Franconia Ridge Trip Report

[xoomboy]

Got up early Saturday morning, threw the pack in the Jeep and headed North with my buddy Art to get some winter hiking in. The weather report was extremely favorable (25 deg. F, light variable wind), so we set our sights on the loop that takes hikers up to Little Haystack Mtn, over Mt. Lincoln, and to the top of Mt. Lafayette. Based on distances and times reported in my AMC book, we estimated the entire trip to take roughly 6-1/2 hours.

We got started at about 9:15am from the Lafayette Place parking lot. Heading up the Falling Waters Trail, we crossed several sections of running water and saw some spectacular frozen waterfalls. Decided it was time to put on the crampons when the terrain started to become unmanageable due to ice and ended up keeping them on for the rest of the trip. Man, what a difference they make!

I kept a close eye on my heart rate during the ascent to the summit of Little Haystack. If I started to push too hard, I would back off until my heart rate dropped back into my aerobic zone. I found that I wasn't moving as quickly as I was used to, but I was stopping less and staying warmer. Seems like common sense -- and of course, it is -- but being able to know exactly how hard to push and when to back off was extremely helpful.

Getting to the top of Little Haystack, we could see the entire Notch, as well as much of the surrounding land. Talk about a beautiful view! There were some clouds floating in, but overall the weather report was right on. We headed along the ridge to Mt. Lincoln, where we stopped in a sunny spot out of the wind for a quick bite and to change out some soggy layers.

Popping over the top of Mt. Lincoln and seeing Mt. Lafayette before us was a sobering experience. Even being up on the ridge, the mountain still looks enormous, and I took a good look behind us in the clouds' direction. Lafayette, like Washington, is notorious for sudden bursts of inclement weather. I remembered looking across to Lafayette from the top of Canon last March and seeing the upper half absolutely swarthed in clouds and snow, hoping that no one was on the summit. Unfortunately, two people were indeed trapped there.

But today the weather was being cooperative, and we pushed onward. About thirty feet below the summit, I found myself in a small section of powder and craggy rocks and for just a couple seconds, with my crampons digging into the ice, my poles planted, the wind whistling by my head, and the peak in sight, I was fully immersed in the experience. It was an absolutely amazing feeling.

Art and I reached the top and stayed just long enough to take a timed shot of the two of us. Standing on top of a 5200-foot mountain was fun, but it was freezing!!! We headed on down toward Greenleaf Hut, enjoying the unbelievable views across Franconia Notch and commenting on how lucky we had gotten with the weather. There was a lot more snow and ice on this side of the mountain, and our crampons were very helpful in maintaining traction on the steep slope.

We passed the closed-down Greenleaf Hut and picked up the Old Bridle Path trail, which led us down along a ridge which offered great views back toward the mountains. We stopped to take a couple pictures and then picked up the pace. Coming back to the parking lot, we realized just how tired we were. We were so into the hike all day long that our adrenaline had really kept the fatigue factor to a minimum. I started up the Jeep and changed into warm, dry clothes. Looking at my watch, I realized that we had completed our trip in 6:38 -- right on the money.

Talk about a PERFECT day in the mountains!

Matt

Matthew Drayer
[email protected]

 

[pedxing]

Nice report. That is wonderful loop.

Lincoln and Lafayette are my two most visited peaks.

 

[giggy]

great report - I did the same thing in reverse the same day. I must have past you coming down (i was coming down) falling waters. I got a real early start (6:45) was at top of haystack about 11am. I had to have past you some where on the upper reaches of falling waters. I had a yellow jacket and was solo - probabyl told you there was no wind up there - I was telling everyone that.

I was probably the second to pass you - there was a guy in front of me really moving fast and was sliding down. Nice guy - never did get his name. I more or less had the ridge to myself that morning due to the early start. really nice day.

 

[JackH]

You guys hit Lincoln,Layfayette just right!

It was my intended destination yesterday (after being snowed out of there last March 22 as well). But,with the snow and poor visibility, I decided it was too iffy to try again ( I wanted to summit something!) and climbed Cannon instead. Still turned out to be a great day.

 

[xoomboy]

giggy -- trying to recall, yes, I'm sure we crossed paths with you. There were two of us. I had a navy jacket on, and my buddy had a red jacket. Both with poles, packs, and crampons depending on what time you saw us.

JackH -- Sounds like last year you were hoping for Lafayette the day after we climbed Cannon. I remember how nasty the mountain looked from the West side of the Notch. Cannon seems to be the better choice on days when the weather is unpredictable, as the West side of the Notch is more protected from the weather than the East side due to the general flow of things. Although I'm sure that the Kinsmans are no treat, either. They get the weather before the rest of those peaks, after all.

Matt

 

[JackH]

Franconia notch

Xoomboy- Yeah, I think we missed each other by a day last March.

I have been fooled by the weather in the notch twice now. The first time I turned back after summiting Layfayette in the snow and it turned into a sunny afternoon and this past Monday the snow remained just flurries with little wind and I probably could have made Lincoln via Falling Waters but always worry about that ridge with a north wind. You're right, the east side is less servere it seems. That ridge can funnel snow and wind if canditions are right.