| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
North Kinsman, South Kinsman, Cannon, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Lonesome Lake Trail, Fishin’ Jimmy Trail, Kinsman Ridge Trail, Dodge Cut-Off, Hi-Cannon Trail, Franconia Notch Bike Path |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Thursday, February 5, 2026 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Drifts, Snow/Ice - Postholes |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Quite a few blow downs on Fishin’ Jimmy |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
This is a tale of two worlds. Started the day with cloudy skies and snowing in Franconia Notch. Ended with blue skies and views for miles. Lonesome Lake, Fishin’ Jimmy and the Kinsman Side of the KRT had a top layer of super fluffy powder but for the most part were really well packed. Snowshoes or spikes were acceptable here. We wanted to double up Kinsmans with Cannon but when we got to the Kinsman Pond area there wasn’t much traffic going over the Cannon Balls. Thinking Hi-Cannon would definitely be broke out we opted to head back to the hut, cross the lake, and head up Cannon that way. Dodge Cut-Off had some light traffic but really needed consolidation. We got to Hi-Cannon and could tell people had been this way but the trail wasn’t in great shape. The higher we went the worse it got. The ladder is completely buried in snow and is a sketchy ice/snow ramp, the trail itself has deep in consolidated snow with lots of deep post holes, and hanging snow laden trees are everywhere. Large sections require you to crawl on hands and knees through snow tunnels created by the over hangs. I wouldn’t recommended coming up this without a lot more snowshoe traffic. When we got to the summit of Cannon, we had no intentions of going back down the Hi-Cannon slog and ended up taking the KRT down to the Cannon Parking lot. From the Cannon summit to the turn off for the cliffs this trail was completely unbroken with feet of unconsolidated snow. The route was hard to find out in the exposed areas and our tracks are probably now covered by the drifts we fought to get through. We saw tracks of a bare booter that had come up this way and I’m guessing couldn’t make it through the exposed areas without snow shoes so they opted to turn around. Once at the cliffs area the trail is very well packed and had some of the best butt sliding I’ve ever seen back to the parking lot. The Franconia Notch Bike Path is also very well packed from the snow mobile traffic back to the Lafayette Place Campground. Exhausting but what a day to be out there with the views. |
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 | Name: |
Bostocrates |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2026-02-05 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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