27 September 2017: Cannon Mountain

I intended to go a bit further north today but had trouble getting out of bed in time so i opted for something right off the interstate: Cannon Mountain.

History: Formerly known as Profile Mountain due to the mountain providing the location of the Old Man on the Mountain on its eastern ledges, the mountain was renamed to Cannon Mountain in 1972 by the US Board on Geographic names. This name change came about as the mountain appears to resemble, in conjunction with the sub peaks known as the Cannon Balls, an antique cannon. There was also mention that this peak was also once referred to as Frank Mountain, but I haven’t seen much for supporting documentation.


Peak Elevation: 4028 ft.
Elevation Gain: 2027
Trail: Kinsman Ridge, North trailhead, Rim Trail
Length: 5ish mi
Time on Trail: 0930
Time off Trail: 1330


This hike was a pretty easy straight shot up Cannon. The allure of possibly having a beer at the café at the top was a good motivator. The slopes on this hike were a bit on the steep side but not all too bad. It would have been an easy hike were it not for the sections of eroded trail. This trail crosses the ski trails a few times before veering toward profile ledge, then to the summit of Cannon. The ledge was pretty cool – I imagine a good spot for peeping during foliage season. The trip up also included me encountering a hiker who forgot her boots, so she ventured out in what were bacsically boat shoes to the tiop. Im sure shes seasoned hiker so I just kind of laughed it off but damn. I reached the top and knew the trip down would be quick due to gravity assist, so I took my time to explore the top of Cannon, including the tram station and observation deck. I also did a lap around the rim trail whch had a number of benches one could stop and relax at. I wasn’t too puckish so I drank a lot of water and had a handful of trail mix in the shade of the tram station before descending. The decent was ok, I recalled where the eroded section was and nearly avoided taking any spills. This was a fun, quick and worthwhile solo hike.

Photos:

Cannon Mountain 27SEP17

This is a slightly backdated entry made a bit later in 2017 than the date listed suggests.