Mad Townie
New member
“It really isn’t any longer and doesn’t have any more elevation gain than your Meader Ridge trip a couple weeks ago,” said bpshroder. So, since he knew my pace from our trip last winter, I said OK. He knew what he was getting himself into! Brian met me at the Skookumchuck parking lot and we drove to Lincoln Woods in his “new” Honda Element.
Brian wanted to climb Lafayette, his first 4K, before doing #47 and 48, the Kinsmans, on Sunday. Can't wait to read that TR.
We headed up the Wilderness Trail around 9:00 under a cloudy but still dry sky. The Wilderness Highway (which is what it should be called, in that section anyway) was a wonderful way to get our legs stretched out and as good a place as any for me to discover a small, sharp stone in my boot and get rid of it.
We turned left onto the Osseo Trail, which begins climbing almost imperceptibly, then gradually, along the side of a steep stream valley. Given the significant difference in our general conditioning levels (age had NOTHING to do with it!
), Brian let me take the lead the whole day. After awhile the trail started climbing more steeply, and we caught occasional glimpses of Whaleback on our left through the trees.
Walking along, I saw what looked like a white AT blaze on a tree up ahead. As we approached it, I noticed that it was a card tied to the tree warning of a bees’ nest next to the trail a short distance ahead, marked with a piece of orange/pink flagging on a stick. Sure enough, there was the flagging about 20’ further along the trail. By this time it had started drizzling slightly, but we could see a couple bees flying around nearby. I wasted no time walking by at a quick pace (probably my quickest uphill pace of the day!) and Brian followed closely behind. He had brushed one bee off the back of his calf, but not before it made its presence felt.
The trail continued to rise steeply, climbing several flights of stairs—yes, real stairs made of thick boards. They made for easy climbing but not much variety of foot position. We soon reached the summit of Flume, a new 4K for me. It’s a pretty spectacular rocky summit with very steep sides, although we didn’t see much of the slide due to the very thick clouds we found ourselves in. I should add that there were some great views of the Pemigewasset Wilderness. I had no idea it was such a uniform, light gray. We couldn’t tell the mountains from the valleys.
From there it was a fairly short walk, descending a ways, to the base of the Liberty summit cone. Another steep climb, another place where I slowed down significantly. Funny, I don’t seem to have nearly as much problem on the flats or the downhills! We stopped at the Liberty trail junction, where the AT comes in from the south, for some lunch. By that time we had already met 5 or 6 people, and we saw about 20 or 30 others during the course of the day. The rain had increased to a steady but light level. After having lunch, we changed into dry shirts under our rain jackets in preparation for the open ridge ahead.
We soon reached Little Haystack, the beginning of the open section of Franconia Ridge, and I was back on slightly familiar ground. The visibility was very limited, to say the least. Then we headed out toward Lincoln. As many of you know, there are many little knobs along the ridge (some not so little, really), and on every uphill I slowed to a two-footed crawl. Brian, of course, was his usual friendly and patient self. I was dreading the last climb to the Lafayette summit.
When it seemed like we should be almost there, we met a solo hiker in gloves and a puffy winter coat (but no rain jacket). The only thing he had to say was (pointing to the knob he had just descended), “That Lincoln?” He didn’t look particularly happy when we told him it wasn’t. In fact, it turned out to be the last knob before Lafayette. Walking through the scrub, both Brian and I felt this was probably the last sag just before the final climb, but since we’re both terrible optimists we weren’t sure—maybe it was just wishful thinking!
But we were right. The funny thing was, the climb up to the Lafayette summit felt much easier to me than most of the steep uphills we had climbed earlier. We “celebrated” very briefly, since the wind was blowing an estimated 40 mph and the sideways rain, still light but still wet, didn’t make it a particularly hospitable environment. We headed off toward North Lafayette and the Skookumchook Trail junction. The footing was somewhat treacherous, with some large slabs made slippery by the rain.
After we turned onto our last trail of the day, we were soon back in the trees. By this time the rain had stopped and the wind was in the treetops above us. We were later to learn that it was still raining in Franconia Notch and up on the summits. Our guess is that the Kinsman Ridge made the clouds swirl around in the Notch and drop some rain before heading up over Franconia Ridge. Hey, it sounds good anyway!
The Skookumchuck Trail seemed to go on forever. It wasn’t bad, although the footing was pretty rocky in the upper section. It still didn’t seem as “gradual” as the guidebook says, though. After awhile, and with almost constant chatter between us on the way down, we came to the stone steps that rise from the stream. After the steps the trail really did become gradual as it followed the stream toward the parking lot. Again, this stretch seemed to last much longer than we anticipated. (There's no smiley for "exhausted".)
We finally got to the parking lot at 7:20. A short drive through the Notch in the rain and we arrived at the Woodstock Inn for some badly needed calorie replacement. The place was packed, so we ate in the bar, which Brian told me is a VFTT tradition anyway.
Finally we drove back to the Lincoln Woods parking lot and the Element that will soon take Brian and his dad across the country to his new home in California. Not before Sunday and his final NH 4K, though. Those who haven’t met Brian have missed a real treat. He is a wonderful person, a tremendous hiker, and an absolutely wonderful hiking companion.
Brian, you’re leaving LOTS of friends here who will be looking forward to your return, even if it's just for a vacation, and to hiking with you again. We’ll miss you. Thanks for your companionship on an excellent day in the mountains!
Brian wanted to climb Lafayette, his first 4K, before doing #47 and 48, the Kinsmans, on Sunday. Can't wait to read that TR.
We headed up the Wilderness Trail around 9:00 under a cloudy but still dry sky. The Wilderness Highway (which is what it should be called, in that section anyway) was a wonderful way to get our legs stretched out and as good a place as any for me to discover a small, sharp stone in my boot and get rid of it.
We turned left onto the Osseo Trail, which begins climbing almost imperceptibly, then gradually, along the side of a steep stream valley. Given the significant difference in our general conditioning levels (age had NOTHING to do with it!
), Brian let me take the lead the whole day. After awhile the trail started climbing more steeply, and we caught occasional glimpses of Whaleback on our left through the trees. Walking along, I saw what looked like a white AT blaze on a tree up ahead. As we approached it, I noticed that it was a card tied to the tree warning of a bees’ nest next to the trail a short distance ahead, marked with a piece of orange/pink flagging on a stick. Sure enough, there was the flagging about 20’ further along the trail. By this time it had started drizzling slightly, but we could see a couple bees flying around nearby. I wasted no time walking by at a quick pace (probably my quickest uphill pace of the day!) and Brian followed closely behind. He had brushed one bee off the back of his calf, but not before it made its presence felt.
The trail continued to rise steeply, climbing several flights of stairs—yes, real stairs made of thick boards. They made for easy climbing but not much variety of foot position. We soon reached the summit of Flume, a new 4K for me. It’s a pretty spectacular rocky summit with very steep sides, although we didn’t see much of the slide due to the very thick clouds we found ourselves in. I should add that there were some great views of the Pemigewasset Wilderness. I had no idea it was such a uniform, light gray. We couldn’t tell the mountains from the valleys.
From there it was a fairly short walk, descending a ways, to the base of the Liberty summit cone. Another steep climb, another place where I slowed down significantly. Funny, I don’t seem to have nearly as much problem on the flats or the downhills!
We stopped at the Liberty trail junction, where the AT comes in from the south, for some lunch. By that time we had already met 5 or 6 people, and we saw about 20 or 30 others during the course of the day. The rain had increased to a steady but light level. After having lunch, we changed into dry shirts under our rain jackets in preparation for the open ridge ahead.We soon reached Little Haystack, the beginning of the open section of Franconia Ridge, and I was back on slightly familiar ground. The visibility was very limited, to say the least. Then we headed out toward Lincoln. As many of you know, there are many little knobs along the ridge (some not so little, really), and on every uphill I slowed to a two-footed crawl. Brian, of course, was his usual friendly and patient self. I was dreading the last climb to the Lafayette summit.
When it seemed like we should be almost there, we met a solo hiker in gloves and a puffy winter coat (but no rain jacket). The only thing he had to say was (pointing to the knob he had just descended), “That Lincoln?” He didn’t look particularly happy when we told him it wasn’t.
In fact, it turned out to be the last knob before Lafayette. Walking through the scrub, both Brian and I felt this was probably the last sag just before the final climb, but since we’re both terrible optimists we weren’t sure—maybe it was just wishful thinking!But we were right. The funny thing was, the climb up to the Lafayette summit felt much easier to me than most of the steep uphills we had climbed earlier. We “celebrated” very briefly, since the wind was blowing an estimated 40 mph and the sideways rain, still light but still wet, didn’t make it a particularly hospitable environment. We headed off toward North Lafayette and the Skookumchook Trail junction. The footing was somewhat treacherous, with some large slabs made slippery by the rain.
After we turned onto our last trail of the day, we were soon back in the trees. By this time the rain had stopped and the wind was in the treetops above us. We were later to learn that it was still raining in Franconia Notch and up on the summits. Our guess is that the Kinsman Ridge made the clouds swirl around in the Notch and drop some rain before heading up over Franconia Ridge. Hey, it sounds good anyway!
The Skookumchuck Trail seemed to go on forever. It wasn’t bad, although the footing was pretty rocky in the upper section. It still didn’t seem as “gradual” as the guidebook says, though. After awhile, and with almost constant chatter between us on the way down, we came to the stone steps that rise from the stream. After the steps the trail really did become gradual as it followed the stream toward the parking lot. Again, this stretch seemed to last much longer than we anticipated. (There's no smiley for "exhausted".)
We finally got to the parking lot at 7:20. A short drive through the Notch in the rain and we arrived at the Woodstock Inn for some badly needed calorie replacement. The place was packed, so we ate in the bar, which Brian told me is a VFTT tradition anyway.
Finally we drove back to the Lincoln Woods parking lot and the Element that will soon take Brian and his dad across the country to his new home in California. Not before Sunday and his final NH 4K, though. Those who haven’t met Brian have missed a real treat. He is a wonderful person, a tremendous hiker, and an absolutely wonderful hiking companion.
Brian, you’re leaving LOTS of friends here who will be looking forward to your return, even if it's just for a vacation, and to hiking with you again. We’ll miss you. Thanks for your companionship on an excellent day in the mountains!
