BIGEarl
Well-known member
June 24, 2007: Mt. Flume and Mt. Liberty
Trails: Wilderness Trail, Osseo Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail, Liberty Spring Trail
Distance – Elevation: 10.7 Miles, 3,800 Feet
This traverse of Flume and Liberty came about after my “Plan A” for the weekend fell apart thanks to uncooperative weather on Saturday. Once it was clear my Saturday plans were not possible I posted this hike and rocket21 made contact indicating he was interested. He was interested in the hike and interested in testing his knee that has been a problem in recent weeks. We finalized the plans and had a hike – a traverse of Flume and Liberty from Lincoln Woods to the northbound Basin lot in Franconia Notch.
We met at the Basin lot at a little after 7:00am, left rocket21’s truck there and headed for Lincoln Woods. Since it was only the two of us for the day we wasted no time in gearing up and hitting the trail. The first section was a 1.5 walk on the Wilderness Trail – an old logging railroad bed that follows the right bank of the East Branch of the Pemigewasset River. This first section offered a nice warm-up for the day.
Quickly we reached the Osseo Trail, which would take us to the ridge just short of the Mt. Flume summit. We had great hiking conditions. It was cool, dry, a light breeze, and no bugs. (The final point was a pleasant surprise.) The Osseo Trail is in great shape. There are no blowdowns. All ladders and log bridges couldn’t be better. As we worked our way to the ridge the conversation covered topics from hiking to work to health to baseball. It turns out we were both looking forward to seeing the final few innings of the Red Sox game later in the day. We reached the junction with the Franconia Ridge Trail (FRT) at approximately 11:00am just as another group was coming to the same place via the Flume Slide Trail. They all commented the Flume Slide Trail was in great shape – no problems at all. From here it is a quick .1 to the Mt. Flume Summit.
Mt. Flume had a good size group of people out for the day. We found approximately a dozen people there when we arrived. We had initially planned to take a break on Mt. Flume for lunch but we were running ahead of plan and decided to save our lunch for Liberty. On the summit we first noticed the amazing conditions. We could see to Mounts Ascutney and Monadnock (to the southwest), Chocorua was standing tall in the east, and well into Vermont to the northwest. Closer in we had the Pemi at our feet. What a day! We enjoyed the views from Mt. Flume, took some pictures, and headed out following the FRT to Mt. Liberty.
The 30 to 45 minute hike to Liberty was a quick .9 miles and an elevation gain of roughly 650 feet after dropping down from the Mt. Flume summit. The trail sections departing Mt. Flume and climbing Mt. Liberty are rough but the portion between is clear, fast hiking. Upon arrival we found the summit of Mt. Liberty to be a crowded place with approximately fifteen to twenty people and as some left more arrived. We took more pictures, enjoyed the view, and found a comfortable place for lunch.
While we were there a couple sat nearby for their lunch break and we struck up a conversation. They were both early in the process of working on the 4K’s. He needed both Liberty and Flume but she had already hiked Flume. During the break she decided a hike to Flume didn’t interest her. Since they were already on Liberty, Flume becomes a very cheap 4K in terms of distance and elevation. She could have simply enjoyed the sun on Liberty while he did the quick roundtrip to Flume. That didn’t seem like a good idea either. What else could we do to help this guy?
I decided to tell them about the AMC Peak Party that is held every Sunday, weather permitting on Mt. Flume. Barbecued burgers and dogs, keg of cold beer, and more. Rocket21 joined in to embellish and provided most of the actual details related to the Peak Party. The discussion continued for a good ten minutes but it didn’t work. This guy wasn’t getting the Flume checkmark on this hike. Oh well, we tried to help.
A really cool cloud floated by, we took a couple pictures, said our goodbye’s, and headed off for the trail out. It’s all downhill from here.
Back in mid-February Jennifer and I hiked to Mt. Liberty with a group that had initially planned to get both Liberty and Flume. Along the way I took some pictures of the blazes between Liberty and the FRT junction with the Liberty Spring Trail. They were only a few inches above the packed trail. Now I have pictures showing the same blazes roughly six feet up. Interesting.
The hike out was uneventful. We encountered quite a few others heading in and most likely planning to spend the night – perhaps at the Liberty Spring Campsite. On our way past the Tentsite we stopped to visit with the caretaker. He reported some tough weather over the past few days but everything was good today. Then, we met a solo hiker also headed out. She walked along with us for a while and we got to know a little about each other. The first detail I noticed was her pack – it was huge! Her size probably made it appear larger than it really was. She weighed in at 104 pounds (according to her bathroom scale) and the pack weighed in at 40+ pounds. Impressive! Eventually she stopped for a break of some sort and we continued out.
We reached the place on the Liberty Spring Trail where the trail turns off the old logging road. We stayed with the old logging road and bushwhacked to the Basin lot saving some time and distance. After a few minutes we were on the bike trail, and then in the lot. We piled into rocket21’s truck and headed for Lincoln Woods.
Rocket21 reported his knee was a little sore but not that bad. It seems he is making progress on his recovery.
Another great day in the mountains.
I posted some pictures from the day.
BIGEarl's Pictures
Trails: Wilderness Trail, Osseo Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail, Liberty Spring Trail
Distance – Elevation: 10.7 Miles, 3,800 Feet
This traverse of Flume and Liberty came about after my “Plan A” for the weekend fell apart thanks to uncooperative weather on Saturday. Once it was clear my Saturday plans were not possible I posted this hike and rocket21 made contact indicating he was interested. He was interested in the hike and interested in testing his knee that has been a problem in recent weeks. We finalized the plans and had a hike – a traverse of Flume and Liberty from Lincoln Woods to the northbound Basin lot in Franconia Notch.
We met at the Basin lot at a little after 7:00am, left rocket21’s truck there and headed for Lincoln Woods. Since it was only the two of us for the day we wasted no time in gearing up and hitting the trail. The first section was a 1.5 walk on the Wilderness Trail – an old logging railroad bed that follows the right bank of the East Branch of the Pemigewasset River. This first section offered a nice warm-up for the day.
Quickly we reached the Osseo Trail, which would take us to the ridge just short of the Mt. Flume summit. We had great hiking conditions. It was cool, dry, a light breeze, and no bugs. (The final point was a pleasant surprise.) The Osseo Trail is in great shape. There are no blowdowns. All ladders and log bridges couldn’t be better. As we worked our way to the ridge the conversation covered topics from hiking to work to health to baseball. It turns out we were both looking forward to seeing the final few innings of the Red Sox game later in the day. We reached the junction with the Franconia Ridge Trail (FRT) at approximately 11:00am just as another group was coming to the same place via the Flume Slide Trail. They all commented the Flume Slide Trail was in great shape – no problems at all. From here it is a quick .1 to the Mt. Flume Summit.
Mt. Flume had a good size group of people out for the day. We found approximately a dozen people there when we arrived. We had initially planned to take a break on Mt. Flume for lunch but we were running ahead of plan and decided to save our lunch for Liberty. On the summit we first noticed the amazing conditions. We could see to Mounts Ascutney and Monadnock (to the southwest), Chocorua was standing tall in the east, and well into Vermont to the northwest. Closer in we had the Pemi at our feet. What a day! We enjoyed the views from Mt. Flume, took some pictures, and headed out following the FRT to Mt. Liberty.
The 30 to 45 minute hike to Liberty was a quick .9 miles and an elevation gain of roughly 650 feet after dropping down from the Mt. Flume summit. The trail sections departing Mt. Flume and climbing Mt. Liberty are rough but the portion between is clear, fast hiking. Upon arrival we found the summit of Mt. Liberty to be a crowded place with approximately fifteen to twenty people and as some left more arrived. We took more pictures, enjoyed the view, and found a comfortable place for lunch.
While we were there a couple sat nearby for their lunch break and we struck up a conversation. They were both early in the process of working on the 4K’s. He needed both Liberty and Flume but she had already hiked Flume. During the break she decided a hike to Flume didn’t interest her. Since they were already on Liberty, Flume becomes a very cheap 4K in terms of distance and elevation. She could have simply enjoyed the sun on Liberty while he did the quick roundtrip to Flume. That didn’t seem like a good idea either. What else could we do to help this guy?
I decided to tell them about the AMC Peak Party that is held every Sunday, weather permitting on Mt. Flume. Barbecued burgers and dogs, keg of cold beer, and more. Rocket21 joined in to embellish and provided most of the actual details related to the Peak Party. The discussion continued for a good ten minutes but it didn’t work. This guy wasn’t getting the Flume checkmark on this hike. Oh well, we tried to help.
A really cool cloud floated by, we took a couple pictures, said our goodbye’s, and headed off for the trail out. It’s all downhill from here.
Back in mid-February Jennifer and I hiked to Mt. Liberty with a group that had initially planned to get both Liberty and Flume. Along the way I took some pictures of the blazes between Liberty and the FRT junction with the Liberty Spring Trail. They were only a few inches above the packed trail. Now I have pictures showing the same blazes roughly six feet up. Interesting.
The hike out was uneventful. We encountered quite a few others heading in and most likely planning to spend the night – perhaps at the Liberty Spring Campsite. On our way past the Tentsite we stopped to visit with the caretaker. He reported some tough weather over the past few days but everything was good today. Then, we met a solo hiker also headed out. She walked along with us for a while and we got to know a little about each other. The first detail I noticed was her pack – it was huge! Her size probably made it appear larger than it really was. She weighed in at 104 pounds (according to her bathroom scale) and the pack weighed in at 40+ pounds. Impressive! Eventually she stopped for a break of some sort and we continued out.
We reached the place on the Liberty Spring Trail where the trail turns off the old logging road. We stayed with the old logging road and bushwhacked to the Basin lot saving some time and distance. After a few minutes we were on the bike trail, and then in the lot. We piled into rocket21’s truck and headed for Lincoln Woods.
Rocket21 reported his knee was a little sore but not that bad. It seems he is making progress on his recovery.
Another great day in the mountains.
I posted some pictures from the day.
BIGEarl's Pictures
