Lafayette and Lincoln

March 9, 2013

After a long drive late into the night and a somewhat fitfull sleep in a motel situated in Franconia, NH, Hai, Rob and I awoke at 06:00. We got our gear ready and had some oatmeal, finally meeting the rest of our group in the parking lot. This was an ACC trip led by Bill, and I was co-leading. Twelve intrepid folks had arrived last night after work and we were planning to hike the two main peaks of the Franconia Ridge. After a short drive we arrived at the trailhead and hiked up to the junction of the Falling Waters trail and the Old Bridle Path. Here we split into two groups of six. I took Andy, Claudia, Hilary, Rob, and Shaughn, while Bill's group consisted of Bryson, Dan, Greg, Hai, and Sherman. At about 3000' the snow was staring to soften and we put our snowshoes on. Layering was tricky as the temperature was very warm, but the wind was biting whenever we were exposed on the ridge. After a couple hours of climbing we reached the Greenleaf Hut, which was locked but we took a break in the sunshine, sheltered from the wind by the building. There was not a cloud in the sky, and today promised to be a day of fantastic views. We left the hut and started climbing the alpine zone towards the summit of Mt. Lafayette. After another hour or so of being exposed to the wind we arrived on top to a crowd of people. There was a sheltered spot up here in the rocks, so we joined about a dozen folks here for a break. After a quick snack we headed off along the ridge, enjoying the views but trying not to get blown off. There was one short exposed traverse where you absolutely did not want to fall, but other than that was a fairly straight forward walk. There were a lot of people hiking along here but the all were friendly, and the views off of both sides of the ridge were phenomenal. A short sub-peak, and then we were climbing Lincoln. In not much time we summitted here, but did not stick around due to the wind. Dropping off the back side of it though, we found the wind to die off and were shortly stripping off our extra layers. On the summit of Haystack we took a long break, lazing in the sun. We also decided to take our snowshoes off, since the snow cover on the rock was very thin. After this second lunch, we began our descent. At the trees the snow got deep again so we put the snowshoes back on and cruised down the steep trail. Took the spur trail to Shining Rock, which today was a big slide of ice which was shining brilliantly in the sunshine. After playing a bit on an ice bulge on the side, we went back to the trail and hiked and butt slid the rest of the way down. Finished the hike in just under eight hours. Returned to the motel and had some beers on the porch with the rest of the gang in the sunshine, followed by some really bad food in the attached restaurant.

A lovely ridge. Mt. Lafayette on left, Mt. Lincoln on right.