Mt Jefferson

For the last hike of my New Hampshire trip the group decided to hike up Mt Jefferson.  We hiked up the Caps Ridge trail, a 2.5 mile trip up to the summit.  The morning was clear and crisp with temps in the mid 40's .  We started hiking at 8:30am from the trailhead on Jefferson Notch rd.  The trail begins pretty easy with a gradual climb for the first mile or so before becoming steeper.  The first views of the day were from a large rock with some interesting bowls cut out on the surface.  I stopped and took a few pictures from here before moving on and climbing out of the trees.

Looking up to where I was headed!

Once breaking out of the trees the trail climbs steeply over the "caps", a series of large rock outcroppings, and makes its way toward the summit.  It takes a little time to maneuver up and over the rocks, there are some sections where handholds and searching for just the right footing is critical.  

At the 2.1 mile mark there is a trail junction and the Caps Ridge trail makes the final .4 mile push to the top.  The views from the summit were spectacular.  We were able to see quite a distance, looking west toward Vermont, as well as much of the White Mountains spread out around us.  Mt. Washington and the rest of the Presidentials were easy to spot and I look forward to hiking up on the ridge there again.  We had a snack on the top and watched the Cog Railroad go up and down Mt. Washington for a little while before it was time to head back down.

The trip back down went smoothly, although there are some spots that take a little time get through. Careful footing is needed as you descend from rock to rock.  Once past the "caps" and down in the trees the going gets quicker and we made good time.  We couldn't have asked for better hiking weather and it was a great way to end our trip.  We arrived back at the car by 3pm and concluded our trip to the Whites.  

Loving the view!!

The trail goes down there!

Flume and Liberty

I made my way to New Hampshire this past weekend to hike with some friends.  It was going to be three days of peak bagging in the Whites, what could be better?  For day one we decided that we would hike Mt. Flume and Liberty by hiking up the Flume Slide trail and then down Liberty Springs trail for a nice loop hike.  We arrived at the Liberty Springs trailhead parking and began hiking by about 9:00am.  We hiked about 1.3 miles on the Whitehouse trail and Liberty Springs trail before meeting up with and taking the Flume Slide trail.  The Flume Slide starts out fairly flat and is easy going for a ways before making the steep climb to the top.

I have heard and read many accounts of how difficult and steep this trail is, and they are all correct. Once the climb starts it is very steep and difficult.

We were lucky to have dry conditions and made it to the top without incident.  Trying to go down this trial or in wet conditions would be dangerous.  It was a tough climb and we were all pretty tired when we reached the summit, but the views were great, even with all the clouds.  We enjoyed a snack and some water and recovered some of our energy.  

The clouds were getting darker so we continued on to Mt. Liberty.  This is a quick 1.5 mile hike from peak to peak, where I stopped for some pictures and continued on.

Just past the summit of Liberty the junction with the Liberty Springs trail comes up on the left and we began the descent to the parking lot.  It is a long steady decline down past the Liberty Springs tentsite and eventually back to the parking area.  The trip down is tough on the knees but is not overly steep. The rain began falling as we made our way down.  It started as a light rain and then would pick up for a brief shower before letting up again.  It made the rocks wet in areas that were exposed.  The rocks under the trees stayed dry, which helped with footing.  It never rained hard and I didn't need to break out the rain gear, but it was a preview of what was to come.  From the junction with the Franconia Ridge trail it is a little over 3 miles back to the parking lot.  It was a good loop hike that was challenging and tough but the views made it worth it.  Day 1 was in the books, we would now make our way toward Mt. Washington and the Presidentials!