This was our first official "BIG" hike of Spring 2022, and our first time hitting so many peaks in one go for the year. The forecast showed a MONEY day with little to no wind, bluebird skies, and temps in the low to mid 30's (more on that) Needless to say- it was ON and we were super excited to welcome May in with a track over Franconia Ridge.
We have done the Franconia Loop a couple times, as recently as last August actually. However, this was our first time making a traverse of it, and we were super excited to get after it. (I literally woke up SO PUMPED!)
We saw no need to get a stupid early start, so we casually made our way out planning to begin hiking at 9:00. We had arranged for a shuttle service to pick us up in Franconia at the Falling Waters/Old Bridle Path lot. That transaction began so smoothly, they arrived right on time to pick us up, and all was well.
Until 4 seconds later when they got pulled over! WHOOPS! so long story short- it was a truly hysterical encounter that involved a missing license plate, a random gun in the glove compartment, and expired registration (with a 14 day printed extension!) and just so, so much on brand extra. I was DELIGHTED, as nothing makes for a better story than a little excitement (and I am a white woman with extreme privilege, I am very lucky not to have to fear for my existence during a routine traffic stop.) So anyway, after the driver and the cop literally became BFF for life, we got on our way. OMG. And yes, I would totally use this shuttle again, they might have been a little chaotic but the driving was fine, and they packed heat so ummmmm safety??? OMG.
ANYWAY.
It was 60 degrees at Lincoln woods. We melted. The end.
We hoofed it off along Lincoln Woods, which is a favorite of ours because we can crank up the pace.
Just over a mile later, we headed up Osseo and it was just lovely (for a while...)
We both stripped down to the bare minimum attire because it was hot AF! NOT ready for temps in the 60's FOR SURE. We comforted ourselves with the "knowledge" that it would be 20 degrees cooler at the summits.
About 3.5 miles in the snow showed up. At this point, it was mostly packed snow ice crap but it definitely required spikes.
I'm pretty sad that I didn't take a picture of the famous/infamous Osseo Ladders but HONESTLY they required full and complete attention on this particular day. They were fully frozen and each step had to be taken with the utmost care. We made it up unscathed- but thankful we did not have to go down them!
After the ladders, the remainder of the trek to Flume was just tedious uphill work through unconsolidated spring snow. And the temps remained well in the 50's causing us a bit of grief. And sweating. And cursing....
BUT, we made it, and it was glorious.
We had to take 5 minutes for various photo ops.
To visit the snowman.
To appreciate the rocky face of Flume. You know, the usual.
The stretch between Flume and Liberty had probably the best (snow) trail conditions of the day- probably since it was still pretty shady. We made the trip between peaks very quickly and took in our second view of the day.
From there, it is a 1.8 mile SLOG to Haystack. No idea what this trail is like in the Summer, but it was a fairly untraveled route and truly suffering from the mid week snow dump, and the rapid melt in the (still) very warm temps.
This walk was a lot longer and harder than it should have been, but it was a lovely day and we were in good moods. (and trying to remember to embrace Beast Mode and Tough Training Miles and EXTREME hiking and all that....)
But to be honest, we were both happy to finally get to Haystack and to stand on top of the Ridge! (where it was still WELL into the 50's! Thank heavens we had thoroughly sunscreened pre hike...)
It was satisfying too look back at the two peaks we had already CRUSHED.
Spikes off. Snacks had. And the walk across the ridge began!
No matter the conditions, walking across Franconia Ridge is always a super experience. The walk from Haystack to Lafayette took longer than usual/than expected simply due to the conditions (some bare ground, plenty of water, snow, slush, more water, the usual for May.) We also had to stop and filter water from a little snow melt stream (it tasted legitimately like a mountain glacier!) We also procrastinated a little because we were hot (it was hot...)
We also became distracted by gliders flying over! It was amazing!
We did finally make to Lafayette which never fails to be impressive. You basically tower over all the other little mountains you just walked over and it is a good feeling.
And then.... The shit bag descent! What a mess. MESS. MESS! The trail to the Greenleaf Hut was laughably BAD. Completely unstable mashed potato ankle deep slush mess. We laughed and laughed and I fell down in it about 60 times and we laughed some more. SPRING is CRAZY!
Old Bridle Path was marginally better, and while we didn't really make up any time, we also did not continue to lose time by falling over in the slush a million times.
We finally made it back to the parking lot (where it was about 70 degrees!) and were were glad to be done, hahaha.
Overall, it really was an amazing day and a good combo of type 1 and type 2 fun. Still pretty low crowds (it was no zero person Easter- but we counted 65 other hikers and that's about 500 less than you'll see up there in August.)
SO. Yes. A big day, a fun day, a warm day and a slushy day.
This trek checked off Flume, Liberty, Lincoln and Lafayette for May, for Spring, and for this round of the 48!
Miles: 13.73
Elevation: 5349
Time: 7:24:18
Fun: Eric: Type-1 fun: 7 Type-2 fun: 8.5
Sara: Type-1 fun: 7 Type-2 Fun: 9.5
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