North Kinsman and South Kinsman

July 23, 2023

4 peaks in 2 days? Sure, let’s make it happen. Cam and I got home from our Tripyramid hike by dinner time. We had nothing planned for Sunday, so I thought it would be good to head back up to the Whites to make up for lost time this year. So, I woke up early again Sunday and drove up to Lafayette Campground to park to tackle North and South Kinsman peaks by myself. Going with Cam on Saturday was amazing. But there is also something amazing about doing these hikes by myself sometimes. Having nobody to talk to really lets me appreciate nature in its entirety. There really is a “stop and smell the roses” type moment when being surrounded by forest. It’s hard to explain how beautiful it is. You would just have to experience it on your own. You could appreciate it with other people, but experiencing it alone is next level beautiful.

I got to the parking lot a little after 7 after yet another 2 hour drive up. It was a good thing I wasn’t any later, because that parking lot was filling up fast. It probably didn’t have spots left much after I started hiking. I had thought about attempting to run some of this since I was by myself and could just push myself as hard as I wanted to. I brought my backpack as well as my hydration vest. I ultimately decided to bring my backpack as I didn’t think I could bring as much water as I wanted in my hydration vest. I did wear my Saucony trail runners to try to move quicker than if I had worn boots. It was an interesting start because you literally walk right through the Lafayette Campground to get to the trailhead. I was saying hi to several people that were camping and cooking breakfast. After walking through, I came to the trailhead for the Lonesome Lake Trail. Even with a switchback thrown in there to get up to Lonesome Lake, it was a decent climb for that first mile or so. I think it was about 1,000 feet of elevation gain in a little over a mile. It wasn’t the steepest I’ve ever done, but that’s a solid climb to get started on.

Lonesome Lake was incredible. It’s amazing to climb a mile and a thousand feet into the middle of the forest to come across a beautiful lake. I definitely hung out for a few minutes to take some pictures and take it all in, while I caught my breath. To walk around the lake, I was on the Cascade Brook Trail for a little bit. Once I got around the lake, which was not that long of a walk, I connected on to the Fishin Jimmy Trail. This led me past the Lonesome Lake Hut, which quite a few people were hanging out at. There were a lot of people there that just hiked up that section to hang out at the lake for the day, so it was fairly busy even though it was early. I was on the Fishin Jimmy Trail for almost 2 miles until I reached the junction for Kinsman Ridge Trail. At this junction, you can also take the Kinsman Pond Trail to go down to the Kinsman pond and the Kinsman Pond Tentsite. I opted not to go check that out as it would have been an out and back just to go see the pond, and I didn’t think it would be that worth it. People I met along the trail confirmed my thoughts that while it’s nice, it probably wasn’t worth going to check it out. The Fishin Jimmy trail had started off easy and was pretty elevation neutral, but it ultimately gained another 1.000 feet in that 2 mile stretch, mostly in the final mile.

The Kinsman Ridge Trail had a steady climb to the summit of North Kinsman. I probably gained another 500 feet in a half a mile. I got confused at first, thinking an overlook was the summit. It looked like I was right on it according to my watch. I watched as a few people really didn’t even stop at the overlook and kept going, so I realized I wasn’t quite there. I kept going and found the actual peak at approximately 4,290 feet. They weren’t the best views in the White Mountains, but they weren’t bad either as I was able to see Franconia Ridge looking back east. I got to North Kinsman around 9:30, so it took me just over 2 hours to get there. I didn’t hang out very long, as I was hoping to get these done relatively quickly.

I continued along the Kinsman Ridge Trail to get to the summit of South Kinsman. I wasn’t running, but I was I trying to move at a swift pace. This part of the trail wasn’t that difficult. It was about a mile. It lost a couple hundred feet of elevation and gained it back going up to the summit of South Kinsman. It took me about 45 minutes to get this part done. I wasn’t setting records, but I wasn’t taking my time either. There is a false summit, but it’s obvious when you get to the real summit. It is wide open and you can see out in every direction. Not much going on west, as these are 2 of the most western 4000 foot peaks in the Whites. I met some through hikers at that summit, and we talked for a bit as I took down some snacks to get some calories in. I took off, headed back in the same direction I came. This is an out and back hike, so I just had to retrace my steps now.

There were plenty of sections of the Fishin Jimmy Trail that had ladders and steps built in to some steep rocks. It made for some interesting climbing as I was headed up, and I was a little concerned about going down that way. There were other options, but they all seemed to be taking me well out of the way, so I just sucked it up and went back down all the steps and ladders. It wasn’t quite as bad as I had imagined it. There is a lesson to be learned there. Your mind can play a lot of games with you. It was telling me to be nervous because of these sketchy ladders and steps secured into rock. But, once I actually got to those areas, I had zero issues with any of it. Sometimes you have to override what your mind is telling you and just do it anyway because there is a good chance it won’t be nearly as bad as you think.

The hike down went very smoothly. I even tried to jog a little bit at times, but the bulky backpack made that a little uncomfortable, so I minimized how much I ran. I was back at the truck at just after 1, so it took me about 6 hours total time. Hiking time was a little less than 5 hours with the breaks I took at Lonesome Lake and the summits. As I said - I wasn’t flying, but I was very happy with that time. It meant I would be home at a decent time on a Sunday to help get things ready for the week.

This puts me at 32 summits reached. It feels just like yesterday when I was at 3 and the goal seemed so massive to get all 48. Now I’m 16 away, and it’s starting to feel way more manageable. At this point, only very serious issues would keep me from finishing this up. I’ve done enough now where I know what it will take physically, so I just need to stay healthy and find the time to make my way up into the mountains. Time has been hard to come by this year, and it will remain that way for several years with a hectic family schedule. But times will present themselves, and I will take advantage.

Regarding the Saucony trail runners, they are comfortable for a shorter time period than my Nike’s. The Nike’s I have work far better for me. I have never felt discomfort in those sneakers, and they just seem to hold up in any situations I’ve been in. I’ll stick with the Nike’s going forward, and will probably get more pairs as the mountains really beat them up.