Hiking in the White Mountains: Franconia Notch

Showing posts with label Franconia Notch. Show all posts

Spring & Summer on Mount Lafayette & Lincoln. . . In February

Date of Hike: 2/21/18

Old Bridle Path: 2.9 miles / Greenleaf Trail: 1.1 miles / Franconia Ridge Trail: 2.0 miles / Greenleaf Trail: 1.1 miles / Old Bridle Path: 2.9 miles
Total Miles: 10.0 (4,527 feet elevation gained)

Trip Report:
- It was "Wacky Wednesday" in the White Mountains! With weather above treeline on Franconia Ridge approaching sixty degrees I decided to head up for an anomaly of a hike for February.
- Conditions below treeline resembled April, soft snow and rapid melt. Conditions above treeline were almost summer like, except for a few patches of wind drifted snow in scrub sections the Greenleaf Trail and Franconia Ridge trails were down to dirt and rock.
- It was an odd hike to say the least, luckily the wind was whipping around 30MPH, if it hadn't been I would have sweated five pounds off as it was very warm. I was actually kicking myself for not bringing sunscreen of all things!
- Views were phenomenal, as is the case when the summits are in the clear. As I strolled along the ridge high clouds floated by quickly which were fun to watch. When I reached the summit of Mount Lincoln I decided to double back instead of heading to Little Haystack and down, it was too nice out not to spend more time above treeline.
- As much as I liked the easy one clothing layer hike, I'm hoping for some more snow soon to enjoy a few more winter wonderland hikes before the annual April snow rot begins.

View of the "Agonies" from the Old Bridle Path outlook

Snow was melting fast and the ice was turning to slush

Eagle Lake and Mount Lafayette

Passing by Greenleaf Hut and hiking up Greenleaf Trail

View from treeline on the Greenleaf Trail

The hot sun quickly melting the little ice and snow left on the trails above treeline

Looking at Mount Lincoln from Mount Lafayette

Owl's Head

Mount Lincoln as seen from Lafayette (left) and Truman (right)

Mount Lincoln (left), Mount Lafayette (right)

Mount Lincoln

Cannon Mountain

Little Haystack, Liberty and Flume mountains

Kinsman Ridge, Kinsmans and Cannon mountains

Mount Lafayette as seen from Mount Lincoln

Pemi Wilderness; Galehead, Twins, Guyot

Hiking back down the Greenleaf Trail with Cannon Mountains and the Kinsmans in view

Cannon Mountains Ski Area

Mount Pemigewasset & the Flume Gorge

Date of Hike: 11/6/16

Indian Head Trail: 3.5 miles / Flume Gorge & Pool Loop: 1.5 miles / Bike Path & Snow Mobile Trails: 2.9 miles
Total Miles : 7.9 (2,283 feet elevation gained)

The trail pass under the highway next to a brook with a sturdy foundation to prevent erosion and overflow

The Indian Head Trail has mostly gentle grades over pretty good footing, It would be an excellent winter hike and even better peak foliage hike

Kinsman Ridge from Mount Pemigewasset summit ledges

I always am amused and amazed on how little soil it takes for some smaller pine trees to grow and thrive on these mountains

Heading down under the highway on the Flume Gorge side of the trail

Looking up into the Flume Gorge

Flume Gorge Waterfall

The Flume Gorge

The Pool

The old covered bridge

The Pool

Instead of road walking along Route 3 I jumped on a snowmobile trail that parallels the road

I jump off the snowmobile trail and head through some mini cottage cabins my parents used to take us to stay at when I was younger. From here I cross the street and walk about five minutes back to the trailhead

In space, no one can here you scream!!

Indian Head Resort has a lot of native american themes going on its premises. The place always seems to be full too.

The Freak of Franconia Notch : Cannon Mountain

Date of Hike: 1/10/15

Kinsman Ridge Trail: 4.2 miles (2,200 feet elevation gained)

Trip Report:
- With the higher summits obscured and Whitney working in the afternoon we decided to head to the northern end of Franconia Notch to hike Cannon Mountain via the Kinsman Ridge Trail.
- The Kinsman Ridge Trail leaves from the Cannon Mountain ski area tram parking lot and basically parallels the tram on the way up. The trail is relentlessly steep for the first mile then eases out as grades become moderate. The good news is the trail is easier when there is snow blanketing the trail as all the exposed roots, rocks, and eroding soil are will hidden beneath the white stuff. The Trail passes through some ski glades on three occasions. Luckily, there were no skiers heading through the glades so we could take our time crossing through them.
- Whitney set a great pace up the mountain, taking advantage of the perfect snowshoe conditions and we only ran into one other hiker with his Chocolate Lab above the glades where the trail becomes less steep. The last half mile up to the summit is an enjoyable hike up over the exposed eastern shoulder with great views, as long as it's not windy that is. Luckily for us there was no wind since the temperature was hovering around zero.
- We made it to the summit tower around 9:30 and took pictures before booking it down the mountain. The hike out was fun and enjoyable as we basically bounded down the mountain in our snowshoes. I took a detour through one of the glades on the way down, then as we neared the bottom I spotted a lone cross country ski track and hooked onto that and went through a nice open forest all the way back to the start of the trail where I hooked back up to Whitney.