terrible, at least on the way up to the summits. Some of the icy rocks were a bit tricky, but most had clear paths around them or you just had to work your footing correctly with the microspikes.

Looking up at the Lonesome Lake Hut.

Ice flow on a wood block steps section.

The trail was even less consolidated once we got onto the Kinsman Ridge Trail. At times the wind had drifted over the trail completely. We still stayed in microspikes as even the drift areas were very short sections and the snow was only about ankle deep in those areas.

The North Kinsman summit provided no view from the outlook and the pointy rock summit off to the side looked peacefully undisturbed.

North Kinsman summit - "pointed boulder".

The view from the outlook at North Kinsman...

Continuing on to South Kinsman the trail was more of the same with powder on top of a consolidated base, but it appeared that traffic between the summits heading over to South Kinsman was minimal compared to the rest of the trails we were on. Some drifting was evident, but not for the entire 0.9 miles. We arrived at the north knob of South Kinsman and then continued on to the south knob of South Kinsman with the throne-cairn. No views whatsoever. Hikers consider the south knob the true summit, but the north knob is listed as the true summit via the GPS coordinates on the White Mountain Guide Online. I had planned to measure both with my GPS tracking app, but shortly after I took a picture of the throne-cairn on the south knob the battery gave out on my old iPhone 4S and even with my booster packs I could not get it to turn back on as it was just too cold. Thankfully, we brought a change of clothes so that we could remain comfortable on the cold and windy summit for a period of time to get photos. We still have not mastered the ability to hike without sweating so this worked out nicely.

North knob of the summit of South Kinsman (GPS coordinate actual summit).

The throne-cairn on the south knob of South Kinsman (considered actual summit by hikers).

Me sitting on the throne.

BishopX on the throne.

As stated earlier, the snow continued to fall throughout the entire trip. By the time we made it back to North Kinsman our trail was completely covered over with about an inch of fresh snow. Snowshoes still never felt necessary so they continued to go for a ride on this trip. We took a detour to Kinsman Pond when we got to the junction. The trail was not broken out at all, but since it was only 0.1 miles we just post holed it to the pond. The clouds were so low that most of the pond was obscured.

Kinsman Pond

We then continued on the Fishin' Jimmy Trail where the pointless up and downs reared their ugly head. It honestly felt like we were climbing back up to the summits as they were frequent, long, and steep. On the descent from the summits your mindset is not ready to do all that ascending. By this point you are already tired so it just adds insult to injury. Sadly, only a few decent spots for butt sliding were available, too. Finally we arrived at the Lonesome Lake Hut and decided to go inside to hopefully warm up a bit and eat lunch. Sadly, the caretaker was not present so the hut was only 20ºF (just slightly warmer than the temperature outdoors). We ate fast and got back on the trail. Though, the wind had completely removed any evidence of a trail over the lake so we were forced to go around the lake. This section of trail was also heavily drifted.

Once we got to the other side of the lake we made very quick work of the last section of the Lonesome Lake Trail and made it back to Lafayette Campground.

Stupidly, I left my old iPhone 4S in the basement overnight with my hiking stuff where it was just cold enough to drain the entire battery even though it was turned off. When I went to start the hike it gave me the "Dead Battery" symbol. I hoped my booster packs would give it enough power to charge and record my GPS track. Sadly, it was just too cold that the booster packs could not keep up with the dwindling charge. It actually was so cold one of the booster packs itself went into a shutdown mode (I carry two). The gray areas on the map are where the iPhone 4S powered down, which included the entire descent as the temperature on the summit of South Kinsman was too cold and overpowered it. It was not until I got back to the car and let the iPhone 4S warm up that it was able to boot up and consistently charge. The booster pack also started functioning again once it warmed up. Annoying, but this technology is not necessarily built for the arctic temperatures so it is what it is.