Hiking in the White Mountains: Mittersill-Cannon Trail

Showing posts with label Mittersill-Cannon Trail. Show all posts

RUN NH48

A little side project of mine is to run (speed hike) the White Mountain 48 - 4,000 footers of New Hampshire. I started off with three shorter mileage runs with varying degree of difficulty. I'll write more later about each run but for now here's a few details and pictures from each one. Click here for the Garmin info for each run

Mount Tecumseh Trail (September 8th)

Route for Mount Tecumseh

Mount Tecumseh Run Summary

Caps Ridge Trail to Mount Jefferson (September 8th)

Route up the Ridge of the Caps

Mount Jefferson Run Summary

Mittersill-Cannon Trail to Cannon Mountain (September 9th)

Route up Mittersill to Cannon

Cannon Mountain Run Summary

Hale Brook Trail to Mount Hale (September 26)

Route up Mount Hale

Mount Hale Run Summary

Webster-Jackson Trail to Mount Jackson

Route up Mount Jackson

Run Summary for Mount Jackson

Mittersill-Cannon Speed Hike

Date of Hike: 8/29/14

Cannon-Mittersill Trail: 2.5 miles / Kinsman Ridge Trail: 0.8 miles / Lonesome Lake Trail: 2.3 miles / Pemi Trail: 3.5 miles
Total Miles: 9.10 (2,670 feet elevation gained)

Trip Report:
- Friday after work I met Ryan and his dog Jack at the Mittersill-Cannon Trailhead for a quick loop hike up Mittersill Peak and Cannon Mountain, down to Lonesome Lake, and back through the Pemi Trail below the cliffs of Cannon Mountain.
- The Mittersill-Cannon Trail was opened last summer and it is my new favorite way to summit Cannon Mountain. The trail travels over ski trails and a summit access road. The trail is open from mid spring to late fall when the Mittersill ski area is closed. Views while ascending Mittersill Peak are excellent. For hikers not in the mood for the relentlessly steep ascent up Cannon Mountain via the Kinsman Ridge or High-Cannon Trail this is an excellent alternative. Especially in the autumn during peak foliage season.
- Ryan and I hiked at a pretty quick pace up the Mittersill-Cannon Trail. It had been a very long time since I last saw Ryan so it was great catching up with him. He had just won a 100 mile trail race in Pennsylvania two weeks ago and has another one in Virginia in early October.
- Jack was enjoying himself running up and down the trail as we hiked. At one point we spotted a bear running up ahead of us, Jack took off after it but with his bell was making such a loud noise and the bear was running too fast for him so he gave up after about one hundred yards.
- We made the final push to the Cannon summit just as the last gondola was descending. From here we jogged down the steep boulder section of the KRT, then hooked onto the Lonesome Lake Trail and made it back to Lafayette Campground pretty quickly. We walked through the campground then hooked onto the Pemi Trail and Cannon Mountain ski area roads as we passed by Profile and Echo Lake on our way back to the car.
- It was a quick two hour and fifteen minute jaunt over Mittersill and Cannon. It felt great to finally do a little more running in the mountains again and great to spend some time with Ultra-Runner, Ryan Welts.

Route for the day, click here for details

Mountain stats (nerdy stuff!)

Heading up the Mittersill-Cannon Trail

Great view leading to Cannon Mountain

View from the peak of Mittersill

Ryan and Jack running down then out of the mini Mittersill-Cannon Col

The final approach to the summit

The Franconia Ridge

Shinning Rock

Lonesome Lake Trail

Jack cooling off and getting a drinking Lonesome Lake

Lonesome Lake

Running the Pemi Trail

Profile Lake and the Cannon Mountain Ski Area

Mittersill-Cannon Trail / Mount Willard

Date of Hike 10/11/13

Cannon-Mittersill Trail: 5.0 miles
Mount Willard Trail: 3.2 miles
Total Miles: 8.2 (3,400 feet elevation gained)

Trip Report
- After reading three different trip reports (Steve Smith's / John Compton's / Summerset Bank's) with beautiful pictures about the new Mittersill - Cannon Trail I was really itching to finally hike it.
- The trail starts off in lot #1 at the Mittersill Ski area, when you pull into the Mittersill Ski Area take an immediate right and lot #1 will be down the road on your left. At the end of lot #1 where the chair lift is there is a trail sign about twenty yards up on the ski slope.
- Ski trails offer a different kind of hiking experience for me. First, I find them to be calve-burners! I am so used to rock, root, and boulder hiking that it actually burns me out heading up hill! Second, I prefer hiking through the woods and up above treeline but the ski slope hiking offers a welcome different change of pace.
- The Mittersill-Cannon Trail travels up the ski slopes / access roads offering fine views over to Sugar Hill. The trail is easy to follow with yellow blazes on metal posts, trees, and rocks. The trail is in decent shape for most of its length but does have a few loose rock and eroded footing sections including one soggy earth section which is slowly falling from the slab underneath it.
- Views from Mittersill Peak are well worth the hike up. Terrific close up view of Cannon Mountain, the slopes, the tram building with Franconia Ridge looming across the notch. There is also the best view one can get of Coppermine Col and the Cannon Balls. Past the Cannon Balls are a nice view of the Kinsmans, too.
- From Mittersill Peak it's a short descent, followed by a left turn and then a quick right turn back up hill where you make your way up to the Cannon Tram building and hike the last few hundred feet on the gravel path with the tourists who tend to stay away from you because you smell like dirt!
- I saw a few dozen of the people who trammed it up around the summit, the weather was beautiful to be up there and everyone seemed to be enjoying the views.
- On the hike out I ran into a couple heading up, it was their first time on the trail as well, they were doing a loop, down Kinsman Ridge. It was nice to see other hikers out there enjoying the new Cannon-Mittersill Trail. If you get a chance check it out, it may be my new favorite way up Cannon.

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- As usual when hiking alone I go at a quick pace so during the afternoon I headed to Crawford Notch for a quick hike up Mount Willard. I had never been up but knew that there were tremendous views to be had from the ledges. It is a quick and easy hike, a perfect introduction to new hikers.
- The views are pretty sweet, you're standing high above Crawford Notch with the Willey Range above you on your right, the notch with Route 302 and the railroad below you, and the scarred walls of Webster Cliff above and to the left.
- I'll definitely head back here in the winter after a big snowfall hoping to break the trail out and catch some winter wonderland views!