Bobby
Active member
It’s funny how you hope for the best, but plan for the worst. That’s how this trip was. I put the idea out to some friends a month or so ago for a Franconia traverse on 10/17. It would be the week after Columbus Day and hopefully the ridge would be free of the usual crowds. I checked the weather all week, and I was concerned, but each day the forecast improved a little. Finally, I decided to stop worrying and just go as planned and adapt to whatever came our way.
LarryD and I left Conway about 5:15 and headed across the Kancamagus to Lincoln Woods. We got there about 6, meeting up with Tuco and LittleBear. We bumped into BIGEarl, Trail Trotter and Bryan, who were going off on their own adventure. We picked up Linda and Dave at the Liberty Springs trailhead, and then went off the Old Bridle Path to meet up with Rols. We had cars at our designated bailouts, and with all of us now present and accounted for, the hike began at about 7:00 AM.
We hiked up the Old Bridle Path, with temps in the 20’s. A stop here and there to de-layer and have a snack, and soon enough we encountered some snow. Here and there through the trees we had some nice views of Mt. Lincoln and Walker Ravine, and one beautiful look back to Moosilaukee.
For some of us, it has been a while since we’ve seen each other, and there was the usual catching up and of course, the occasional bad joke. We moved right along, and then, the Agony began!
There was more snow and ice on the ground now.
It could have gone either way as far as using light traction. We were able to walk without slipping around (much), we just looked for spots that weren’t icy. We moved along the steep sections of the Agonies in winter-like conditions and reached Greenleaf Hut right about book time. Some of went inside, but it was actually warmer outside the hut. Inside the hut, the water pipes and drainpipes were frozen. In the kitchen area, some of the hut crew warmed their feet near the oven. After eating and putting on microspikes or stabilicers, we started up the Greenleaf trail to Mt. Lafayette. There was one little hold up due to an inverted microspike
(don’t ask!) but within an hour we reached the summit. The views from Lafayette were remarkable. We could see a snow capped Moosilaukee, and the Presidentials were also blanketed in white. Our biggest fear of the day, wind, was minimal. There were just a few people on the summit, a rare treat. We took a short break and set out for Mt. Lincoln.
It was an uneventful trip to Lincoln. We passed a few people on the trail and were soon on the summit. We stopped for a few pictures and we headed over to Little Haystack. We ran into more people were on the trail now, few, if any had traction on. I wondered about that. The ice and snow covering the trail didn’t make hiking impossible, but the traction certainly made things much easier.
There was quite the crowd on Little Haystack. There were people all over the place. We found a way through the crowds and kept moving on to Mt. Liberty. It’s just less than two miles to Liberty, but it seemed to never end. This section of the Franconia Ridge Trail was very pleasant. It runs in the woods, with an easy downhill.
Still, we plodded along, eventually reaching the junction with the Liberty Spring Trail. One final uphill and we reached the summit, our third 4K of the day. We took about a twenty-minute break on the summit. We refueled and rehydrated, and shared the views with a few other hikers. We looked for Earl, Sue and Brian on the Owl’s Head Slide, but we couldn’t see them. We geared up and got ready for the final section of our ridge walk.
The trail drops steeply from Liberty into the col, and our battered legs let us know they weren’t happy with us. We picked our way down the snowy rocks and then the gradual uphill began. Some of the group kept their pace up and moved right up to the top of Flume. Others shortened their strides and slogged on up. Either way, upon summiting, we were treated to what I thought were the best views of the day.
Across the notch, the sun was breaking through the clouds, and the view back along the entire ridge was breathtaking.
After a few minutes of views and photos, we went across the only section of trail where one false step would make things very interesting. We got safely through, and down the steep section of the Osseo Trail. There are a few viewpoints on Osseo, looking into the Pemi, and the Bonds.
The snow and ice were disappearing little by little and just past the last ladder, most felt comfortable removing their traction. Eventually, the Osseo Trail follows a logging road at a very comfortable grade then flattens out nicely just before reaching the Lincoln Woods Trail. One and a half miles later, we were in the parking lot, rehydrating again.
This was my first Lafayette to Flume traverse, and it was a great day. As I told everyone in the group, it was definitely one of the top five days I’ve ever had hiking. As a group we never got too far apart, and everyone did a great job of keeping an eye on one another. We talked about just about everything. I think the only time things got super quiet was on the final approach to Mt. Flume. For all of my worries about weather, well, that was just wasted time. It turned out to be a super day all around.
Tired, but feeling good about ourselves after a long hike, we went our separate ways with great memories of a stellar day.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=117595&id=523928481&l=ef2238ec61
LarryD and I left Conway about 5:15 and headed across the Kancamagus to Lincoln Woods. We got there about 6, meeting up with Tuco and LittleBear. We bumped into BIGEarl, Trail Trotter and Bryan, who were going off on their own adventure. We picked up Linda and Dave at the Liberty Springs trailhead, and then went off the Old Bridle Path to meet up with Rols. We had cars at our designated bailouts, and with all of us now present and accounted for, the hike began at about 7:00 AM.
We hiked up the Old Bridle Path, with temps in the 20’s. A stop here and there to de-layer and have a snack, and soon enough we encountered some snow. Here and there through the trees we had some nice views of Mt. Lincoln and Walker Ravine, and one beautiful look back to Moosilaukee.
For some of us, it has been a while since we’ve seen each other, and there was the usual catching up and of course, the occasional bad joke. We moved right along, and then, the Agony began!
There was more snow and ice on the ground now.
It could have gone either way as far as using light traction. We were able to walk without slipping around (much), we just looked for spots that weren’t icy. We moved along the steep sections of the Agonies in winter-like conditions and reached Greenleaf Hut right about book time. Some of went inside, but it was actually warmer outside the hut. Inside the hut, the water pipes and drainpipes were frozen. In the kitchen area, some of the hut crew warmed their feet near the oven. After eating and putting on microspikes or stabilicers, we started up the Greenleaf trail to Mt. Lafayette. There was one little hold up due to an inverted microspike
(don’t ask!) but within an hour we reached the summit. The views from Lafayette were remarkable. We could see a snow capped Moosilaukee, and the Presidentials were also blanketed in white. Our biggest fear of the day, wind, was minimal. There were just a few people on the summit, a rare treat. We took a short break and set out for Mt. Lincoln.
It was an uneventful trip to Lincoln. We passed a few people on the trail and were soon on the summit. We stopped for a few pictures and we headed over to Little Haystack. We ran into more people were on the trail now, few, if any had traction on. I wondered about that. The ice and snow covering the trail didn’t make hiking impossible, but the traction certainly made things much easier.
There was quite the crowd on Little Haystack. There were people all over the place. We found a way through the crowds and kept moving on to Mt. Liberty. It’s just less than two miles to Liberty, but it seemed to never end. This section of the Franconia Ridge Trail was very pleasant. It runs in the woods, with an easy downhill.
Still, we plodded along, eventually reaching the junction with the Liberty Spring Trail. One final uphill and we reached the summit, our third 4K of the day. We took about a twenty-minute break on the summit. We refueled and rehydrated, and shared the views with a few other hikers. We looked for Earl, Sue and Brian on the Owl’s Head Slide, but we couldn’t see them
. We geared up and got ready for the final section of our ridge walk.The trail drops steeply from Liberty into the col, and our battered legs let us know they weren’t happy with us. We picked our way down the snowy rocks and then the gradual uphill began. Some of the group kept their pace up and moved right up to the top of Flume. Others shortened their strides and slogged on up. Either way, upon summiting, we were treated to what I thought were the best views of the day.
Across the notch, the sun was breaking through the clouds, and the view back along the entire ridge was breathtaking.
After a few minutes of views and photos, we went across the only section of trail where one false step would make things very interesting. We got safely through, and down the steep section of the Osseo Trail. There are a few viewpoints on Osseo, looking into the Pemi, and the Bonds.
The snow and ice were disappearing little by little and just past the last ladder, most felt comfortable removing their traction. Eventually, the Osseo Trail follows a logging road at a very comfortable grade then flattens out nicely just before reaching the Lincoln Woods Trail. One and a half miles later, we were in the parking lot, rehydrating again.
This was my first Lafayette to Flume traverse, and it was a great day. As I told everyone in the group, it was definitely one of the top five days I’ve ever had hiking. As a group we never got too far apart, and everyone did a great job of keeping an eye on one another. We talked about just about everything. I think the only time things got super quiet was on the final approach to Mt. Flume. For all of my worries about weather, well, that was just wasted time. It turned out to be a super day all around.
Tired, but feeling good about ourselves after a long hike, we went our separate ways with great memories of a stellar day.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=117595&id=523928481&l=ef2238ec61
