Mts Liberty and Flume - Jan 15 2016

CLICK HERE TO GO TO my Winter New Hampshire 4K (NH4K)Hikes.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO New England Hundred Highest (NEHH) list.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO my Maine/Vermont 4K Hikes.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO my New Hampshire 4K Hikes.

Friday 1/15/16 
Did these last two peaks on Franconia Ridge a week after doing Lafayette & Lincoln. Just like the previous week, I drove up the night before and slept at a nearby trailhead in the back of my truck. Because I finished after dark the week before, even though I started at 3 am, I started even earlier and started on the trail at 2 am.  I finished around 3 pm  (13 hours). I think I figured out another reason why I am taking longer than I estimate - it's because I am hiking so many hours in the dark and my speed is even slower than usual.  No other real option since the days are so short, I'm so slow,  and I would much rather  be hiking in the dark at the beginning of the hike than at the end.

The problem with this hike is that it is an in and out so I have to summit Liberty twice.  I made it easier on myself by stashing my main pack with my snowshoes and crampons at the liberty spring campsite, just below the ridge line, and continued to Liberty and the Flume with just my  small bug-out pack and a smaller belly bag.  Unfortunately the snow between the two peaks was a bit too deep for just micro-spikes and I probably could have used my snowshoes. 
Again there was more people on the trail than I would have expected for a weekday winter hike. Nine or so I think.

This brings me up to 34 of the 48 New Hampshire 4k winter peaks(NH4kW). Since I try not to hike below zero F or high winds (at least on alpine peaks) it will take me few more  winters to get through them.


Finally got around to uploading my pics for this hikee, but its been too long for me to recall why I took some of them:

  Time stamp at the trail-head, another early start. starting up liberty spring trail.

 junction of liberty spring trail and franconia ridge trail

 approaching liberty

 looking west to mt cannon

 mt liberty summiyt

 thin layer of ice on the summit boulders

 i dropped a line down a stteepboluder below liberty to assist me when i returned

 flume summit pic, fogged in by now with no views

 back at liberty

 looking down fr trail from liberty

back at the trailhead with time to spare before sunset. 12.5 hour hike

Lafayette & Lincoln Jan 8 2016

CLICK HERE TO GO TO New England Hundred Highest (NEHH) list.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO my Winter New Hampshire 4K (NH4K)Hikes.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO my Maine/Vermont 4K Hikes.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO my New Hampshire 4K Hikes.

Friday Jan 8 2016

2nd winter hike of the season.  Did the loop up to Lafayette on the Bridle Path along the ridge to Lincoln, and Little haystack, then down Falling Waters trail.  My very first 4k hike in 2011 did the same route but in reverse.

Drove up to NH Thursday night. Got 4 hrs sleep in the back of my truck near the trail-head.  Woke up earlier than I wanted to but could not get back to sleep so I started on the trail at 03:00 am. turns out that was a good thing because I still finished just after dark.

PICTURES:

 AMCs Green leaf hut. closed for the winter still ~1000 ft up to Lafayette from here.

  just getting out of the dwarf spruce and into the alpine area.

 Summit of Mt Lafayette (#31 winter NH 4K peak), Could have sworn I took a selfie, but I didn't. Lafayette(5280') and Lincoln(5089') are the 6th and 7th highest NH peak..   That's Mt Washington in the background.

 Took this for the time stamp, guess I spent 30 minutes on the summit, catching my breath, hydrating, and eating some PB&J sandwiches.

 Franconia ridge trail heading to Mt Lincoln with at least three bumps along the way

 one of the bumps, I think this is called N. Lincoln Peak

Two hikers passed me between the hut and lafayette, more coming up behind me here.

Lincoln summit.

 Lots of people on the ridge today - especially for a winter weekday. I suspect a lot of people played hooky today because of the great forecast and impending weekend storm.

 Looking back at Lafayette

summit picture taking by another hiker

Summit pic on Mt Lincoln (#31/48 NH4KW). Again Mt Washington in the background. I probably should have tried for Washington instead today. Don't get many excellent weather days like this in the Winter

looking South; a couple more bumps then Little Haystack(where I go down), Liberty and Flume Mts.

Little Haystack - Where I get off the ridge and go down Falling Water trail.

 Looking south on the ridge toward Liberty & Flume mountains. I still have to do these two in the winter. Some other day, I'm running out of time and steam. Actually I already ran out of steam half  between the hut and Lafayette.

 Quite a bit of Ice down low on Falling Waters trail, but not quite enough to make the river crossings easy. Had to check the ice for safe crossing paths.

 Some great views iced over falls. I am trying to download a video to the site but i'm not sure it will work.

Odd tree with three trunks.
Last picture I took. I ended up finishing just after dark ~ 5;00pm,  14 hrs - incredibly slow, glad i started early.



CLICK HERE TO GO TO New England Hundred Highest (NEHH) list.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO my Winter New Hampshire 4K (NH4K)Hikes.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO my Maine/Vermont 4K Hikes.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO my New Hampshire 4K Hikes.