Flags on the Kinsmans

Every year since 2002 hikers mark the 9/11 anniversary by installing flags on all the 4000 footers in the WMNF. Since there would be a big turnout this day I opted for a hike with a big parking lot, North and South Kinsman via Lonesome Lake. The switchback trail up to Lonesome Lake is a great warm up. Three long switchbacks lift you 900 feet up to the lake. It doesn't seem that you gained that much but I won't argue with it and it is much easier on the legs at the end of the hike than many trails. There was a steady stream of families with kids coming down from a stay at the Lonseome Lake hut (reputed to be kid friendly). The lake has great views (on clear days) of the Kinsman ridge from the east side of the lake and of Franconia ridge from the west side.

From Lonesome Lake I took the Fishing Jimmy trail up to Kinsman ridge. To begin with this trail goes downhill. I was about to turn around and check that I was on the right trail when it abruptly started up and didn't let up for the next hour when it reached Kinsman ridge. I was leap frogging with a few other hikers (hike some and stop to catch your breath). We agreed that the trailwork was quite "civilized". The FJ trail features some wooden steps that are bolted into the rock to get you up some steep rocks slabs. There must have been 30-40 of these steps. In general the trail building in the WMNF is excellant and a pleasure to hike on.

Both summits have great views to the east of Franconia ridge and beyond. North Kinsman has a small ledge and South Kinsman is flatter and open (this has the better view). I headed for South Kinsman rather than stopping at NK. It was a great place to stop for a while. I chatted for a while with a local who had all sorts of info on hike ideas and trail recommendations. Unfortunately the cloud cover was not great for photography so you will have to take my word for it! Eventually the flag crew arrived and started to set up. The pole was 4-5 pieces of pvc piping which had to be tied to stabilize to support the weight of the flag in the stiff breeze. The crew had obviously done it before and it was nice to see three generations of team members working on their task. A military helicopter flew in from the east and came so close by that you could see the pilot. A similar fly by was done for each peak.

On the return trip I stopped at the hut for cup of coffee and a break sitting in an adirondack chair taking in the view over the lake (again...civilized!). I highly recommend hikes in this area either to Cannon or the Kinsmans.

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