Saturday September 29th

 

 Today I hiked North Kinsman ( 4,293') and South Kinsman ( 4,358') with Susie. We knew it was going to rain today so we were prepared. Without even trying we dressed exactly the same today. ( Patagonia Pants Club). That started out the giggles which just lasted all day. I don't know if it was the rain, the full moon or all the weird and wacky things that happened today, but we laughed alot and had a great day. We started out early and made the hour drive over to Franconia. We took Lonesome lake trail up to the AMC hut and Lonesome lake. Just before we got to the lake we came across a huge bull moose about 20' away in the woods and then to our great surprise when we got to the lake there were 2 more getting a drink. I have never seen a moose on the trail while hiking before. It was totally awesome and a little but un-nerving at the same time...they are really huge! We continued onto Fishin' Jimmy trail, which was not our favorite part. It had lots of steep wet ledges with wooden steps pinned into them to allow for you to climb up the steep rock face. We made it to the top of North Kinsman and weren't really sure we were at the top as there was no signage to be found. We headed onward to South Kinsman where the rain stopped long enough for us to have our lunch. We made our way down without a problem despite the wet slippery terrain. On the drive home as we were passing the mountains that we just climbed another strange moment...there was a cloud formation that started above the mountain and swept down over the sides like a waterfall and ended over the road. Thanks again to Susie for hiking with me and Rick and Ethan for coming up and having their own great adventure hiking the Frankenstein cliffs. He's becoming quite the hiker at the young age of almost 7! I would like to dedicate North Kinsman to Robert Studley who passed away 8/7/12. He graduated with an MBA in business and was a Bank Chairman for 17 years. He was also responsible for Mass legislation that helped the smaller banks.  I would like to dedicate South Kinsman to Chris Langer who passed away 8/24/12. He was a licensed massage therapist, received his Masters in pollution studies, worked in environmental protection and spent a great deal of time in China where he met his wife.