Eagle Pass, Greenleaf Hut, Lafayette, Monkey Trunks pics and vid

[Chip]

I thought it was a good omen that I recognized Swamp by his avatar in the parking lot of Price Chopper Saturday afternoon. Actually he recognized me by my avatar (as I was "out") after I asked him about the Woodstock Brown Ale he was carrying. Good conversation later he was heading to Barnes to see who was there. Good to meet you, Swamp. I thought it was a bad omen, though, when I slowed to pick up the grey haired hitch-hiker coming out of Franconia Notch SP and my wife reminded me he'd have to sit on her lap as we were loaded up. Sorry to you, grey haired hitch-hiker.

So me, my wife, older son G-Money and younger son Ben Henry got up early on Sunday to hike Greenleaf Trail to the hut and then to see how we all felt. Eagle Pass was beautiful on the way up and I promised the boys they could do some 'splorin' on the way back down. After a bit of trail scramble and the stank of the septic treatment below, we reached Greenleaf Hut in about 2 hours. Surprisingly my older son was spent (he hadn't slept well) and my younger son was chomping at the bit, so after a brief break and pack re-org, Ben and I left Diane and Grant and headed to Lafayette. We summitted in about 45 minutes, took pics and vid and headed back down. Views were okay but there seemed to be some weather moving in, so I was glad we were heading down and out as MANY were heading up.

Diane and Grant were very happy to have waited at the hut and see us summit. At 11:50 we headed back down Greenleaf Trail, stopping to let the boys do some scrambling in Eagle Pass and were at the truck by 1:30. Brief stop at The Beacon for deod and clean shirts and we headed over the Kank to meet Paradox and his younger son at Monkey Trunks for some rope induced Aerial Emasculation . Good weekend.

Pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ChipDiane/NH9510LafayetteViaGreenleaf#

Vid of summit:
http://www.youtube.com/user/yourobtuseness?feature=mhum

thanks for looking !

 

[Tom Rankin]

Great summit shots and way to go Ben!

Also, cool pics of the ropes!

 

[Paradox]

Well done Ben! I liked the oil spill demonstration.

 

[erugs]

Good to see how the trip worked out for you and the family. Nice trail, huh? The ropes course looks crowded!

 

[Taconic]

So that's what the place with all of the nets and ropes near Chocorua is. I've passed it a few times and have been wondering about it for a while.

Nice pics. Looked like a good day for Lafayette.

 

[erugs]

That type of "park" is popping up all over the place. I've seen them in Lincoln and along Route 1 in Maine, as well as the one on Rte. 16. Would like to give it a try...

 

[Chip]

FWIW: My wife took my younger son last year while my older son and I did the Flags 9/11 Memorial hike. He had the place to himself and ran wild. This past weekend (Labor Day) it was quite crowded and the stations between challenges would get quite backed up and progress was pretty slow.

Oh, and Paradox and Grant DO NOT recommend the death drop by harness swing exit option .

 

[hikes-with-him]

That looked like a GREAT HIKE!!!

Interesting what that trail and the surroundings actually LOOK like...we were pretty much socked in when we did it.

GREAT trip!