Slip Slidin’ Down Kinsman

Day 38

We woke with condensation on the inside of our tent and knew today was going to be humid. The weather forecast called for isolated rain showers and thunderstorms. The morning was sunny but already incredibly hot and sticky.

The first 5.5 miles were gradual and the terrain was easy but the heat and humidity drained our energy. We were able to cool off in a lovely swimming hole and then arrived at our last hut in the Whites, Lonesome Lake. We enjoyed the views of the lake and Franconia Ridge now in the distance. Amazing, just a few days ago we were looking at these mountains preparing to hike over them and now they are behind us. Only a few more days in the White Mountains.

The sun was still out and quickly dried out our tent when we stopped at the hut for a snack (hibiscus tea cake/bread baked by the hut crew and available for purchase). In the distance, clouds were forming, the winds picking up, and temperature dropped, it was time to get moving.

The Kinsmans are incredibly rugged mountains. We slowly made our way up the first peak then enjoyed a nice ridge walk to second peak. Looking back towards Franconia Ridge, it was now covered in clouds. While eating our last snacks (nooo!) light rain began to fall. It got heavier during our steep descent but thankfully didn’t last long. It was warm summer rain and was actually quite refreshing. However, the rain did it’s job making our already steep and rocky descent much more difficult. We did a lot of slip sliding down but thankfully no real injuries.

While hiking down all we could talk about was getting to town. Hot food and cold drinks along with a pool and hot tub at the hotel are waiting for us. We are looking forward to seeing Eric’s Dad, Kurt again and this time he will stay with us at the hotel in Lincoln so we can spend a little more time with him.

We made it down to the campsite at Eliza Brook early (around 3PM) and found it almost full with mostly NOBOs who we assume didn’t want to hike over the Kinsmans with steep slippery rocks. We’re still caught in the NOBO bubble.

We enjoyed talking to the NOBOs who tented nearby. We asked where they thought they were in the northbound bubble…to our surprise they said the beginning. They estimate another 1000 NOBOs are behind them. Looks like we shouldn’t expect any empty shelters anytime soon. A heavy fast rainfall chased us all into our tents. We spent the rest of the night trying to dry off and looking forward to town tomorrow!