So far the winter at home has been pretty warm and rainy. Given that it is now February, I felt the need to go find some snow. I decided to head to to Cannon for a walk in the woods. I started at the Lafayette Campground, which at this time of year is completely buried in snow. From there I hiked up to Lonesome Lake, the first of a few really spectacular views.
I walked around the edge of the lake taking lots of photos. I clearly was enjoying the view a bit too much, because somewhere around here I lost one of my water bottles. Oops! This was also the junction where the trail turned completely fresh, and I started breaking trail. I would highly recommend the experience to anyone who has not tried this before. There is something very peaceful about hiking through the fresh snow. You get to feel completely alone.
Eventually I made it up onto the ridge and decided to take a side trip up the Northeast Cannonball, a minor peak just up the ridge. This turned out to be trickier than I expected given the fresh snow and steep trail. However, I eventually made it up to the top… only to be rewarded with a very windy view of the inside of a cloud. After one obligatory picture I headed back down.
When I made it back to the trail junction, I was pleasantly surprised to find that some others had passed me, and I was no longer breaking trail. I made quick progress on the easier terrain until I caught up with the couple doing the work in front of me. We worked together for the next few minutes to get past the steepest parts of the ascent, and the soon made it to the summit. Given that Cannon has a fire tower with year round gondola access it is usually much busier than other peaks in the area, but I had it all to myself.
Given how windy it was I didn’t stay for long, but I did take a number of photos of the ever changing views of the peaks and clouds. After that, it was back down the Hi-Cannon trail. After a second unsuccessful search for my missing water bottle at Lonesome Lake, I headed home.
