View Full Version : Franconia Traverse
Chaco Taco
05-13-2013, 17:02
Took lots of pictures today. It spit snow most of the hike. The winds were gusty at best on the ridge. May have gotten a couple of 30 mph gusts on Lafayette but thats about it. There were times of little to no wind. It was cold but a high ceiling so the views were perfect. The monorail was frozen solid, whats left of it. Glad I had microspikes
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Teacher & Snacktime
05-13-2013, 17:44
so beautiful, you lucky dog.....you too Chaco
One of the BEST hikes east of the Mississippi! Fair weather with good visibility and well..... you lucky dog!
I finished my first hike at 12 today. Which way did you go?
I got ambitious afterwards and hiked to Chocorua from 112.
Did you do the spur(it's really not a spur though, you can continue on faint tread) over to the Lafayette summit?
Did you do the spur(it's really not a spur though, you can continue on faint tread) over to the Lafayette summit?
I did the same hike today and don't remember a spur to the summit.
hikerboy57
05-13-2013, 19:02
Me I'm just thrilled to be back at work today. I hate both of you guys.
Great hikes, Rasty. Chocorua is beautiful - I eyed it fondly from Pierce and Jackson weekend before last. Definitely doing it before too long.
Thanks for sharing your pics, Chaco.
Both of you: how high did you get, on either hike, before the monorail took firm hold of the trail? I'm reading trail reports saying in the 3200' range over the weekend. Seems it's climbing about 400' a week (maybe less this week, if it stays cooler). I'm keeping an eye on it in hopes of finding a mostly snow-free hike for Memorial Day weekend.
Great hikes, Rasty. Chocorua is beautiful - I eyed it fondly from Pierce and Jackson weekend before last. Definitely doing it before too long.
Thanks for sharing your pics, Chaco.
Both of you: how high did you get, on either hike, before the monorail took firm hold of the trail? I'm reading trail reports saying in the 3200' range over the weekend. Seems it's climbing about 400' a week (maybe less this week, if it stays cooler). I'm keeping an eye on it in hopes of finding a mostly snow-free hike for Memorial Day weekend.
Chocorua is almost ice free. I used microspikes for about 10 to 15 minutes on the ascent of the falling water trail and the decent on the bridal trail.
Me I'm just thrilled to be back at work today. I hate both of you guys.
Good..........:D
Chaco Taco
05-13-2013, 20:44
Did you do the spur(it's really not a spur though, you can continue on faint tread) over to the Lafayette summit?
trail goes right over the top, left side Old Bridle, straight AT and Garfield Ridge Trail, no spur trail on Lafayette
My bad. I'm confusing Mt Liberty with Mt Lafayette.
Chocorua is almost ice free. I used microspikes for about 10 to 15 minutes on the ascent of the falling water trail and the decent on the bridal trail.
Let's put it in more absolute terms, Rasty, since your nickname could easily be "Fasty". Did you take note, on Falling Waters, of the left turn where the side trail leads to Shining Rock? Was there consistent monorail below that, or, if no, how far above it?
There is a spur to Mt Liberty. Yes?
Chaco Taco
05-13-2013, 22:21
Let's put it in more absolute terms, Rasty, since your nickname could easily be "Fasty". Did you take note, on Falling Waters, of the left turn where the side trail leads to Shining Rock? Was there consistent monorail below that, or, if no, how far above it?
That monorail was a rail of ice and tough to manage
Chaco Taco
05-13-2013, 22:21
There is a spur to Mt Liberty. Yes?
nope, no spur trail to Liberty
Chaco Taco
05-13-2013, 22:22
nope, no spur trail to Liberty
Its part of the Franconia Ridge Trail and goes over to Flume
HMM. I wish I had a White Mountains trail map in front of me. Never mind then.
Let's put it in more absolute terms, Rasty, since your nickname could easily be "Fasty". Did you take note, on Falling Waters, of the left turn where the side trail leads to Shining Rock? Was there consistent monorail below that, or, if no, how far above it?
I think the monorail was above and below Shining rock.
My bad. I'm confusing Mt Liberty with Mt Lafayette.
I wondered if you meant Liberty. Not a spur, though. The FRT traverses Liberty and Flume and ends at the Flume Slide Trail, continuing on as the also-beautiful Osseo Trail.
Its part of the Franconia Ridge Trail and goes over to Flume
Thanks for jarring me lose. That's what I was thinking Chaco Taco. Now I can sleep soundly tonight. Did you come up the AT to the T junction on Franconia Ridge or do the entire Franconia Traverse?
Chaco Taco
05-13-2013, 22:27
Thanks for jarring me lose. That's what I was thinking Chaco Taco. Now I can sleep soundly tonight. Did you come up the AT to the T junction on Franconia Ridge or do the entire Franconia Traverse?
falling waters to Haystack over to Lafayette and down Old Bridle. Same hike as Rasty. Im ending my 48 on Flume
That's it the Osseo. Ahh! Did you come up or go down that? I never did the Osseo
Chocorua is almost ice free. I used microspikes for about 10 to 15 minutes on the ascent of the falling water trail and the decent on the bridal trail.
PS: I'd bet the higher level of foot traffic on the Lincoln-Lafayette loop shreds up the monorail more quickly than on less-traveled, mere mortal trails such as the Webster Cliff Trail and even the Crawford Path.
hikerboy57
05-13-2013, 22:31
what is a monorail?
http://www.monorails.org/tmspages/WhatIs.html
Chaco Taco
05-13-2013, 22:32
PS: I'd bet the higher level of foot traffic on the Lincoln-Lafayette loop shreds up the monorail more quickly than on less-traveled, mere mortal trails such as the Webster Cliff Trail and even the Crawford Path.
Crawford Pasth is very a very popular trail especially in winter
PS: I'd bet the higher level of foot traffic on the Lincoln-Lafayette loop shreds up the monorail more quickly than on less-traveled, mere mortal trails such as the Webster Cliff Trail and even the Crawford Path.
Wouldn't the reverse be true. The more traffic the greater the compaction of the ice which makes it last longer? I live in North Carolina so what do I know about the life-cycle of a monorail!
That's it the Osseo. Ahh! Did you come up or go down that? I never did the Osseo
I did a there-and-back up Flume via Lincoln Woods, Osseo and FRT December 9 with a friend. It was my second of three windless 4K White summits (Washington June 17 being the first and Pierce 8 days ago being the second). I love high pressure domes for hikes in those mountains. Osseo is a bundle of fun and Flume may be the prettiest summit of the 8 4Ks I visited in those mountains so far.
Chaco Taco
05-13-2013, 22:34
Wouldn't the reverse be true. The more traffic the greater the compaction of the ice which makes it last longer? I live in North Carolina so what do I know about the life-cycle of a monorail!
thats correct
what is a monorail?
http://www.monorails.org/tmspages/WhatIs.html
So it's not a monorail?
Chaco Taco
05-13-2013, 22:35
I did a there-and-back up Flume via Lincoln Woods, Osseo and FRT December 9 with a friend. It was my second of three windless 4K White summits (Washington June 17 being the first and Pierce 8 days ago being the second). I love high pressure domes for hikes in those mountains. Osseo is a bundle of fun and Flume may be the prettiest summit of the 8 4Ks I visited in those mountains so far.
Have you done the Bonds yet?
Chaco Taco
05-13-2013, 22:36
West Bond is has the best view and best sunset anywhere in the WMNF. Its as remote as you will get up here
Crawford Pasth is very a very popular trail especially in winter
True, but I bet that the L-L loop gets twice the traffic on your average spring day.
Rasty, my sense of it is that on warm spring days, as the sun softens up the rail, the more people hiking it, the more torn up it gets, so that the FWT and the OBP would be places where it gets beaten into submission more quickly than on similarly aspected and shaded trails which draw fewer boots, spikes and snowshoes.
West Bond is has the best view and best sunset anywhere in the WMNF. Its as remote as you will get up here
Soon, my friend. Soon. I'm thinking, in fact, that I might try some sort of Twins-Bonds trip Memorial Day weekend. Stay at Galehead and maybe Zealand in order to lighten my load. We'll see what works. Might wait until June.
You guys got me thinking AT, and maybe a few alternates, yo yo from Kinsmen to Mt Katahdin and back this Sept-Oct.
Work just asked me when I can come back to New Hampshire again. So I will be back and this time I'm going to plan a few extra days if I can.
Mountain Mike
05-13-2013, 23:07
Work just asked me when I can come back to New Hampshire again. So I will be back and this time I'm going to plan a few extra days if I can.
I just hate it when that happens!:):cool::banana:jump
Work just asked me when I can come back to New Hampshire again. So I will be back and this time I'm going to plan a few extra days if I can.
I just hate it when that happens!:):cool::banana:jump
We could chip in on a hiker lottery pool?
WB is hereby closed for vacation the next month. We all won the lottery and are out hiking. There would be masses of WBers traveling in packs down whatever trail like a posse of motorcyclists going down the interstate. What chapter are you from? The WB chapter.
Thanks for sharing. The Whites are where I cut my backpacking teeth...and my first every hike of a mountain was Mt. Lafayette about 25+ yrs ago.
Good times.
12 yo me on Lafayette.
http://pmags2.jzapin.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/laf86.jpg
Chaco Taco
05-14-2013, 07:37
Soon, my friend. Soon. I'm thinking, in fact, that I might try some sort of Twins-Bonds trip Memorial Day weekend. Stay at Galehead and maybe Zealand in order to lighten my load. We'll see what works. Might wait until June.
Saw over 200 people on the stretch from Guyot Campsite to North Twin last year on Memorial Weekend. If you dont have a reservation yet, Id say your chances are getting slim at getting one as each day passes. The AMC site shows availability, but Id get on it VERY soon as it will be full by this time Sunday. I could be wrong but that section is one of the most popular for Memorial Weekend and I would avoid it like the norovirus. Then again, Id wish for rain to scare off the french canadians. I think Zealand will be more over populated than Galehead simply because of location to the roads. Once memorial day passes the crowds do drop off a tad. Also, if you can get out during the week, major drop off of people on the trails.
jersey joe
05-14-2013, 15:01
falling waters to Haystack over to Lafayette and down Old Bridle. Same hike as Rasty. Im ending my 48 on Flume
This is a great hike, awesome trail and views above tree line. Hoping to get up there this summer to hike it again.
Chaco Taco
05-14-2013, 15:16
This is a great hike, awesome trail and views above tree line. Hoping to get up there this summer to hike it again.
let me know when...Lafayette Trailhead is 1:15 from my house
The loop over Little Haystack, Lincoln, and Lafayette has often been my first hike of the season. I can get to the trailhead in the just around 2 hours, Falling Waters is not too tough of an ascent for the first one, and if it is too brutal on the ridge you can easily bail out the same way either after Little Haystack or Lincoln. Although, if I get to Lincoln I'm hitting Lafayette and descending Old Bridle Path, unless I encounter a thunderstorm. :)