amstony
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- Apr 24, 2004
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You could not have asked for a better Friday to have off! 
At 5:30 AM I rolled out of Nashua and headed North arriving at the Franconia Notch Old Bridal Path trailhead at 7:10 AM. I was testing my legs- having seemingly recovered from the knee issue. The plan for the day involved a loop of the Franconia Ridge trail from Liberty over to Lafeyette and back down to the OBP trailhead- Making for a nice 13.9 mile loop. To do it involved a road walk from OBP along the Franconia Notch Rail Trail over to the Liberty Springs trail up to the Franconia Ridge trail, over to Mt. Liberty and then back across the Notch trail over to Haystack, Lincoln and Mt. Lafeyette, then down to the hut and out the OBP trail where my car was awaiting.
At 7:25 I headed out towards the Notch bike trail, connectng at the lafeyette campground and then walking south towards the Basin and on past it to the Liberty Spring trailhead, where I'd finally begin the ascent to the Franconia Notch trail. As I set out I had the trail all to myself, passing one bike rider and some NH park employees getting facilities opened for the day. 44 minutes later I was the Liberty Springs trail. When I reached it I felt great and headed UP the trail. The rocks brought back memories from 3 long years ago, when this was my first 4000 footer ascent. Nothing had changed, just rocks, rocks and more rocks..... I passed the Lierty Springs tent site and quickly was at the trail junction and then Libertys summit. The trip from the start of the Liberty Spring trail to the summit was 1:57:30, way faster than book time. The views were great all the way around!
Then it was off to Lafeyette where I once again had this part of the Notch trail totally to myself, I felt like I owned the trail! Along the way I went over Haystack and Lincoln, not meeting anyone until I reached Haystacks summit, the junction of the Falling Waters and Franconia Ridge trails. The views were AWESOME! I continued on and then reached Lincoln, passing several large groups and individual hikers along the way. The trail was no longer "mine" , I had to share it with everyone else.
Lafeyette seemed to take forever to reach, but looking at it coming closer and closer just seemed to speed me up........ I started running portions of the trail. I passed a few more hikers and was soon close to Lafeyette, where all notions of running ended. I reached the summit at 12:11 PM, exactly 4 hours after heading up the Liberty Springs trail for Liberty. After a 2 minute stop for lunch and a picture I was gone again and trucking towards the hut.
Then the trail got crowded as large groups headed up from the hut. Including a really large church group in slacks and polo shirts, and some large camp/school groups. I had planned a hut stop but the place was packed and I blew by it. I headed down The Old Bridal path trail and was at the OBP lot at 2:16 PM, exactly 6 hrs and 50 minutes after leaving, including the bike trail walk. All told it was 13.9 miles, 4600 feet elevation gain.
And then I got more adventurous. After eating a power gel, drinking some water, I put on my sneakers and walked back up to the Falling Waters Trail to get some waterfall pics! With all the rain this year they were in good form and I wanted some pics!
What a day!!!!!!!!
At 5:30 AM I rolled out of Nashua and headed North arriving at the Franconia Notch Old Bridal Path trailhead at 7:10 AM. I was testing my legs- having seemingly recovered from the knee issue. The plan for the day involved a loop of the Franconia Ridge trail from Liberty over to Lafeyette and back down to the OBP trailhead- Making for a nice 13.9 mile loop. To do it involved a road walk from OBP along the Franconia Notch Rail Trail over to the Liberty Springs trail up to the Franconia Ridge trail, over to Mt. Liberty and then back across the Notch trail over to Haystack, Lincoln and Mt. Lafeyette, then down to the hut and out the OBP trail where my car was awaiting.
At 7:25 I headed out towards the Notch bike trail, connectng at the lafeyette campground and then walking south towards the Basin and on past it to the Liberty Spring trailhead, where I'd finally begin the ascent to the Franconia Notch trail. As I set out I had the trail all to myself, passing one bike rider and some NH park employees getting facilities opened for the day. 44 minutes later I was the Liberty Springs trail. When I reached it I felt great and headed UP the trail. The rocks brought back memories from 3 long years ago, when this was my first 4000 footer ascent. Nothing had changed, just rocks, rocks and more rocks.....
I passed the Lierty Springs tent site and quickly was at the trail junction and then Libertys summit. The trip from the start of the Liberty Spring trail to the summit was 1:57:30, way faster than book time. The views were great all the way around! Then it was off to Lafeyette where I once again had this part of the Notch trail totally to myself, I felt like I owned the trail! Along the way I went over Haystack and Lincoln, not meeting anyone until I reached Haystacks summit, the junction of the Falling Waters and Franconia Ridge trails. The views were AWESOME! I continued on and then reached Lincoln, passing several large groups and individual hikers along the way. The trail was no longer "mine"
, I had to share it with everyone else.Lafeyette seemed to take forever to reach, but looking at it coming closer and closer just seemed to speed me up........ I started running portions of the trail. I passed a few more hikers and was soon close to Lafeyette, where all notions of running ended. I reached the summit at 12:11 PM, exactly 4 hours after heading up the Liberty Springs trail for Liberty. After a 2 minute stop for lunch and a picture I was gone again and trucking towards the hut.
Then the trail got crowded as large groups headed up from the hut. Including a really large church group in slacks and polo shirts, and some large camp/school groups. I had planned a hut stop but the place was packed and I blew by it. I headed down The Old Bridal path trail and was at the OBP lot at 2:16 PM, exactly 6 hrs and 50 minutes after leaving, including the bike trail walk. All told it was 13.9 miles, 4600 feet elevation gain.
And then I got more adventurous. After eating a power gel, drinking some water, I put on my sneakers and walked back up to the Falling Waters Trail to get some waterfall pics! With all the rain this year they were in good form and I wanted some pics!
What a day!!!!!!!!
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