Two Idiots, -10ºF, 40+ MPH winds, and Cannon Mt! (Winter)

Trip Details
Date: February 13^th, 2015
Total Distance: 4.89 mi (via Trimble Outdoors Navigator Pro on iPhone 4S...small battery glitch between the summit tower and Cafe 4080')
Total Time: 4 hours 16 minutes (again missing a few minutes due to the battery glitch)
Total Elevation: 2180 ft gained
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After taking the end of January off due to a snow storm we got in the southern Maine/New Hampshire area, BishopX and I decided against better judgement to test fate and go hiking on a day where the high temperature was 0ºF and a windchill advisory was in effect that listed wind chill temperatures less than -50ºF above 4000 ft. Our original plan was the Hancock loop, but due to the cold temperatures we decided to change to the shorter trails on Cannon Mt., which also provided us with Cafe 4080' to get warm in for however long we needed.

Arriving at the Tram parking lot, the temperature was already at -10ºF and this was 0930. We had hoped starting later may have warmed it up a bit... Snowshoes were put on at the car and worn for the entire trip. Televators were lifted up as soon as we hooked onto the Kinsman Ridge Trail and would remain on until the trail leveled out somewhere around where the Kinsman Ridge Trail hooks left after opening up onto the end of the Vista Way ski trail. The trail was mostly loose powder over a crusted base. The televators made easy work of the normally very steep Kinsman Ridge Trail.

This is the start of the trail. Make sure you fork left with it and not follow the faded ski marks to the right.

Echo Lake

Once on the flatter section, the trail began to show significant drifts. Things got dicey fast when the trail opened up to the short quarter mile of exposure just before the summit. We knew we had to head towards the summit tower and Cafe 4080', but the trail was basically wiped out by the winds. To make matters worse our ski goggles had fogged/iced over, but we had to keep them on as the wind was whipping at over 40 mph. Visibility was limited. We did our best to move quick and stay on whatever looked like a trail while continuing to head up. Most of my skin was covered but some wind was getting down between the top of my jacket and the bottom of my headliner, which began burning and made the need to move fast important. At one point what we were following faded away and we noticed some recent ski marks and headed towards those, but to add to the misery I would make a wrong step and had my leg sink in all the way to my hip. Thankfully I was able to pull myself out pretty easily. Eventually we popped out onto the top part of the Vista Way ski trail a bit early and just hiked up that to Cafe 4080' and then around to the summit tower.

The summit tower and the exposure section.

The wind on the summit tower allowed for a few photos before quickly running down the stairs and making our way back to Cafe 4080'.

The Franconia Ridge is in those clouds somewhere...

That is I-93 on the left.

Looking out towards the Cannonballs and the Kinsmans.

Looking west and in the way distance, Vermont.

BishopX giving up taking photos and getting off the tower as quick as possible.

Looking northeast.

The rimed iced antenna.

We would spend about two hours in the cafe getting warm, drying our clothes out, and BishopX enjoying a Woodstock Brewery Pig's Ear Brown Ale while I enjoyed a whoopie pie and an Angry Orchard Crisp Apple (I like ciders...deal with it!). It felt like cheating, but it was still reading -10ºF at the summit so I did not care that much.

Eventually we made our way back out onto the trails. BishopX noticed his snowshoes took a massive beating as one crampon had bent completely over and a binding buckle had busted. They stayed on well enough, though. Thankfully, where the Kinsman Ridge Trail actually started at the top of the Vista Way ski trail and the trail through the exposed quarter mile were a lot easier to follow on the descent as we probably made it from the cafe and out of the exposure in less than ten minutes. We would butt slid down the majority of the trail once it got steep enough. Some of the slides went a good distance, which made the descent quick and fun. At the parking lot the temperature had increased ten degrees to the high of the day at 0ºF!

Looking down the Vista Way ski trail.

In the center is where the Kinsman Ridge Trail breaks away from the Valley Way ski trail.

Mt. Lafayette peaking out of the clouds.

Just before the exposure section this amazing outlook surfaced with the Franconia Ridge almost entirely visible, except for Mt. Lafayette which was back in the clouds.

Looking down towards Mt. Liberty.

Well even a three-quarters fully charged old iPhone 4S was no match for the cold temperatures on the summit tower of Cannon Mt. The battery gave out instantly when I tried to take a picture on the summit tower and then would not come back on until it had warmed up in Cafe 4080'. Lesson learned that I will just need to take all photos with my regular camera and just use the iPhone 4S to GPS track. The gray line indicates where the battery gave out between the summit tower and Cafe 4080'.