I want to do a day hike in the northern enchantments this summer with Cannon mountain being the first part of it then going on to Shield lake and some of those others. It's looking like it's going to be about 10 or 11 miles. From what I've read, the northeast ridge route starting on the old road and then going through the burn is the best way. I was wondering if maybe it would be faster to head straight SE from the TH and go up to the ridge through the undamaged part of the forest not having to climb over all those trees and saving almost a mile. Would the forest make for even thicker foliage and slower going? Any thoughts?

I have done the NE ridge of Cannon and put up a page for it you can check it out if you want. That route sucks fairly bad but it really isnt any better to hike to Colchuck Lake and hike up Aasgard. All routes up Cannon are long slogs but the views are great. I am fairly certain the burn area is the easiest because the forested areas can be hard to schwack through.

Thanks, I read the page but I wanted to know if anyone had tried anything different. Looks like a no, probably for good reason.