Many years ago I hiked the complete Kinsman Ridge Trail, and have always remembered with great pleasure the stretch of trail that follows Eliza Brook up the mountain. I also wanted to redline the Reel Brook Trail. So earlier in the summer of 2004 I had planned a loop hike with a friend: up the Reel Brook, Eliza Brook and Kinsman Ridge trails and down by the Mt. Kinsman trail, starting and ending on NH 116. That did not come off, and on October 24th of that year I joined the "kinder, gentler Wednesday Group" for that hike. It was a challenging but delightful day.
The Reel Brook Trail follows old logging roads through excellent open hardwoods, and there still was quite a bit of color left. We got the first view of Bog Pond when we crossed the power lines, and also saw lots of color there. Shortly after crossing Eliza Brook the trail rejoins the brook, and rises at its side. There are steep sections, but as a reward we saw many cascades; this is truly a "falling waters" trail! When the going was less steep we saw pools of quiet water. This section of less than a mile was the high point of the trip.
After crossing the Eliza Brook for the second time the trail rises more steeply to reach Harrington Pond, completely surrounded by bogs. We stopped on the bog bridges to admire the pond and the shoulder of South Kinsman that rises abruptly above it.
The trail only rises 1,000 feet over a mile between Harrington Pond and South Kinsman. But that reasonable average grade hides a very steep and rocky section that was aerobically "stimulating" or "challenging", depending on your fitness! Though steep and rocky it was nowhere "technically" difficult, with lots of excellent foot and hand holds. Still, I would hate to do it (in either direction) with a full pack.
As we approached South Kinsman we found white stuff on the ground, much (most??) seemed to be rime ice that had fallen off the trees.
The day was glorious, not a cloud and hardly a breeze, so we had a long and leisurely lunch on the summit. We were now on the beaten path, and first followed the Kinsman Ridge Trail along the ridge and up to North Kinsman, where we briefly stopped at the outlook. We then took the Mt. Kinsman Trail, with a detour for the views from Bald Knob. Going down the Kinsman Ridge Trail from both summits we met some nasty icy patches on rock slabs, I negotiated several of them in a sitting position. Great loss of dignity, but beats getting hurt.
By my calculation the trip, including the side trip to Bald Knob, was 11.8 miles and 3,600 feet of elevation gain.
Over dinner we all agreed that the hike was an excellent one, though not one to be repeated every year.