President's Day has often been spent in the White Mountains, usually in the Presidential Range. It was the first day off in a while where the conditions above treeline weren't dangerously cold or very unpleasant. Gryffin needed Flume, Liberty, Lincoln and Lafayette for his winter list (44-47) and so we made a plan. Unable to score a car spot, we parked at The Basin and went up the "Basin Bushwhack" to Liberty Springs, to Liberty, where it was in the clear, but cloudy with upslope snow showers and a pretty good wind. Over and back to Flume was "interesting". Quite a few spots where the trees were gnarled and frozen and impenetrable. There were tracks leading around these spots, albeit narrow and crawling on hands-and-knees. Strangely enough, you could have lit a match on Flume and not had it blown out. Still had snow showers, and most of the surrounding peaks were in the clouds. To this point, microspikes were fine. The trails had firmed up over night including the many postholes on the sides.
44 of 48 - Liberty
45 of 48 - Flume
Returning to Liberty Springs, I put on my snowshoes and stared at the untouched and undoubtedly messy Franconia Ridge Trail. It took 2 or 3 exploratory probes to poke through the mess and find the trail proper. This was the story every few hundred feet or so until the climb up Little Haystack. Here the trees were not gnarled, but mostly buried, and the snow was thigh to waist deep (in spots). Gryffin doggie paddled some sections here, and there were, again, a few false paths before the real one could be found.
46 of 48 - Lincoln
Once on Little Haystack, we found a sheltered spot and I changed out my wet items for dry ones and Gryffin rolled around in the snow
Had lunch here and ditched snowshoes for microspikes for the remainder of the day. Those clouds that were hanging around all morning... Gone The forecast was pretty much spot on. Even the wind had an occasional lull. I zipped my hood closed and put on sunglasses but no face mask or goggles. Saw several other people, two I knew, the rest I did not, but they appeared (at a glance) to be casual hikers. Lincoln and Lafayette looked beautiful all decked out in white and the Twins and Bonds were now also out of the clouds. Only the tops of Jefferson, Adams, and Washington were still shrouded, and even they were clear by Lafayette.
47 of 48 - Lafayette
Between Lincoln and Lafayette I put a chunk of ice in Gryffin's pack to balance it (he ate his food already) and so the wind wouldn't blow it up and over his back. We enjoyed a brisk but view-laden ascent of Lafayette. Turning towards the hut, I swapped sunglasses for goggles since the wind was straight in my face. Ordinarily, I go up Lafayette so the wind is behind me, but I wanted to have the views, which were forecast for the afternoon. And as usual, the ridge did not disappoint.
Number 48 will be Isolation in March.
Tim
44 of 48 - Liberty
45 of 48 - Flume
Returning to Liberty Springs, I put on my snowshoes and stared at the untouched and undoubtedly messy Franconia Ridge Trail. It took 2 or 3 exploratory probes to poke through the mess and find the trail proper. This was the story every few hundred feet or so until the climb up Little Haystack. Here the trees were not gnarled, but mostly buried, and the snow was thigh to waist deep (in spots). Gryffin doggie paddled some sections here, and there were, again, a few false paths before the real one could be found.
46 of 48 - Lincoln
Once on Little Haystack, we found a sheltered spot and I changed out my wet items for dry ones and Gryffin rolled around in the snow
Had lunch here and ditched snowshoes for microspikes for the remainder of the day. Those clouds that were hanging around all morning... Gone The forecast was pretty much spot on. Even the wind had an occasional lull. I zipped my hood closed and put on sunglasses but no face mask or goggles. Saw several other people, two I knew, the rest I did not, but they appeared (at a glance) to be casual hikers. Lincoln and Lafayette looked beautiful all decked out in white and the Twins and Bonds were now also out of the clouds. Only the tops of Jefferson, Adams, and Washington were still shrouded, and even they were clear by Lafayette.
47 of 48 - Lafayette
Between Lincoln and Lafayette I put a chunk of ice in Gryffin's pack to balance it (he ate his food already) and so the wind wouldn't blow it up and over his back. We enjoyed a brisk but view-laden ascent of Lafayette. Turning towards the hut, I swapped sunglasses for goggles since the wind was straight in my face. Ordinarily, I go up Lafayette so the wind is behind me, but I wanted to have the views, which were forecast for the afternoon. And as usual, the ridge did not disappoint.
Number 48 will be Isolation in March.
Tim
