| 1999 OK, a new year. I have 10 mountains and Jude has 8. In April we had intended to do The Osceolas with Dan, Jane and Paul, but upon reaching Tripoli Road we found it was still closed for the winter, and none of us felt like hiking in 7 miles before tackling the trail, tempting as it was. So that day we made an ill fated attempt at the Kinsmans.Parking at the Basin and taking the Basin-Cascades Trail to the Cascade Brook Trail to the Kinsman Pond Trail, where we gave up at the east end of the pond, not knowing exactly where the trails were as the pond was still frozen, as was the trail. The trail up proved very hard to hike up on as it was easy to slip off the packed snow which rose above the trail, although it had melted in the forest all around. Everyone slipped off and went in up to their hip several times. Crampons or at least cleats should have been worn. At least we had enough sense to turn back when we became unsure of the trail.We made several bad decisions about going on when we probably shouldn’t have been out there, but managed again to get through the hike unscathed. Some nice scenery, but not worth the risks we took. K(10) J (8) |
