Liberty Springs Trail 5/21/06

[snowpipe]

Mt. Liberty/ Liberty Springs trail up and back
8miles
6.5 hours

Sorry for the late post on this.

Water running down the trail from previous days rain. There was deep water at one stream crossing where gators would have been helpful, but not mandatory. Gortex boots, a must.

One small patch of ice at the top of Mt. Liberty. I was comfortable hiking in pants and t-shirt. A light fleece and rain jacket were good for the afternoon rain showers.

What a great day for hiking. We missed most of the rain because we got an early start. On our decent the rain started but was still most enjoyable. Being in Franconia State Park before the busy season was an awesome experience that I will never forget. We barely saw anyone except for a few hikers left over from the day before, making their way down as we were heading up. Mt. Liberty was my girlfriend's first true 4,000 footer. She did great. I couldn't have asked for a better day.
:flag:

 

[Mike P.]

Congratulations to you & your girlfriend. Flume & Liberty were my 2nd & 3rd 4K peaks after Washington which I had done acouple of years earlier when I was thinking of Highpointing.

 

[thetrailboss]

Liberty and Flume are true gems. If they weren't on the same ridge as Lafayette and Lincoln, there would be mucho hiking crowds.

 

[MichaelJ]

True - many people prefer the other part of the ridge and so don't get over to the L & F side. Of course, I think the best way to go is a full traverse over the whole ridge.

 

[MtnMagic]

The first time I climbed up and down LS Trail, it took days for my thighs to stretch out the tighness. It made me hooked on that trail. While most were bagging new peaks, I returned perhaps once a month for the climb and the views.

I'm in on a full ridge traverse!