Cannon Mountain or the Opening Credits to The Movie of My Life

I ate a lot yesterday, and also sat around a lot watching the National Dog show and baking a pie (which then got dropped on the ground and broke my pan. Sad. No pie and I used this organic fluffy shortening that was so good!) Anyhow, today was supposed to be not too cold in NH, and the sun was supposed to be out, so (after some vacillating) I finally climbed Cannon!

Cannon is one of the shorter hikes, just 6 miles, but because of that, it's pretty steep, especially the route that I took up is steep, the way I came down is longer so the elevation is spread out more. On the way up there's a section that's actually got a ladder to go up:

It looks sketchy, but it was totally fine. Of course, like all things hiking, I was alone most of the way up, but just as I got to the ladder a family with dog arrived. I wanted them to go ahead of me because they were moving faster, but then they took a while for the dog.  There were a few other points that I bumped into people, but mostly it was pretty quiet, just me and the trees and snow.  I got to wear my microspikes but not crampons - I saw someone posted on a Facebook page I was in yesterday that he climbed Cannon and I actually asked him what he wore on his feet, and he replied!  Facebook hiking groups are good for some things.

Anyhow, for most of the way up the sky was blue and I was hiking in two layers of pants and two layers of top, plus gloves and a hat. At the top it was pretty windy and cold, especially on the viewing tower. I had to put my jacket on, and the I kept it on as I went down. It was really pretty up top:

One of the nice things/not so nice things about Cannon is that there's a restaurant/bar at the top. It was nice because it was cold out and so it was good to get inside. Plus, I brought less food and drink. (The pound or so I saved was nice because since I was hiking by myself, I was super prepared and brought my new down sleeping bag, which I didn't need of course, but if I fell and broke a leg, I could have survived over night on the mountain.) On the other hand, it was weird to get to the top of the mountain and sit inside a bar - they had Karate Kid on the TV for heaven sake! I bought a turkey wrap and some gatoraide and chowed. I was so hungry. Also, because I vacillated about going, it was kind of late (I started hiking at 11 and got to the top at 2, which is a long time for 2.6 miles), so I wanted to get out so I wouldn't be in the woods after dark. 

I took a different trail down because I didn't want to climb down the ladder, and I thought it would be better to take a longer, less steep route down. There were a few areas that were really steep, I actually butt sledded down a few (the butt is a totally legit 5th limb sometimes). At one point I hit a rock, and I think I'm going to have a big bruise on my butt. But then it did get a lot less steep, definitely down hill, but fine. The trail goes past Lonesome Lake, which was looking amazing in the winter:

There was a caretaker at the cabin, and apparently a lot of people stayed there for Thanksgiving. That would be an awesome way to spend a weekend! It was really nice up there.  Of course, it was also pretty warm, relatively speaking.

As you can see from the picture, it was starting to get a little dark when I got to Lonesome Lake - it was almost 4, and sunset is 4:15. It doesn't get dark for a little while after, but still, I didn't want to be in the woods after dark if I could help it. It's 1.2 miles from Lonesome Lake to the parking lot, so I booked it down (for me).  There were a bunch of places where the trail didn't have rocks and was pretty smooth and just a little downhill. I did a little running in those parts. It was so fun! Because I could get some momentum, and I had my spikes on, and my bright red jacket. All around me the world was white snow and green pine trees, and I was running through, arms out for balance. Like the start of a movie. My feet were killing me, I was thirsty, and a little worried about getting back, and yet it was so fun. Yeah, that's the Opening Credits to The Movie of My Life.  Ish. 

I got back to my car at 4:45 just as the light was really starting to fade. I'm pretty good with my timing like that. I took off my boots and my feet were so happy! Then I drove home without stopping for a hamburger. A good day.