Kilkenny Ridge Trail Loop

Lori and I set out in the afternoon for the first leg of our 2-night backpacking trip in New Hampshire. We went up the Mill Pond Trail 4.5 miles, and camped at the Roger's Ledge campsite the first night. Thunderstorm in the middle of the night! Next day we explored the Rogers Ledge, which added 1.4 miles to our total. Great vistas. Heading back south, we found water right after passing the Mill Brook Trail. We hiked along Kilkenny Ridge Trail past Kilback Pond, where we saw beaver dams but no beavers. Next hiked through pretty dense forest, gaining almost 1000ft elevation to Unknown Pond, where there is an established campsite. We saw no people. Very pretty pond. After that, it was up up, up for the rest of the day, mixed in with disappointing descents as we lost the elevation we gained, only to gain it again. We climbed up to the summit of The Horn, where we scrambled up the rocks to see the expansive 360-degree views. Could see Mt Washington to the south, and lots of other mountains. It was gorgeous! Next it was The Bulge, a forested summit we only noticed because we walked on the level for a few hundred feet. Finally attained Mt Cabot, a 4000 footer. We were tired and looking for a place to set up our tents, but it was super windy up there. We slogged onward another mile to the Mt Cabot Cabin, and were happy to find it empty. Hiked around 8 miles that day and had a great night's sleep. In the morning, we backtracked to a spur trail to a spring that was mentioned in a guidebook and also posted on a note in the cabin. The note said the spring was farther down the trail than expected and that it was easy to miss. As I was completely out of water, I was motivated to find it, as the map indicated we'd next find water in 5 miles. (a lie, as it turns out). Anyway, I hiked down, down, down on a barely detectable trail, pushing through dense brush and pine boughs, losing lots and lots of elevation. The trail kept going and I never found the spring. Eventually I turned back, empty handed. Back on the trail, we lost all our elevation in short order, and picked up the Bunnell Notch Trail, which had plenty of water. We hiked 7 miles back to the road, including 2 miles on the road back to the fish hatchery parking lot. This was a great trip, and in early September, the temps were lovely and there were no bugs. The trail was well marked in most sections. Lots of rocks and roots, of course. Very remote and isolated. We saw 6 people the entire three days.