Franconia Ridge Fall Classic Loop(s)

Date of Hike: 10/13/17

Pemi Recreational Trail: 2.1 miles  /  Basin Bushwhack: 0.3 miles  /  Liberty Spring Trail: 0.2 miles  /  Flume Slide Trail: 3.3 miles  / Franconia Ridge Trail: 1.5 miles  /  Liberty Spring Trail: 2.3 miles  /  Whitehouse Mill Logging Road Bushwhack: 1.8 miles  /  Falling Waters Trails: 2.5 miles  /  Franconia Ridge Trail: 1.7 miles  /  Greenleaf Trail: 1.1 miles  /  Old Bridle Path: 2.2 miles  / Hut Croo Path: 0.3 miles  /  Lafayette Place: 0.2 miles
Total Miles: 19.5 (7,800 feet elevation gained) Garmin Forerunner 920XT & A.M.C White Mountain Guide Online

Trip Report
- Every fall I like to do the classic Franconia Ridge loop hike over Lafayette and Lincoln.  This year I did that plus a little more.  I decided to start at Lafayette Place and take the Pemi Recreational Trail and the Basin Bushwhack on my way to hiking up the Flume Slide Trail to Mount Flume.  Then I headed across the Franconia Ridge Trail to Mount Liberty and down Liberty Spring Trail.  At the junction of the Liberty Spring and Flume Slide trails I used the old Whitehouse Mill Logging Road to cut over to the Falling Waters Trail.  From here, I did the classic loop up and over Lil' Haystack, Lincoln, and Lafayette, via Falling Waters Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail, Greenleaf Trail, Old Bridle Path, and the Hut Croo Path.
- Foliage below 2000 feet was still pretty great, maybe just past its peak as the trails where blanketed by a few inches of leaves in spots, but there were plenty of bright yellow colors all around through the hardwood sections of the woods.
- Views up above treeline were tremendous as usual, while the bushwhacks and Flume Slide Trail where a lot of fun plus I had the slide and bushwhack sections to myself.  Everywhere else the trails were definitely busy, good news was that almost everyone I ran into was having fun and were pleasant.
- As always, it was another spectacular fall hike in Franconia Notch, can't wait to do it again next year! :) 

Map of the route

 Pemi Recreational Trail (AKA Pemi Bike Path)

Basin Bushwhack and the lower section of the Flume Slide Trail 

Start of the Flume Slide 

Lower slabs on Flume Slide

Obstructed view from the middle of Flume Slide 

 Middle section of the slide

Upper section of Flume Slide

Flume Gorge Valley

Mount Liberty, Little Haystack, Lincoln, and Lafayette as seen from Mount Flume

Looking down to North Woodstock and Mount Flume 

Owl's Head

 Kinsmans and Cannon (bottom), Pemi Wilderness (top)

Hellgate Ravine of the Bonds

Liberty Spring Trail

Start of the Whitehouse Mill logging road, trail heads left and downhill, logging bushwhack heads right and stays level (picture on left).  Hiking along the old logging road (right)

Whitehouse Mill Logging bushwhack 

Stairs Falls and Swiftwater Falls 

Cloudland Falls 

Mount Lincoln 

Twin - Guyot - Bond range 

Owl's Head and Lincoln Brook Valley

Cannon Mountain (bottom), Kinsmans (top) 

Owl's Head 

 Liberty and Flume

Classic Franconia Ridge picture

Eagle Lake and Mount Lafayette

Greenleaf Hut, Shining Rock 

Hut Croo Path 

View from Lafayette Place

5 comments:

  1. Great photos, do you sell photos
    I am interested in the old Whitehouse logging road

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, glad you enjoy the pics. I do not sell any photos, these were taken from my old phone so the quality is not great for printing. As for the Whitehouse logging bushwhack path, it's pretty easy to find and follow, I'd suggest doing it during peak foliage. Enjoy!

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    2. Approximately where does the Whitehouse logging road enter Falling Waters Trail?
      Thanks

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    3. So about a half mile from the trailhead the Falling Waters Trail crosses the Walker Brook and turns left and parallels the brook uphill. Instead of turning left and heading uphill go straightish, and you will be able to easily find the old logging road, sometimes it's brushed in so people don't follow it. The logging road is relatively flat the whole way, at the beginning of the logging road there is another path that heads downhill, if you follow that for a few minutes you will stumble upon an old cabin (still in use), which is pretty cool to take some pics of, you can't go inside but it's nice to check out. Hope this helps :)

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  2. Thanks for this & other thorough posts, Chris. It helped yesterday. I would do OBP-FW first to get hard stuff out of way early in day unless u were in fall trying to minimize trail crowding or weather issue above treeline. Look forward to meeting you sometime on trail. Jeremy

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