Jonni
Member
Date Hiked: 7/12/2008
Trail(s) Hiked: Franconia Notch Bike Path, Liberty Spring Trail, Flume Slide Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail, Liberty Spring Trail, Franconia Notch Bike Path.
Hike Number: 7
Total Distance Traveled: 10.3 Miles
Difficulty: Difficult to Very Difficult
Conditions: Good
Special Equipment Required: None, but as usual trekking poles are a good idea.
Trip Report: Nearing the end of the week I decided that I needed a good long hike to start my weekend out, and realizing that my parking permit for all WMNF parking areas had expired June 30th, I decided on doing a hike in an NH state park. Over the past week I have been looking at many different 4Kers that I've wanted to hit and it was down to either the Hancocks or Mts. Flume and Liberty. The parking permit thing sealed this hike's fate, and I found myself at the trailhead shortly after 8am on Saturday morning.
Looking at the maps and reading a few TR's from the past I decided to start from the Basin parking area and follow the bike path to the trail rather than searching for the bushwack to the sharp corner in the Liberty Spring Trail. I didn't feel really comfortable looking for this bushwack yet, as I have never bushwacked anywhere at all, and I felt the additional exercise would be beneficial. From the Basin I reached the real trailhead in about 15 minutes and found myself up at the junction with the Flume Slide Trail in another 20 minutes or so after climbing easy to moderate grades on the well beaten path. I met a few other people on the trail up to this point and after talking with them, it sounded as if the Flume Slide itself was going to be an interesting hike. And it was.
The first 2.3 miles or so of the Flume Slide trail is kind of long and flat, but there are many small brook crossings, which make the trail quite interesting. But for the last 0.7 or 0.8 miles or so, the trail travels up the very steep Flume Slide, gaining about 1200 feet of vertical in this final 0.7 miles. From traveling next to the remnants of a brook the trail gets steadily steeper until actually begins the ascent up the slide where it composed of many steep ledges and rocks. As challenging as it was, it made gaining the summit of Flume that much more rewarding, and seeing the Franconia Ridge trail sign almost a gift from the heavens.
The sun was shining on the summit of Flume and the clouds were just high enough and with the fantastic rocky cliff that makes up the summit views were had in all directions. Snacking on some peanuts and crackers, I began the quick trek over to neighboring Mt. Liberty on the Franconia Ridge Trail. Over a somewhat rocky path, the 1.5 miles between the two mountains went pretty quickly, although the slight ascent made to Mt. Liberty was semi tiring due to the punishment that my legs had already received climbing the Flume Slide. Mt. Liberty, being higher was unfortunately in and out of the clouds so the views were quite a bit more limited. Although with the amount of people that were on the summit (about 15 or 20) I could only imagine what the crowds were like on the summit of Lafayette.
After spending only about 10 minutes or so on the summit of Liberty I began to make my descent to the Liberty Spring Trail. I found that the descent was quite pleasurable down the moderate and rocky Liberty Spring Trail and it seemed to go quite fast, especially after listening to an eclectic mix of the Dropkick Murphys, Moby, Phontaine, and Rob Thomas (I will listen to most anything). Getting back to the sharp corner in the Liberty Spring trail I paused and thought about attempting a bushwack back to the Basin parking lot, but then decided against it. I felt a little more exercise would do me good.
Overall it was a great hike. The slide was very challenging, but very rewarding. This brings my modest total of NH 4Kers to 12. I'm hoping to hit perhaps the Hancocks next or maybe make an attempt at the Tripyramids, not sure yet.
Overall hike time was 6.75 hours with 15 minutes on Flume and 10 on Liberty. Pictures to follow.
Pictures:
Liberty Spring Trail, trailhead on the Franconia Notch Bike Path
Starting up the Flume Slide
Looking down the Flume Slide, this picture was taken with the camera pointing straight down.
Looking toward a ledge near the Flume summit (the real summit is around the corner)
The Franconia Range from just below Flume's summit. From left to right: Little Haystack Mountain, Mt. Lincoln, Mt. Lafayette.
Owls Head from Mt. Liberty
Benchmark on Mt. Liberty
Mt. Flume from Mt. Liberty
Trail(s) Hiked: Franconia Notch Bike Path, Liberty Spring Trail, Flume Slide Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail, Liberty Spring Trail, Franconia Notch Bike Path.
Hike Number: 7
Total Distance Traveled: 10.3 Miles
Difficulty: Difficult to Very Difficult
Conditions: Good
Special Equipment Required: None, but as usual trekking poles are a good idea.
Trip Report: Nearing the end of the week I decided that I needed a good long hike to start my weekend out, and realizing that my parking permit for all WMNF parking areas had expired June 30th, I decided on doing a hike in an NH state park. Over the past week I have been looking at many different 4Kers that I've wanted to hit and it was down to either the Hancocks or Mts. Flume and Liberty. The parking permit thing sealed this hike's fate, and I found myself at the trailhead shortly after 8am on Saturday morning.
Looking at the maps and reading a few TR's from the past I decided to start from the Basin parking area and follow the bike path to the trail rather than searching for the bushwack to the sharp corner in the Liberty Spring Trail. I didn't feel really comfortable looking for this bushwack yet, as I have never bushwacked anywhere at all, and I felt the additional exercise would be beneficial. From the Basin I reached the real trailhead in about 15 minutes and found myself up at the junction with the Flume Slide Trail in another 20 minutes or so after climbing easy to moderate grades on the well beaten path. I met a few other people on the trail up to this point and after talking with them, it sounded as if the Flume Slide itself was going to be an interesting hike. And it was.
The first 2.3 miles or so of the Flume Slide trail is kind of long and flat, but there are many small brook crossings, which make the trail quite interesting. But for the last 0.7 or 0.8 miles or so, the trail travels up the very steep Flume Slide, gaining about 1200 feet of vertical in this final 0.7 miles. From traveling next to the remnants of a brook the trail gets steadily steeper until actually begins the ascent up the slide where it composed of many steep ledges and rocks. As challenging as it was, it made gaining the summit of Flume that much more rewarding, and seeing the Franconia Ridge trail sign almost a gift from the heavens.
The sun was shining on the summit of Flume and the clouds were just high enough and with the fantastic rocky cliff that makes up the summit views were had in all directions. Snacking on some peanuts and crackers, I began the quick trek over to neighboring Mt. Liberty on the Franconia Ridge Trail. Over a somewhat rocky path, the 1.5 miles between the two mountains went pretty quickly, although the slight ascent made to Mt. Liberty was semi tiring due to the punishment that my legs had already received climbing the Flume Slide. Mt. Liberty, being higher was unfortunately in and out of the clouds so the views were quite a bit more limited. Although with the amount of people that were on the summit (about 15 or 20) I could only imagine what the crowds were like on the summit of Lafayette.
After spending only about 10 minutes or so on the summit of Liberty I began to make my descent to the Liberty Spring Trail. I found that the descent was quite pleasurable down the moderate and rocky Liberty Spring Trail and it seemed to go quite fast, especially after listening to an eclectic mix of the Dropkick Murphys, Moby, Phontaine, and Rob Thomas (I will listen to most anything). Getting back to the sharp corner in the Liberty Spring trail I paused and thought about attempting a bushwack back to the Basin parking lot, but then decided against it. I felt a little more exercise would do me good.
Overall it was a great hike. The slide was very challenging, but very rewarding. This brings my modest total of NH 4Kers to 12. I'm hoping to hit perhaps the Hancocks next or maybe make an attempt at the Tripyramids, not sure yet.
Overall hike time was 6.75 hours with 15 minutes on Flume and 10 on Liberty. Pictures to follow.
Pictures:
Liberty Spring Trail, trailhead on the Franconia Notch Bike Path
Starting up the Flume Slide
Looking down the Flume Slide, this picture was taken with the camera pointing straight down.
Looking toward a ledge near the Flume summit (the real summit is around the corner)
The Franconia Range from just below Flume's summit. From left to right: Little Haystack Mountain, Mt. Lincoln, Mt. Lafayette.
Owls Head from Mt. Liberty
Benchmark on Mt. Liberty
Mt. Flume from Mt. Liberty
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