N.H. 112, Kinsman Notch to Kinsman Pond Shelter

The day was only supposed to be 11.5 miles, usually not too bad, but not in the NH! The section starts with a hard slog up Mount Wolf.

We started to notice the "spores" of some trail clearers with axes, there were chippings by the side of trees that had been cleared from the trail, it looked like instead of using saws these folks were cutting trees by hand with axes, truly a hard way to go.

The spores seem to get fresher and fresher, and we start to hear the sound of chopping ahead, soon enough we see 2 guys swinging those axes in very skillful way, an old fashioned skill being practiced by 2 young guys. They have stones to sharpen them with (haven't seen those used since the days on the farm in Australia) and holders to carry them on their backs, when they're finished with a blowdown they run down the trail to the next one, very impressive.

Not at the Eliza Brook shelter until 4pm, 7.5 miles in 6 1/2 hours, what progress. Pushing on to Kinsman Pond and it's a murderous assent up the mountain, just climbing up this long chute full of huge rocks, roots, water, and straight up, no rest at all. The kinda reward at the top is a spectacular view of the upcoming Franconia Ridge.

Very late arrival by a beautiful pond, 11.5 miles in 10 hours, what a slog. I felt really cold standing around the shelter until we ate, lack of fuel and the tiredness from all the day caught up. The water source is the pond itself, a little iffy since you don't know what drains into it, but worked out OK.

It was already kinda dark when we got there so didn't take any pix, figured we could wait till the morrow, alas a heavy fog set in overnight so no original pix at all of such a great spot.