Mount Kinsman hike.

The Mount Kinsman hike on June 25 was terrific. We spent seven hours walking on the Kinsman trail and saw some great views from Bald Peak halfway to the top and from the North Kinsman summit. Better yet, all six of us managed to do the whole hike, and not a single drop of rain fell on us. The participants were: Allan Gurtan, Yuhua Hu, Jonathan Mendenhall, Serena Povia, Jasmine Sandhu and myself (Yakov Shapiro).

Yuhua and Jonathan each took lots of pictures during the hike and posted them on their web pages for others to see. The pictures marked with (Y) are by Yuhua, and those with a (J) are by Jonathan.

First shot.
The road to the unknown... (J) 		Second shot.
... continues through the woods. (J) 		Third shot.
We cristened this an orchid, for lack of better name. (Y)
[But the elusive flower turned out to be a ladyslipper.]
Fourth shot.
An impressive view from Bald Peak. (J) 		Fifth shot.
Serena enjoys the scenic outlook. (Y) 		Sixth shot.
Allan is as neat on the hike as in a classroom. (Y)
Seventh shot.
"Is this where we're going? Wow!". (J) 		Eighth shot.
The weather seems to get worse by the hour. (J) 		Ninth shot.
Actually, it gets worse by the minute. (J)
Tenth shot.
But we keep going and see some more fancy flowers. (J) 		11th shot.
Jonathan is not intimidated by the steep ascent. (Y) 		12th shot.
Trees are our friends: a serious emergency rarely happens below treeline. (J)
13th shot.
I am delighted to finally make it to the top almost four hours after leaving the trailhead. (Y) 		14th shot.
Fear of height is unknown to Yuhua. (This cliff, unlike others on the pictures, really is as steep as it looks.) (J) 		15th shot.
Jonathan poses on the ledge, with Franconia Ridge looming in the background. (J)
16th shot.
A tower marks the top of Cannon Mtn. in the distance. (J) 		17th shot.
The imposing Franconia Ridge towers across the valley. (J) 		18th shot.
We never passed by this picturesque Kinsman Pond on the other side of Kinsman Mtn. (J)
19th shot.
Jasmine is happy to be at the summit. (Y) 		20th shot.
Allan can use his sombrero as a parachute if he falls. (J) 		21st shot.
Yuhua and Jasmine add a spark to the hike. (Y)
22nd shot.
Serena looks seductive at the edge of the abyss. (J) 		23rd shot.
I estimate the kinetic energy of my body upon impact. (J) 		24th shot.
And here we are, in all our glory! (Y)
Top row, left to right: Allan, Yakov, Jonathan.
Bottom row, left to right: Yuhua, Serena, Jasmine.