jdgibney
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- Joined
- Jan 17, 2012
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- 246
I figured I'd post one of my NH trip reports, this one from the Franconia Notch area of the White Mountain National Forest. We tackled two more of the 48 4,000 footers in the granite state.
Photos and Tracks at Gib's Adventures
Friday, Meg, Scott and I did our first climb up to Franconia Ridge bagging Liberty and Flume. The weather was absolutely perfect and the views stunning in all directions.
In planning this trip, I kicked around the idea of getting up ridiculously early (2AM) and trying to make it up to Sugar Hill to get some sunrise photos of the Lupines (something I’ve been talking about doing for a few years, but have yet to do… they’ll be there next year), but I shot that idea down knowing it was going to be a full day of hiking for us. Scott said he would join us if ‘we’ could get back by 6PM (which I interpreted to mean back to my place in Nashua, more on that later)… So, I planned the trip backwards, estimating the time for driving, hiking and driving, and I came to the conclusion that we should leave at 3:45…which we did. There was not a cloud in the sky, though plenty of stars and the moon were shining bright!
We picked up Meg, and were on the road from Bedford by 4:15 and our usual Dunkins (on Back River Road) wasn’t even open yet! We did hit one up near Tilton on the drive up. My goal was to be on the trail by 6, and we were pretty dang close hitting the trail at 6:10. It was in the mid 40′s when we departed which was chilly but comfortable. We ended up parking at the shuttle stop just north of the Flume Visitor Center and taking the Pemi Trail through the woods to the Whitehouse Trail. I stopped at the river to take some quick photos, and then we continued up the road, over the bridge and met up with the Liberty Spring Trail at 6:40. We decided that we were going to go up and back down the LST as opposed to the Flume Slide trail. I think we probably would have been ok going up it, but with the recent rain, I decided to play it safe. The LST was in good shape, save for a little mud/wetness in the lower sections. It was a gradual climb until the junction of Flume Slide Trail (7AM), and picked up a little bit after. By this time, the blood was flowing and we were down to short sleeves.
I never got the feeling that it was steep, but in the 2 miles from the Flume Slide Trail to the Tentsite, it was a constant climb. We took plenty of short breaks along the way, as is the norm for us, but we never got discouraged. It took us just over 2 hours to reach the tent site where we met a younger dude from Maine at the caretaker’s tent who, from what I gathered was thru-hiking but found out his mom was very sick, so he was waiting to figure out how to to get back to Maine. We spent a few minutes talking about parents, and stuff like that, and not forgetting our dad’s this weekend (mine passed away 3.5 years ago, so today, Sunday, is a tough day for me), and we continued up the trail. We passed a couple of other Thru-hikers that we met up with again at the top of the trail where it meets the Franconia Ridge Trail, one of which had been hiking up from West Virginia (the northern half of the AT).
We reached the Ridge at 9:25 and I was excited to hit Liberty’s Summit. The skies were clear, and as we were hiking along the ridge, we began to get glimpses of the views, especially as we begin climbing up towards the rocky summit. We stopped for some pictures at the first clearing, north of the actual summit, and were just amazed. I would have to say that these are the best views I’ve had on any hike thus far, with Osceola last fall being a close second. We climbed up the big rocky summit at 945 and took some photos of the amazing views, and the goggle photo. We managed to sneak it in before an extremely nice older gentleman joined us on the summit. Upon learning it was our first time on the ridge, he was eager to point out the summits (many of which we had figured out, but we were happy to listen to an experienced hiker). He shared a few stories with us and then disappeared towards Flume. We packed our stuff and headed for Flume ourselves after about a half hour’s rest. Seeing the summit from Liberty, it looked further away than it was, and even though we were descending 5-600 feet knowing we’d have to climb back up, it wasn’t too bad of a hike. We passed the same older hiker on his way back (he was hiking the length of the ridge) and two more people, a younger girl who appeared in a hurry, and another dude who let us know that we’d have the summit to ourselves (which we’ve been fortunate enough to have for many of our hikes). Sure enough, we reached the summit at 11:15 and there was not a soul in sight. We opened up the bags and devoured some snacks as we were all starving. I tend not to eat enough when I’m hiking, but this day I was definitely starving. The bugs were pretty bad though I didn’t suffer any bites that I can tell… the Ben’s bug spray seems to do a decent job. Another guy had come up the Flume Slide Trail and stopped to talk with us for a bit on the summit. We took his photo and he took one of the three of us (sans goggles).
After about 40 minutes, we packed back up and headed back towards Liberty. The climb back up was a little tiring and we stopped a few times to catch our breath. By the time we reached the summit again, I was starting to get concerned with the time. I had hoped to get back down and on the road by 4PM. It was 1 when we reached Liberty and we only stopped for about 5 minutes so I could take a few more photos. The bugs started swarming and there was a trio of hikers (appeared to be a dad with two daughters/daughter and friend), and we didn’t want to disturb them so we continued on the Ridge Trail.
We reached the junction with Liberty Spring trail at 1:20 and the tent site 15 minutes later. I didn’t take too many photos on the descent as I was focused on getting back down by 4. The climb down between the tent site and the Flume Slide Trail (2 miles) seemed to take forever, and it was painful. It reminded me of my first big hike last fall when we climbed to Pierce and Eisenhower. The descent wasn’t extremely steep but we were exhausted and our legs, knees and feet were feeling it. We reached the Flume Slide Trail at 3:15 and the Whitehouse Trail at 3:30. We made it back to the car just before 4PM and I was optimistic we’d be able to make it home by 6 including our traditional stop at the Irving/Circle K off exit 23. Sure enough, I pulled into my parking spot as the clock turned 6PM. Unfortunately, I learned that Scott meant that he wanted to be HOME by 6PM (another 25 minutes away), and it was all for not! He was appreciative of the effort, however, and I was impressed by my planning and execution, but I don’t mind patting myself on the back.
It was a great day with a challenging hike, rewarding views, a couple of solid conversations with strangers, and an all around fun time. Liberty and Flume were #15/16 for me, 11/12 for Meg and 4/5 for Scott. I’m not sure what’s next, but it will be (weather permitting) on Friday, June 22 if anyone has any suggestions!
Thanks for reading!
Photos and Tracks at Gib's Adventures
Friday, Meg, Scott and I did our first climb up to Franconia Ridge bagging Liberty and Flume. The weather was absolutely perfect and the views stunning in all directions.
In planning this trip, I kicked around the idea of getting up ridiculously early (2AM) and trying to make it up to Sugar Hill to get some sunrise photos of the Lupines (something I’ve been talking about doing for a few years, but have yet to do… they’ll be there next year), but I shot that idea down knowing it was going to be a full day of hiking for us. Scott said he would join us if ‘we’ could get back by 6PM (which I interpreted to mean back to my place in Nashua, more on that later)… So, I planned the trip backwards, estimating the time for driving, hiking and driving, and I came to the conclusion that we should leave at 3:45…which we did. There was not a cloud in the sky, though plenty of stars and the moon were shining bright!
We picked up Meg, and were on the road from Bedford by 4:15 and our usual Dunkins (on Back River Road) wasn’t even open yet! We did hit one up near Tilton on the drive up. My goal was to be on the trail by 6, and we were pretty dang close hitting the trail at 6:10. It was in the mid 40′s when we departed which was chilly but comfortable. We ended up parking at the shuttle stop just north of the Flume Visitor Center and taking the Pemi Trail through the woods to the Whitehouse Trail. I stopped at the river to take some quick photos, and then we continued up the road, over the bridge and met up with the Liberty Spring Trail at 6:40. We decided that we were going to go up and back down the LST as opposed to the Flume Slide trail. I think we probably would have been ok going up it, but with the recent rain, I decided to play it safe. The LST was in good shape, save for a little mud/wetness in the lower sections. It was a gradual climb until the junction of Flume Slide Trail (7AM), and picked up a little bit after. By this time, the blood was flowing and we were down to short sleeves.
I never got the feeling that it was steep, but in the 2 miles from the Flume Slide Trail to the Tentsite, it was a constant climb. We took plenty of short breaks along the way, as is the norm for us, but we never got discouraged. It took us just over 2 hours to reach the tent site where we met a younger dude from Maine at the caretaker’s tent who, from what I gathered was thru-hiking but found out his mom was very sick, so he was waiting to figure out how to to get back to Maine. We spent a few minutes talking about parents, and stuff like that, and not forgetting our dad’s this weekend (mine passed away 3.5 years ago, so today, Sunday, is a tough day for me), and we continued up the trail. We passed a couple of other Thru-hikers that we met up with again at the top of the trail where it meets the Franconia Ridge Trail, one of which had been hiking up from West Virginia (the northern half of the AT).
We reached the Ridge at 9:25 and I was excited to hit Liberty’s Summit. The skies were clear, and as we were hiking along the ridge, we began to get glimpses of the views, especially as we begin climbing up towards the rocky summit. We stopped for some pictures at the first clearing, north of the actual summit, and were just amazed. I would have to say that these are the best views I’ve had on any hike thus far, with Osceola last fall being a close second. We climbed up the big rocky summit at 945 and took some photos of the amazing views, and the goggle photo. We managed to sneak it in before an extremely nice older gentleman joined us on the summit. Upon learning it was our first time on the ridge, he was eager to point out the summits (many of which we had figured out, but we were happy to listen to an experienced hiker). He shared a few stories with us and then disappeared towards Flume. We packed our stuff and headed for Flume ourselves after about a half hour’s rest. Seeing the summit from Liberty, it looked further away than it was, and even though we were descending 5-600 feet knowing we’d have to climb back up, it wasn’t too bad of a hike. We passed the same older hiker on his way back (he was hiking the length of the ridge) and two more people, a younger girl who appeared in a hurry, and another dude who let us know that we’d have the summit to ourselves (which we’ve been fortunate enough to have for many of our hikes). Sure enough, we reached the summit at 11:15 and there was not a soul in sight. We opened up the bags and devoured some snacks as we were all starving. I tend not to eat enough when I’m hiking, but this day I was definitely starving. The bugs were pretty bad though I didn’t suffer any bites that I can tell… the Ben’s bug spray seems to do a decent job. Another guy had come up the Flume Slide Trail and stopped to talk with us for a bit on the summit. We took his photo and he took one of the three of us (sans goggles).
After about 40 minutes, we packed back up and headed back towards Liberty. The climb back up was a little tiring and we stopped a few times to catch our breath. By the time we reached the summit again, I was starting to get concerned with the time. I had hoped to get back down and on the road by 4PM. It was 1 when we reached Liberty and we only stopped for about 5 minutes so I could take a few more photos. The bugs started swarming and there was a trio of hikers (appeared to be a dad with two daughters/daughter and friend), and we didn’t want to disturb them so we continued on the Ridge Trail.
We reached the junction with Liberty Spring trail at 1:20 and the tent site 15 minutes later. I didn’t take too many photos on the descent as I was focused on getting back down by 4. The climb down between the tent site and the Flume Slide Trail (2 miles) seemed to take forever, and it was painful. It reminded me of my first big hike last fall when we climbed to Pierce and Eisenhower. The descent wasn’t extremely steep but we were exhausted and our legs, knees and feet were feeling it. We reached the Flume Slide Trail at 3:15 and the Whitehouse Trail at 3:30. We made it back to the car just before 4PM and I was optimistic we’d be able to make it home by 6 including our traditional stop at the Irving/Circle K off exit 23. Sure enough, I pulled into my parking spot as the clock turned 6PM. Unfortunately, I learned that Scott meant that he wanted to be HOME by 6PM (another 25 minutes away), and it was all for not! He was appreciative of the effort, however, and I was impressed by my planning and execution, but I don’t mind patting myself on the back.
It was a great day with a challenging hike, rewarding views, a couple of solid conversations with strangers, and an all around fun time. Liberty and Flume were #15/16 for me, 11/12 for Meg and 4/5 for Scott. I’m not sure what’s next, but it will be (weather permitting) on Friday, June 22 if anyone has any suggestions!
Thanks for reading!
