Cannon Balls, NE Peak

"A hike for a Calendar Day and for Molly's Grid. We did a car spot so we could grab NE Cannonball for her NEHHw. From Lafayette Campground, we hiked up a hard packed trail up to Lonesome Lake. We then hiked into the col. A short steep hike took us to NE Cannonball. We carefully came down (some slick spots) then headed up Cannon. There was a lot of really icy areas and we had to go off trail for a few of them. Once above them, it was a quick hike to the summit of Cannon. It was windy on the summit and some low cloud cover. We were not socked in, but Franconia Ridge was not visible. We came down the KRT down to the Tramway." — newenglandwarrior • Mar 2, 2024

"A great day for this hike - warm and sunny...until the last few miles where it poured for 20 minutes! This felt great, for the first 5 minutes and then the trail became a stream and well, ya know :) Thanksfully we were done with the major drop by then. Started at Lafayette Campground to the Ridge Trail, over the Cannon Balls to the Kinsmen and down the Reel Brook Trail. Somewhere around 14 miles and 5000 ft of gain. Fun day." — deb-and-rob • Aug 15, 2020

"2 semaines solo de pure plaisir à faire du hiking à différentes places dont les Whites Moutains.3ieme journée et je suis enfin rendu dans les Whites!!! Je commence avec cette suite exigeante de sommets. De Cannon à Kinsman. La vue est malheureusement complètement obstrué par le brouillard. Je ne peux pas admirer la vu du notch" — fsoucy76 • Sep 19, 2018

"WHAT A DAY! High 40's with lots of sun....we hit lonesome lake and then headed up to meet Kinsman Ridge for a very steep climb up the backside of Cannon. It was adventurous to say the least. Snagged this ball with a little off road adventure. Great views of Cannon at different stopping points and of Liberty Rock." — shay-shay • Jan 11, 2017

"On the way up, I saw a set of prints heading down the Cannon Balls. I decided to follow them after doing the Kinsmans. Ankle deep snow and snowpack that covered icy areas. But I did summit NE Cannonballs. Got in some quality butt sledding too." — newenglandwarrior • Feb 28, 2016

"A nice 12+ mile loop starting at Lafayette Campground heading up to Cannon via the Hi-Cannon trail and then taking the Kinsman Ridge Trail over the Cannon Balls to North Kinsman and then South Kinsman and then returning via the Fishin' Jimmy Trail to Lafayette Campground. Met quite a few thru hikers (Gonzo, Nacho Libre, Big Ben, Aussie) plus quite a few day hikers" — markst-john • Jul 3, 2015

"I did a solo hike via lonesome lake to hi-cannon to kinsman ridge, over to the Cannonballs, and back down via kinsman ridge to lonesome lake. I had a nice bowl of pumpkin spice soup and an apple spice cake square at lonesome lake hut on the way back. needed it after that top section of kinsman ridge trail near Cannon Mt., the ups and downs over and back through the Cannon Balls and the steep section below NE Cannonball, especially the up parts. I saw the helicopters dropping supplies to the huts. Gorgeous day, but glad I didn't bring a dog. A few spooky spots for canines. Check out my Cannon Mountain summit post on here for more pictures." — Hufflepuff • Sep 6, 2013

"Summited Cannon & both Kinsmans via Kinsman Ridge Trail, following an overnight ice storm. 10-hr day ending with an overnight at LL Hut. Everything was great except for Fishing Jimmy Trail, and the gluten-free brownies in the Hut... :-(" — thomaspatterson • Sep 11, 2011