Tuco
New member
My brother in law (BIL), who has modest non-NH hiking experience was up from NYC and wanted me to take him on a challenging hike above treeline. Two options I thought of were Baldface circle trail or the Franconia Ridge loop- Falling Waters-FRT- Old Bridle Path. Took the latter as the option since I hate the drive (timewise) to Baldface.
10/1-
Headed up Falling Waters at 8:00am, lots of nice water flow early and the beautiful waterfall a mile or so in. Trail was already like a highway- with all stopping for pictures along the way. Trail turns relatively steep- ran into a USFS Ranger with an axe that was clearing some blowdown ahead of us- nice service if you can get it
. Lots of people stopping and resting on the trail- right on the trail- nice day in the woods so I avoided getting too upset. Headed out on little Haystack around 11:00 to a chilly breeze- immediately donned fleece- the theme along the way would be to drop down besides the rocks to avoid the breeze. Really not bad at all, just a little chilly. The conga line continued up to Lincoln and then Lafayette- saw more dogs hiking than ever before. All incredibly well behaved. Brother in law was in awe of the above tree line stuff. On Lincoln a glider buzzed us closely a few times. Headed down towards Greenleaf, and immediately the descent started taking its toll on my BIL- all of the jarring from the rocks down into the OBP for a bit. He said it wasn’t a trail, but a bunch of rocks. Welcome to the Whites While near the Greenleaf Hut, two A10 Warthogs shot by overhead- didn’t get as good a view as on 9/11 but still very cool. Got out with the BIL enjoying every minute- but asking that next time lets just do 1 short peak.
10/2
i12climbup (Rob) was coming up for a NH stay, and we planned on doing- yes, the Franconia Ridge around Falling Waters and OBP. Didn’t mind the instant replay- it’s a great hike. Met at 7:30, chatted and ran into Mad Townie who was doing the same loop in reverse. We headed off at- 8:00am, déjà vu. Warmer day Sunday- immediately we began leap frogging with several groups- the worst being a group of 10 with kids that would go ahead of us and stop and stand all over the trail. When we got to Shining rock Rob went for a peek and then we ran up to avoid the constant battle to get around them Sat at Little Haystack, warm with almost no breeze. Crowded, with a group that also contained a lot of kids. In this group, I saw one kid throwing rocks off the side and as Rob and I left two kids were sitting right in the middle of the trail- on a rock with a blaze no less. Great weather lots of pictures. Had the summit of Lincoln to ourselves for a few minutes- even with the crowds. On the way to Lafayette we passed the VFTT Franconia Ridge Traversers who were heading to Lincoln Woods. Stopped for a few minutes and had intros and chatted a bit- nice to meet and see you all- and then headed to Lafayette. Crowded like Little Haystack- and particularly buggy- much more so than Saturday. Trip down was uneventful, other than passing another group of VFTT’ers including LittleBear, Pat and Audrey (apologies for forgetting the butterfly charmer’s handle- can’t put the letters in the right order…).
Summary- two great days, this is just a great loop hike.- would have been perfect with less crowds but hey- I am sure many felt the same way. A lot of time spent stepping off the trail to let people go. Hike time for both days was within 5 minutes of each other- if anything I am slow but consistent.
Now, after a multiple day hike weekend, can somebody help me get this noose off my neck before Mrs. Tuco (AKA Blondie) kicks out the stool.
Pictures to follow for Saturday and Rob will post Sunday’s when he gets back home.
10/1-
Headed up Falling Waters at 8:00am, lots of nice water flow early and the beautiful waterfall a mile or so in. Trail was already like a highway- with all stopping for pictures along the way. Trail turns relatively steep- ran into a USFS Ranger with an axe that was clearing some blowdown ahead of us- nice service if you can get it
. Lots of people stopping and resting on the trail- right on the trail- nice day in the woods so I avoided getting too upset. Headed out on little Haystack around 11:00 to a chilly breeze- immediately donned fleece- the theme along the way would be to drop down besides the rocks to avoid the breeze. Really not bad at all, just a little chilly. The conga line continued up to Lincoln and then Lafayette- saw more dogs hiking than ever before. All incredibly well behaved. Brother in law was in awe of the above tree line stuff. On Lincoln a glider buzzed us closely a few times. Headed down towards Greenleaf, and immediately the descent started taking its toll on my BIL- all of the jarring from the rocks down into the OBP for a bit. He said it wasn’t a trail, but a bunch of rocks. Welcome to the Whites While near the Greenleaf Hut, two A10 Warthogs shot by overhead- didn’t get as good a view as on 9/11 but still very cool. Got out with the BIL enjoying every minute- but asking that next time lets just do 1 short peak.10/2
i12climbup (Rob) was coming up for a NH stay, and we planned on doing- yes, the Franconia Ridge around Falling Waters and OBP. Didn’t mind the instant replay- it’s a great hike. Met at 7:30, chatted and ran into Mad Townie who was doing the same loop in reverse. We headed off at- 8:00am, déjà vu. Warmer day Sunday- immediately we began leap frogging with several groups- the worst being a group of 10 with kids that would go ahead of us and stop and stand all over the trail. When we got to Shining rock Rob went for a peek and then we ran up to avoid the constant battle to get around them Sat at Little Haystack, warm with almost no breeze. Crowded, with a group that also contained a lot of kids. In this group, I saw one kid throwing rocks off the side and as Rob and I left two kids were sitting right in the middle of the trail- on a rock with a blaze no less. Great weather lots of pictures. Had the summit of Lincoln to ourselves for a few minutes- even with the crowds. On the way to Lafayette we passed the VFTT Franconia Ridge Traversers who were heading to Lincoln Woods. Stopped for a few minutes and had intros and chatted a bit- nice to meet and see you all- and then headed to Lafayette. Crowded like Little Haystack- and particularly buggy- much more so than Saturday. Trip down was uneventful, other than passing another group of VFTT’ers including LittleBear, Pat and Audrey (apologies for forgetting the butterfly charmer’s handle- can’t put the letters in the right order…).
Summary- two great days, this is just a great loop hike.- would have been perfect with less crowds but hey- I am sure many felt the same way. A lot of time spent stepping off the trail to let people go. Hike time for both days was within 5 minutes of each other- if anything I am slow but consistent.
Now, after a multiple day hike weekend, can somebody help me get this noose off my neck before Mrs. Tuco (AKA Blondie) kicks out the stool.
Pictures to follow for Saturday and Rob will post Sunday’s when he gets back home.
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