8/17/13 - Old Bridle Path, Greenleaf, Franconia Ridge, Falling Water
Mostly dry, some mud, rocky, steep, scrambles, wet rocks, waterfalls and cascades
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| I took the "heathen" route - Old Bridal up, Falling Waters down |
This will be out of order, but I just wanted to share the absolute joy I felt as I grab #15 and #16 of my NH48 quest. In one day no less. It was a gorgeous day to go up to Franconia Ridge. FANTASTIC. AWESOME. INCREDIBLE. I did this back on St. Patty’s Day, but the luck of the Irish was not upon us. Or maybe it was because it was rather windy, cold, etc. We dropped like flies and no one made it to the summit. Oh well.
Decided to be lazy and sleep in, so boots were not on the trail until 11. I missed a moose, darn laziness. A wonderful park employee took my picture to mark the contrast from 5 months ago.
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| March 17, 2013 |
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| August 17, 2013 |
I knew this trail was hard. I knew it was steep. However, the views are awesome, even when there are blinding snow squalls. The destination would make the agony worth it. I took some breaks, stripped to a sports bra, and kept going. Then I hit the part I hated in the snow, Agony Ridge. Sorry no pictures. It is a very steep part that involves some scrambling. I take a drink and just go. I really wasn’t that bad, but it is tiring. I kept going. Saw a no camping sign, but still thought I had some time before I hit Greenleaf Hut and the BOOOMMM. There it was.
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| No really, it came out of nowhere. |
Visited the rest room, got water and enjoyed some Triscuits and cheese. A Boy Scout leader offered me some pizza. A group of mature hikers I had chatted with asked if I found the llama (I said I needed one, possibly a Lama as well). If I was in a witty mood, I should have said I wanted a unicorn instead. Oh well. I sunned for a bit and pondered the massive undertaking that was ahead. About 1000ft in 1.1 miles.
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| Obese? I think not. Take that BMI. |
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| Yeah, I'm coming for you |
I should say that Lafayette is one sneaky peak. Once you get above treeline, it looks pretty close and not that bad. You go about your way, telling people that you got further than you did in March, describing how awesome and terrifying it was. You think about what you will do when you get to the summit. You think a clown car has been emptied as a congo line of people come down. Not many people were behind me. You can’t wait to get rid of the pound of grapes you packed to be given to thru hikers. You are excited. And then the switchback of reality hits you. You are much further than you thought. It get windy, a shiver of doubt passed me, then I remembered my shirt. Because I can.
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| Lahouts Ski Shop in Lincoln |
So I did. It was hard, but I knew the reward was AMAZING. So I pushed on. I met Craig, the Alpine Steward, and we chatted for a bit. Then my reward.
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| Cool thru hikers |
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| WHAT A VIEW |
It was better than I could have imagined. At least in my mind, the best view in the Whites. Up to now anyway. And it seemed full of thru hikers on their way to the Garfield Shelter. I met some guys from the Thru Project. They were just a fun group of guys who really like grapes (yeah, 1 lb down). They are creating a photojournal of their journey. I thought I met happy hikers Thursday, these guys put those kids to shame. They were so happy to be there on such a FABULOUS day. They pointed to Washington and talked about being excited about Katahdin. I took their picture with a heavy camera. So much for lightweight backpacking.
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| To Lincoln and beyond
Now, a sensible person would head back down Greenleaf. It was about 4 miles. I remember the last time I did that and the intense leg and knee pain I experienced. I thought about the joy of the thru hikers. I thought about getting ⅓ done. So, at 4:05, I booked it on Franconia Ridge on my way to bag Lincoln. I flew. Ridges are not that bad. Ups and downs, but this ridge is awesome. Made it to Lincoln a hair ahead of book time and to Little Haystack behind book time...you know, I needed pictures and well, I had to, um heed the call of nature.
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| Lincoln |
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| See, awesome ridge |
When I got there I met a group of guys who tried to give me stuff. They brought way too much stuff with them, including a liter of Johnnie Walker Black. Of course, they complained about the price. I laughed inside. One, I remembered the kids drinking Natty Light on OBP. Two, I discovered something much better than JW. Anyway, they planned to camp there that night (someone will have to fill me in on the legality of that, I just started camping, but I know it was wrong). Why, I have no idea. Maybe cause they had so much stuff, it took them 6 hours to get up Falling Waters and they still had to stash stuff to pick up later. Liberty Springs campground was only 1.8 miles away and they have water. I went on my way down FW. It was about 5:30 with all the chatting, picture taking, etc.
Falling Water is a nice trail and not as horrible as I thought it might be. Very dry until you get to the waterfalls and cascades which are nice. Even then, it was not that bad. But I was descending. The opposite of what everyone else does. That’s just how I roll. It was getting dark, but I hurried when I could. Luckily the trail lends itself to that between the steep and wet sections. A few places were confusing and could have used some new blazes going down, but still an awesome trail. All of them were. A bit after 8, I hit the junction with OBP and let out a happy shout. In no time, I was back at the parking lot and YAY, my car was still there (I created my own spot).
I changed, went to Subway. Elvio’s has a wait, sometimes up to an hour, and I had that fabulous pizza two days in a row already. YUM. I made a mess of a Veggie Delite and realized that I would need to go back home unless I wanted to sleep in my car. I didn’t have a tent yet.
It was probably the best hike I have done. The west side of Franconia Notch is by far my favorite. And even though Lafayette is 1100ft higher than Cannon, the trip was far better, dare I say easier. I met a family in the lot who said they took the Tram up and hiked down Kinsman Ridge. We commiserated about the experience. I am going to finish the ridge this week and bag a few more to boot. Then I am done with Franconia Notch. OH, I will be back to the west side, possibly exploring some new trails.
And yes, I danced. Not as much as usual, I didn’t want to scare the kids.
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