Despite driving 628.5 miles as a tag team with Paula on our trip to Maine, Paula and I drove as a tag team to Franconia Notch state park the next morning to hike the Franconia Ridge trail. We got to the trailhead by 9 am and started off on our biggest hike so far. Instead of starting with the standard ascent using the Old Bridle path, we decided to ascend using the Falling Waters trail. we crossed small streams and walked past a couple of waterfalls on our way to Little Haystack Mountain.
The ascent was fun but challenging as it was quite steep at parts and we felt the pressure of hikers right behind us. Along the way, we made friends with two dogs that decided to temporarily ditch their owners and hike with me and Paula. We were able to keep up with the standard rule of thumb of 30 minutes per mile for most of the ascent. Once we neared the alpine zone, our pace slowed but overall we hiked at a fairly brisk pace. When we reached Little Haystack, the view was nothing like anything I have seen before. The lack of trees was strange and it was much colder above the treeline with the wind.
After a short break, we continued down the Franconia Ridge trail towards Mt. Lincoln and eventually Mt. Lafayette. Traversing the narrow trail was exciting but a little scary at the same time as we climbed over, around and down large rocks on the trail. There was a clearly marked trail with rocks on either side of the trail to help prevent hikers from trampling the delicate alpine plants growing along the trail.
We hiked over Mt. Lincoln without stopping and continued towards Mt. Lafayette. On the ridge was a sight I never thought that I would see. It was one of the few moments that I truly felt small. We ascended Mt. Lafayette without a problem and took a well-deserved break on the summit.
The descent was slow but methodical because neither of us wanted to injure ourselves on the loose rocks in the alpine zone. We took another break at the AMC Greenleaf hut and prepared ourselves for the final push on the Old Bridle path. Hiking the loop in reverse was definitely the better route in my opinion because we stopped at the hut before our last 3 miles instead of reaching the hut after the first 3 miles if we took the standard route of ascending using the Old Bridle path. The total distance according to my Garmin watch was 8.7 mile and it took us a little under 6 hours (including breaks).
Overall the hike was stunning, breathtaking and something beyond my wildest imagination. The hike has only gotten me more excited for my goal of conquering all 48 4000 footers before my 21st birthday. 3 down, 45 more to go.
Grace's Adventures 