P
Pesky21
Guest
Franconia Ridge Hike via Mt liberty acrossLittle Haystack,Lincoln and over to Lafayette.
Cindy and I met at the Clarks Pond Trading Post on 93 as planned at 9.am on Sat 7/31 and proceeded to the visitors center to buy parking tickets as we were going to be camping for two days. The tickets were $5 for 7 days.
We then headed over to the Liberty Springs trailhead parking lot where we left our cars and proceeded to climb Mt Liberty. Being very new at this and Cindy having a lot more experience than I had, we decided that she take a look at my already 45lb+ backpack. She managed to help me shed at least five lbs before we headed out. (Thanks Cindy
!). We started on the Whitehouse trail which led us accros a bike path for 0.9mi and joined the Liberty Springs Trail 2.6mi up to the Liberty tent campsite. It was a moderately steep climb with heavy backpacks but Cindy and I found out that we hiked at the same pace and were so happy about that. We stopped for lunch halfway and took our time up the trail,because we had decided that it was better to do the ridge with day packs. We got to the campsite well before dusk giving us enough time to set up camp and enjoy the refreshingly cold mountain spring water! It was cloudy and slightly damp that evening but we went up to the summit of Liberty after setting up camp, which is .3 mi from the campsite, it was overcast and windy and so we decided that since there were no stars,we would head on to platform#3 and call it an early evening. Well, mother nature barely gave us the time to make that decision since it started raining early and went on throughout the nite with thunder and lightning,Phew! Thank God for good tents to keep us dry :blink: The next a.m we woke up to a foggy and damp sky with the potential for brighter skies,as one of the other campers had told us , we decided to head out at 9.am anyway up to the Franconia ridge trail which was .3 mi from the campsite and headed across the ridge towards Lafayette. As we trudged on this relatively easy but muddy trail,we were quite eager to get to the above treeline level, and were wondering if we were going to have to come back another day as this was my first time across the ridge and Cindy told me how spectacular it was. Not to worry, halfway there, the clouds went by and Lo and Behold there I was on top of the world walking on a rocky pathway in the clouds on top of mountains. I panicked from being overwhelmed at the view, just then remembering that I was scared of heights, DUH! But I quickly got over it, because there were quite a few hikers on Lincoln and Haystack on the way including Boys Scout troops and father-son teams and this made it all so worthwhile. We got to the summit of Lafayette at about 12noon where we had lunch with a couple of other hikers drinking beer to celebrate their accomplishments.it was a 2.9 mi across the ridge. It was so much fun and a wonderful experience for me. We headed back for camp at about 1pm and got there at 4.pm just in time for Crappy dehydrated dinners , hanging out with other campers,and checking out their gears. It was a wonderful day hike that is recommended to everyone,( according to me )the Francoina ridge is a MUST. Cindy and I spent our final nite at camp underneath the trees again, it was a lot cooler than the nite before and so we had much better sleep. We also met quite a few thru hikers. We descended the next a.m (Mon 8/02) via the Liberty prings Trail, with me thanking Cindy for suggesting a day hike across the ridge instead of the original plans. Awesome backpacking weekend for me ,and I plan to do quite a few more with Cindy as we got along very well. Thanks Cindy and here's to many mor hikes together :beer: :beer: . Peggy
Cindy and I met at the Clarks Pond Trading Post on 93 as planned at 9.am on Sat 7/31 and proceeded to the visitors center to buy parking tickets as we were going to be camping for two days. The tickets were $5 for 7 days.
We then headed over to the Liberty Springs trailhead parking lot where we left our cars and proceeded to climb Mt Liberty. Being very new at this and Cindy having a lot more experience than I had, we decided that she take a look at my already 45lb+ backpack. She managed to help me shed at least five lbs before we headed out. (Thanks Cindy
!). We started on the Whitehouse trail which led us accros a bike path for 0.9mi and joined the Liberty Springs Trail 2.6mi up to the Liberty tent campsite. It was a moderately steep climb with heavy backpacks but Cindy and I found out that we hiked at the same pace and were so happy about that. We stopped for lunch halfway and took our time up the trail,because we had decided that it was better to do the ridge with day packs. We got to the campsite well before dusk giving us enough time to set up camp and enjoy the refreshingly cold mountain spring water! It was cloudy and slightly damp that evening but we went up to the summit of Liberty after setting up camp, which is .3 mi from the campsite, it was overcast and windy and so we decided that since there were no stars,we would head on to platform#3 and call it an early evening. Well, mother nature barely gave us the time to make that decision since it started raining early and went on throughout the nite with thunder and lightning,Phew! Thank God for good tents to keep us dry :blink: The next a.m we woke up to a foggy and damp sky with the potential for brighter skies,as one of the other campers had told us , we decided to head out at 9.am anyway up to the Franconia ridge trail which was .3 mi from the campsite and headed across the ridge towards Lafayette. As we trudged on this relatively easy but muddy trail,we were quite eager to get to the above treeline level, and were wondering if we were going to have to come back another day as this was my first time across the ridge and Cindy told me how spectacular it was. Not to worry, halfway there, the clouds went by and Lo and Behold there I was on top of the world walking on a rocky pathway in the clouds on top of mountains. I panicked from being overwhelmed at the view, just then remembering that I was scared of heights, DUH! But I quickly got over it, because there were quite a few hikers on Lincoln and Haystack on the way including Boys Scout troops and father-son teams and this made it all so worthwhile. We got to the summit of Lafayette at about 12noon where we had lunch with a couple of other hikers drinking beer to celebrate their accomplishments.it was a 2.9 mi across the ridge. It was so much fun and a wonderful experience for me. We headed back for camp at about 1pm and got there at 4.pm just in time for Crappy dehydrated dinners , hanging out with other campers,and checking out their gears. It was a wonderful day hike that is recommended to everyone,( according to me )the Francoina ridge is a MUST. Cindy and I spent our final nite at camp underneath the trees again, it was a lot cooler than the nite before and so we had much better sleep. We also met quite a few thru hikers. We descended the next a.m (Mon 8/02) via the Liberty prings Trail, with me thanking Cindy for suggesting a day hike across the ridge instead of the original plans. Awesome backpacking weekend for me ,and I plan to do quite a few more with Cindy as we got along very well. Thanks Cindy and here's to many mor hikes together :beer: :beer: . Peggy
