NEW HAMPSHIRE SCENES: Lonesome Lake Spring? and Spring

Micro spikes needed here.

Following through on my January resolutions to finish my painting series of the AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club) huts in their settings, I decided to hike up to Lonesome Lake, and beyond to Kinsman Ridge to get photo's of LL in its setting.

Franconian Ridge as seen from the porch of the hut.

Trail to Lonesome Lake Hut
Pastel    7 x 12

It was April 27 and Spring every where else. I expected to find patches of snow and ice, but not what I found. Trees were starting to win their jousts with the snow, though it was still three feet deep in many places, and occasional rocks were poking through the icy trail. The lake was still frozen, and Franconian Ridge, the spectacular view from the porches of the hut and bunk rooms, melted into the clouds, looking very much like winter.

Micro-spikes were required almost from the parking lot near the Lafayette Camp Grounds, but the woods were lovely and birds seemed to know it was spring. 

As with most of the other huts, the setting did not disappoint. Where the trail split to go around the lake, there was a predictable winter path that went straight through the woods and across the lake where it joined the Fishin Jimmy Trail, up past the hut and upward to the Mount Kinsman Trail, only .4 miles from North Kinsman. Although it looked like winter, on April 27 I decided NOT to cross the lake.

In the painting, follow the path as it goes up, then dips down to the frozen lake edge (two small trees poking up there). Then look across the lake. There is a hint of path going vertically up to the hut, and the horizontal bits of snow are the snow covered roofs of the hut and the row of bunk rooms. Lonesome Lake is open as a caretaker hut during the winter, so the path is well worn. Kinsman Ridge is that ridge behind the hut, another mile up. 

Curious to see the changes to the path, and collect more photos, I hiked to the hut again June 5, reconnaissance for when my "kids," and grandkids (ages 6-14) and myself return to stay over night in the hut and bag a peak or two in August. The Spring panorama of the hut will likely become another painting, or perhaps an August version when I'll have time for sketches and photos. 

Spring? or Spring, it's a good hike for kids and anyone else. I've heard there is a resident Moose that visits the lake early in the morning, and the spacious dock, just down the slope from the cabin,  is a great place to grab sun when it isn't covered with snow. 

Looking east from the hut porch
to the Franconian Ridge peaks of
Lafayette, Lincoln and Little Haystack.

Spring scene, looking across LL to Kinsman Ridge.
LLHut is between the first and second row of pines.

Be sure to check my website where I have numerous paintings of White Mountain trails and paths.