The forecast for August 8th, 2019 wasn't optimal. After a full night of hard rain and thundershowers we opted against the possible ridge walks and slide hikes on our list. With rain in the forecast for the day, we chose a short hike up Cannon Mountain in the Franconia area of the White Mountains in New Hampshire.

Cannon Mountain stands at 4080' and is  known for it's ski hill and tramway. The summit has a viewing tower that I wasn't aware of when I started this hike and apparently has awesome views of the Franoconia area on a clear day.

We started late at 10:15 AM after changing our plan and attempting to wait out rain storms. We parked at the Lafayette Campground hiker parking (1900') and walked up through the campground following the signs to the Lonesome Lake Trailhead. Quickly after the hiking trail begins, it splits and we took the right hand option: Hi Cannon Trail. The 2.8 mile trail up begins with a severely eroded section that is covered in a small granules akin to kitty litter. The trail takes no time to become steep and remind you that if you wore too many layers you will want to take them off ASAP. 

The middle third of the trail is the most challenging. Boulders become larger and larger and require more hand and foot actions. The skies opened up on us here and before we knew it every foot hole became a deep puddle and water streamed down the steep slope. The final third of the trail opens up to more slab friction hiking which I will note is tricky when a river of water is flowing on top of them. At about 3500' the slabs apparently offer views of the Franconia ridge that we unfortunately weren't able to see on this day.  A mixture of sweat and rain entered my mouth and soon every square inch of my body was soaking wet.

By the time we reached the ridge, every flat spot had become enormous puddle and water started to squish out of my boots as it had flowed hard down my legs soaking my socks for the past hour. We dodged puddles despite having soaking wet feet and found two more junctions to head up to the tower at the summit. 

Upon arrival the summit tower is completely enormous and impossible to miss. We hadn't taken a single photo of the hike before this point because of the rain so we raced under the roof after the first set of stairs and pulled out the camera for some summit shots. There was no point going up to the top with this weather so we packed up and ran down the trail. Our bodies were chilled from being wet and not moving for a few minutes at the summit. About 20 minutes into our descent the rain slackened and the sun started to break through. 

The return trip down the Hi Cannon trail is nothing to shake a stick at. It's steep, slippery when wet, and requires focus and attention. We barely spoke and concentrated on our footing. I was hoping we would have some views on the way down but we didn't. A old well-used ladder takes you up and down a steep section and there was one slab section that could be consequential if you lost your footing as it seems like you might just go off the edge!

We finished the hike at 1:45 PM and definitely thought that even though it was the shortest hike we had done this trip, it was the toughest in terms of trail conditions. It reminded us of a 'normal' Adirondack hike. I may have to do this hike again in nicer weather...I am sure the views are worth it! 

Stats:
Elevation gain: 2309 feet
Distance: 8.5km
Time: 3 hours, 30 mins

Up to 67/115!

Mount Tecumseh is a ski hill peak in the Sandwich Range in the southern White Mountains. The formerly 4003' peak has been re-measured in 2019 to read 3997'. As a peakbagger looking at completing the NE 111 (115er) list, I bagged this peak on August 7th, 2019. There are rumours that this peak might be taken off the NH 48 list but I hope it stays on the NE 111 (115) list. Fingers crossed my hiking efforts count!

Today's plan was altered due to a strong forecast that was to include rain and severe thunderstorms.  We decided instead to head up Mount Tecumseh from the longer Mount Tecumseh trail from Tripoli Road. Today we started at 9:30 AM, expecting a shorter hike than yesterday. The 6.2 mile round trip hike would be a perfect day out.

The trail from the parking lots jumps over two small brooks and then heads straight up. The grade is consistent and unrelenting. As it was hours before thunderstorms, the humidity levels were peaking and then wind was non-existent. Sweat dripped off our chins and flowed out of all our pours and we put one step in front of the other on this trail. That combined with numerous cobwebs made for a sticky mess on my skin. The trail was a soft soil slope with rocky boulders throughout. The trail is dense with forest cover and offers little to no views to gauge your progress.

After a 1700' slog up we were at 3700' an hit our first peak. The trail then drops into a col and hits a final ascent to the summit proper. We hit the summit 1 hour and 45 minutes after leaving the parking lot and were very grateful to feel the breeze at the summit ledge. A family of 5 were also at the summit (had come up from the ski hill side) that were lovely to talk to. We were surprised that the daughter had forgotten her shoes and had hiked up barefoot! 

The summit has a brand new summit marker and some beautiful views of the Tripyramids and Osceolas. Some longer distance views were obscured by clouds on this day as the storm clouds were building in the sky. After a drink, snack and obligatory summit photo shoot, we turned around and made our way back to the car.

Stats:
Distance: 9.5km/6 miles
Elevation: 2592 feet
Time: 3.5 hours

Mount Osceola (4320') and East Osceola (4156') are two peaks that lie in the southern part of the White Mountains near the Sandwich Range.  These two peaks are on the NE 111 (115er) list  which I am working on and so we planned to hike these two peaks in one day on August 6th, 2019.

Our group decided to stay at Russell Pond Campground located on Tripoli Road just off the I93. This campground offers flush toilets, showers, waterfront and quiet private camping. The short commute to many hikes from this campground is also an attractive reason to stay at this campground. Tripoli road also offers road side camping for cheaper but with limited facilities. 

Four months prior to this hike I had knee surgery and was eager to test out my new and improved knee. That said, being uncertain of how the knee would react (especially on the descents) made me a bit nervous on this hike.

Starting at 8:15 AM from the parking lot on Tripoli Road, ($5 day parking fee), at a elevation of around 2200' . We set off up the gradual but rocky ascent up to Mount Osceola. The trail is well shaded and has a manageable grade the entire distance. My husband Glenn was part of our group and begun the hike at a slow pace due to an ankle injury. After 1600' of climbing and dodging rock boulders, he threw in the towel and turned around. That left two of us to head the rest of the way to the summit which we reached at 10:15 AM. The summit ledge from this peak is outstanding with beautiful views on sunny days like we had. We quickly identified our next objective from this summit and went on our way. 

The trail over to East Osceola is fairly straight forward except for one section called the Chimney. I hadn't read any trip reports or trail descriptions for this hike so I was surprised to hear the nervousness in many hiker's voices as they approached this section and asked us about how treacherous it was. The section is steep rocky section that can be up or downclimbed in about 4 moves.  Being a climber this section wasn't even an issue for me but for others I can see it might be scary. We chose the left route when coming from Mount Osceola.

The summit of East Osceola is treed and there is a rock cairn to indicate the summit. A trail coming from Greely ponds comes up from North side. We took a snack break here with a mother and daughter group before our 40 minute return trip back to Mount Osceola. On the return trip we chatted with a young woman who is a nurse from Long Lake area in the Adirondacks and we had a good chat about Adirondack hiking.

Crowds were starting to build on the summit of Mount Osceola upon our return with many people enjoying the views in various states of dress. Many were fully clothed but some were airing out their footwear and one had even taken off her pants! We took a quick drink break and headed down the trail to meet up with Glenn who was waiting in the car. My knee had no problem with this descent and I was pleased that I could be fully confident hiking mountains once again. We met a few more characters on the way down an saw some unprepared groups hiking with little to no gear or water on a hot summer's day. We returned to parking lot at 1:15 PM making it a 5 hour day.

Stats:
Distance: 12.93km/8.0 miles
Elevation gain: 2862 ft
Time: 5 hours