1/17/16 Mt. Cannon -- First post!

Visit my mother's blog, Trish, Alex, and Sage, to see all of my previous hikes.


Mt. Cannon
Kinsman Ridge trail
4 miles round-trip
2,100 elevation gain
1/17/2016

Starting off at the trailhead!  We all, I believe, were feeling a bit drowsy at first.  It was a little cold outside, but we were going to soon warm up while hiking up the mountain.  Our friend John Myers came along.

Here we go!  As soon as I started off, the cold went away--thanks to Cannon's steep Kinsman Ridge trail.

Sage and John taking the lead...

The trail was mostly packed out--not perfectly hard, but packed out.  Snowshoes weren't really needed, in my opinion.  Microspikes were helpful though; there were some icy parts.

Beautiful snow-covered pine trees!

John's backpack, Sage, and Mom's elbow.  Onward!

A blue blaze (my favorite color)--I don't remember seeing many of those on the trail, but here's one.
 

Going across a wide open space in the hiking trail!  Not exactly a good part of the trail to sled down...

Views!  I liked taking this shot.  The light aqua sky can make hiking so enjoyable.

And...out of the opening.

Looking back...

And then onward again!  Mom's looking strong in this action picture.

Ahh...the glimpse of beauty between the trees...

A selfie of myself while hiking!  It can be exciting trying to take a quick photo of yourself before your hands get too cold or your phone's battery power goes down.  This one turned out pretty well.

Sky shot!  These are fun to snap too.  I knew I just needed to get a sky picture like this one...so here it is.

Hiking up...

More snow-covered trees!

Everyone smiling!  Mom...

...Sage...

....and John!

I love when the scenery is mostly white, the sky is blue, and the trees are green.  The colors look lovely together!

Beautiful views...I'm not seeing many snow-covered mountains, though--at least not at the tops of mountains.  It's been a warm winter!  At least it was until right after Christmas.

More beauty...

Continuing up!  It was pretty cold then, but I was fine.  My hands only got cold when I took pictures; other than that, I was warm.

Close-up of a little bump in the distance...

I took this shot because I liked how the sky looked with the snow-covered branches of the trees.  I love winter so much!

Cool action shot of John.  He brought a sled along too!  I thought Sage and me were the only ones.

As you can see, this is the type of footwear that is nice to wear when going up Cannon in the winter -- microspikes or Hillsound Mini-Crampons -- in this picture, my Mom is wearing Hillsound Mini-Crampons.  Another action shot!

Looking through the snowy trees...

We're getting up there!  We've gone pretty far!

More trees...

We're at tree line!  The sun is out, and I am excited to reach the top of the mountain!

Walking along the path...

And...we're out!  I didn't mind the clouds -- they are nice to look at when hiking.

Catching a glimpse of the road...

Looking at the bump that we have to go over.  I love how all the trees look!  It is pretty cold since we are out of the trees, so I will soon need my coat.

Ahh!  Enjoying the warmth of my puffy coat!  So nice.

Sage making a crazy excited face!

What is ahead...

There's Sage again!  She had a little cold the day before, but she seemed to be doing well when she was hiking up the mountain.  Sage was going fast!

Avoiding the holes in the snow...

Action shot of Sage!  Where's the other half of her leg?

We made it to the sign!  Almost to the top...

There are the memorable tourist attractions.  No tourists here now, though!

Beautiful views again!  The sun is rising...

Action shot!  Sage is looking smooth.

The clouds are getting out of the way...

And here we are!  The tower is among us at last!

Sage is interested in something on a tree branch...

John is ready to go up the stairs!  I am feeling colder up here.

Close-up of snow and ice on the structure...

Up we go!  Chilly...

The summit shot!  We were all very cold.  Mom took a quick picture, I took a quick picture, and then we all ran back down so we wouldn't get too cold.  My picture is not a perfect one, but my hands were starting to freeze!

Once we burst into the nice lodge at the top of the mountain, this message flashed on my screen.  Strange?  Well, it must have been used to the cold -- so much that it overheated when it warmed up.

The ice flakes on the window of the lodge -- it was hard to take this photo because the camera kept focusing on the scenery outside, but I wanted to focus on the ice instead.

Happily drinking hot chocolate!  That hot liquid warms me as soon as it enters my body.

My bodiless peanut butter bear...

Once we were out of the lodge, we headed back down the mountain.  Here are some more views.  These are clearer than before -- there are no clouds in the way this time!

A close-up of the road...

Heading down the path!

Another sky shot!  The sun was really coming up, so the color of the sky had turned a deep blue.

More path!

The tip of the tower sticking up...

Sage, the views, and my thumb in the way!

Sage and the views...

A photo of Mom taking a photo!  Wow, it was really beautiful out there.

Some more views--the last glimpse...

We are a little ways down the mountain now.  Mom is enjoying the scenery -- as am I.

Walking down -- I used microspikes on this hike.

Almost down!

And...we're down!  There is a large hill right by the trail head -- people have sledded down it, and now it's our turn!  This is me running up...

Ready, set, sled!

That ends another winter hike -- my 10th time up Cannon!