So, it’s official.  Cannon Mountain is cursed.  After failing to summit a few weeks ago, I decided to retry the hike this weekend.  It did not go particularly well. First, my car’s battery had to be replaced the morning of, so I got a late – and expensive – start.  Then, I got lost looking for an ATM (and it turned out I didn’t actually need the extra cash, anyway). I lost a lens cap and scratched one of my favorite lens on a rock. And finally, on the way down, I fell and sprained my ankle 2 miles from the parking lot.  By the way, if you ever want to really hurt your ankle, sprain it, hike downhill 2 miles, and then roll it again at the bottom.  The swelling and bruising is an impressive sight.

But! Whining aside, it was a beautiful day, a gorgeous hike, and except for that last bit at the end, I really did enjoy myself.

The foliage is turning and all the leaves are becoming so colorful! Also, it’s been raining quite a bit this past week, so everything that was green was quite vibrant and green.  This tiny little waterfall made my day.

An example of the colorful leaves.  The yellow! The red! I didn’t manage to catch a good picture of it, but when the sunbeams hit the leaves just right, you’d swear you’d found gold.

A peaceful forest scene.  The lighting was coming through the trees just right.

Lonesome Lake again! It was a windier day, and the ripples on the water were fun to watch, although a bit blinding.

I have been informed that this is not a great foliage year (and shown the pictures to prove it) but nonetheless, the colors on all the trees were marvelous, especially when you were high enough to see them like this.

Lonesome Lake, from about 3/4 of the way up Cannon Mountain.

The view from the summit – the trees are forming stripes of colors, which delighted me to no end.  There’s a nice observation tower on top (and a tramway, so you can avoid the hike) that I took pictures from.

The tramway house, with the view off (I believe) the southern side of the mountain.  The view at the top is wonderful, so it’s a great way to get up and explore a little without hiking a cursed mountain (I wonder if it’s all the British people on Cannon? They’re surprisingly abundant there. Let’s blame the Brits.)

P.S. Due to the unfortunate lapse in mobility, blog posts may significantly decrease in the next month or so.  My apologies!