The day started with a planning conflict during a family trip to Lincoln, NH. They wanted to be touristy; I wanted to climb a mountain. The only issue was that we all had tickets for the Cannon Mountain cable car; whatever I did had to be fast. Consulting my map, Wildcat D seemed like an appropriate hike.

I arrived to the trailhead at noon and wasted no time starting up the mountain. The trail wasted no time, either! I had to scramble up in order to meet my time deadline, so I didn’t have much time to enjoy any view. I made it to the top of Wildcat D and chilled for a few minutes at the top of the ski lift. Climbing one of the lift towers for a better view, I thought about how Wildcat D reminds me of Elk Mountain back home. It’s a ski mountain and the best view is from atop the lift.

Once I was done at the top, I ran down and booked it to Franconia Notch!

Meeting my family in just the nick of time, we boarded the cable car and began up. Like the rest of Franconia Notch, it was gorgeous! The view at the top was much better than at Wildcat, especially in the evening sun. We summited Cannon as a family and enjoyed the leisurely trip down.