Franconia Ridge and Mt Garfield (8/6-7/24)

I continue to chip away at the Appalachian Trail in New Hampshire. I needed the section connecting I-93 to Franconia Ridge, and I needed the section connecting Franconia Ridge to Mt. Garfield. It seemed to me that it made sense to just get them both at the same time, and also get the benefit of another hike across Franconia Ridge. Oh, and it would get me another benefit as well. I have been working on staying at every White Mountain hut, and Greenleaf Hut just off Franconia Ridge was the second-to-last one I needed. By staying at Greenleaf, I could cut the hike in two. I decided to go for it in early August, a time that was ideal because I had recently hiked Mt. Madison and Mt. Katahdin and was in the best hiking shape I had been in for some time.

Unfortunately, Dragonfly was busy and wasn't able to car-spot me for this hike. Thus, I called Trail Angels Hiker Services. I had worked with them before, and while they're certainly not cheap, they have proven to be friendly and reliable. I would start hiking on August 6 from the Liberty Springs Trailhead, and then when I finished my hike on August 7 at the Garfield Trailhead, they would pick me up and drive me back to Liberty Springs to get my car.

The first day of the hike was planned to be about eight miles with a good bit of elevation gain as I climbed up to and then over Franconia Ridge. Recent rain made the trail wet as I started hiking out of Liberty Springs. The first half mile or so was fairly flat, and even a bit downhill, as I followed the banks of the Pemigewasset River. I crossed the river on a bridge at Cascade Brook, and then the climbing began. The Liberty Spring Trail gained about 3,000 feet in the next three miles. It was hard climbing, but I felt good, and I knew that if I could just make it to the trail junction with the Franconia Ridge Trail, then the first big part of my climb would be over. When I passed the Liberty Springs tent site, I knew I was close, and I finished the climb about a quarter mile later. The first test was passed!

This sign means the climb is about to begin; look, there's even rope!

I had never done the section of trail between Mt. Liberty and Little Haystack Mountain before, but I was hoping it was going to be as beautiful as the section of Franconia Ridge between Little Haystack and Mt. Lafayette. It was not. The trail was mostly in the trees, and while it wasn't super difficult, it was more of a chore than anything else.

As I got close to Little Haystack, I passed two older hikers who were struggling. They asked if there was any good place to rest coming up. I knew that Little Haystack was only 0.4 miles off, and it's a great place to rest, so I passed that information on to them. Of course, had I known what those 0.4 miles consisted of, I probably would have advised them to rest where they were. Those 0.4 miles involved one of the hardest, steepest climbs of the entire hike, with a lot of places where you were just hauling yourself up rocks.

This was but a small piece of the climb up Little Haystack.

By the time I made it to Little Haystack, I felt like I had earned a rest and snack break. I enjoyed the cool mountain breeze while I gulped down some water and ate some food and mentally prepared myself for the climb up Mt. Lincoln. At over 5,000 feet, Mt. Lincoln is pretty much rock scrambling the entire way up, and while it's not as difficult as Mt. Lafayette, it should never be taken lightly.

The trail from Little Haystack to Mt. Lincoln - it looks easier than it is.

When I summited Mt. Lincoln, I took the usual view and snack break. Despite the clouds, it was a nice day, and everyone up at the summit seemed to be having a good time. Personally, I was enjoying hiking with a record-light backpack. Since I didn't need to carry sleeping equipment or cooking equipment thanks to the hut, my total pack weight was probably at fifteen pounds or less, even with full water. You really feel like you can fly when your pack is that light.

As I descended from Lincoln, I kept looking over at the hut in the distance. It was funny to think how close it looked, yet how far away it really was. I knew I still had a good amount of hiking left before I got there.

It's like Where's Waldo? Can you spot the hut in this picture?

When I finally summited Mt. Lafayette, there was quite a crowd already there. It's one of the most popular hikes in the Whites, and this was a nice summer day, so it made sense that there were a lot of people out. I staked out a spot and stopped for another rest and snack break.

Hawk on beautiful Mt. Lafayette, with the Presidentials in the background.

With Lafayette conquered, I now turned towards Greenleaf Hut. The one thing I wasn't crazy about with my decision to stay at Greenleaf is that it is a good distance from the trail, probably a full mile, and also features an elevation loss of more than a thousand feet. That was going to make the next morning a bit difficult, but I couldn't worry about that yet.

The approach to the hut features a bog that you have to rock hop across, and it was deeper than usual, meaning most of the rocks were underwater. I had a bit of a challenge crossing it, but others fared worse than I did. Later in the day, it became a spectator sport to sit at the hut and watch people try to cross the bog without getting too wet.

When I arrived at the hut, I got checked in, grabbed a bunk, and settled down. I got changed and cleaned up, then I spent most of my time sitting in the main dining room of the hut reading a book on my Kindle app on my phone. I can't remember now what I was reading, but I must have made good progress, because I spent a lot of time reading.

While I was there, I was half-listening to the stories of people as they came into the hut. One guy in particular had the most dramatic story. He was on his first backpacking trip, and he had bought some junk Walmart backpacking gear. Well, his tent collapsed on him in the middle of the night, and he got rained on and then he was freezing cold. His sleeping bag got soaked through, and overall it sounded like he had a miserable experience. Thus, when he got up in the morning, he made his way down to the hut. He wanted to stay there so he didn't have to spend another night in the woods, but he had no reservation and no money.

The hut croo (no, I didn't misspell that) took pity on him, and they gave him the "work for stay" that they normally give to Appalachian Trail thru-hikers. They also let him charge his dead phone using one of their personal battery packs, which was nice. In fact, this was one of the better hut croos that I have dealt with. Maybe not the best (that has to be the croo I had at Lakes of the Clouds in 2023), but definitely good.

What a name, and what a way to be remembered.

Before dinner, the croo cleared us out of the dining hall so that the table could be set, and I got to talking to some of my bunkmates. They were the group taking up most of the hut. They were a hiking group that had come up from my original home state of New Jersey. I made an immediate connection with them because we shared two places in common (NJ and the Whites), and they invited me to sit with them for dinner, which I happily took them up on.

Dinner was delicious, and the conversation with the Jersey crew was great as well. Dessert was just as good (the croo always keep dessert hidden until the last minute). Despite it being a bit cold and windy, I went out after dinner and got some nice views of the sunset. I spent much of the evening talking to one of the croo members, although we got interrupted a couple times when she had to go deal with one issue or another.

My night in the hut was comfortable and I slept pretty well. The next morning breakfast was delicious. After breakfast, the croo performed the hut tradition of putting on a skit to make several points about hiking and hut courtesy (including making sure to tip the croo!). I was one of the first people out of the hut, and the morning was astoundingly beautiful. It would go on to be one of the best hiking days that I have ever experienced, with perfect weather pretty much all day.

Check out those amazing clouds!

The hike up to Mt. Lafayette was not easy, but I handled it pretty well thanks to the beautiful weather and the energy that breakfast had given me. When I got to the top of Lafayette, I texted Trail Angels and let them know an estimate of when I would be down.

The descent from Lafayette down into the col between Lafayette and Garfield was beautiful, but also treacherous. It was a steep downhill, and I had to be very careful to avoid falling down the rocks. I went very slow, and I was concerned that I might not make my pickup at the bottom of Garfield in time. I had to do 9.3 miles, so it wasn't exactly a short, easy second day.

Thankfully, once I made it into the col, I was able to pick up some speed. There was a lot of mud, and that made things difficult, but at least I no longer had to worry about falling to my death. I was back in tree line as well. 

One of many muddy pathways in the col.

Eventually, I began the climb up to Garfield. It wasn't a huge climb, but no four thousand footer is ever easy. I remembered that I had been on this side of the mountain before, when my friend Sylvia and I accidentally descended the wrong side of the mountain back in 2021. Garfield is actually one of my favorite mountains, as it isn't too bad a climb and it gives you great views. There's also a shelter, although it's buried down a steep and rocky climb, away from the summit.

The view from the Mt. Garfield summit.

I checked in with Trail Angels again from the top of the mountain, and revised my time estimates a bit. I still wanted to give myself plenty of time to get down, so I put my pickup time at 2 PM. Unfortunately, I forgot just how easy a hike Garfield is on the way down. At the bottom, you can really make some good speed due to really nice terrain. Between the music I was listening to and the terrain and how good I was feeling and the nice day, I really flew. I ended up making it to the bottom of Garfield at 1:20 PM, way ahead of schedule.

I took out my sit pad, sat back against a post, and prepared to wait. However, Trail Angels are awesome, and they had made their own estimate of when I would get out, which was more accurate than mine. Thus, they showed up to pick me up at 1:30 PM, which saved me half an hour of waiting.

I chatted with my driver on the way back to Liberty Springs. He was the same guy who had picked me up from Appalachia Trailhead last year when I had to abandon my Presidential traverse. He had his unicycle with him, and he planned to ride it around the Liberty Springs area after he got done dropping me off. It sounded to me like a good use of a beautiful day!

As a whole, this hike was fantastic, one of my best ever. It's amazing how much of a difference good weather makes. After all, bad weather can prevent you from taking flight. However, another thing that can keep you grounded is failing to spread your wings, so always remember that you can't take flight until you spread your wings!