Distance: 10.576 mi.
Elevation: 4,091 ft (overall) 5,294 ft (total)
Time: 4:04 (Flume) 4:56 (Liberty) 6:57 (Lincoln) 7:45 (Lafayette) 8:25 (Greenleaf Hut)
Trails: Lincoln Woods Trail,Osseo Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail, Greenleaf Trail
This hike was one I had planned on since shortly after coming up with the idea of doing all the New England 4Ks in a year. A great way to bag 11 peaks in 3 days and get onto a great loop that many do. After a restless night of sleep for some reason, it was off to an early start from Lincoln Woods. I knew the book time wasn't too bad, but the first day would be more elevation gain than I have ever done in a day, I'd be carrying a bit more gear than normal, I planned in time on each summit, and I wanted to be to the Greenleaf Hut before supper started.
The Lincoln Woods Trail of course was pretty easy and went by relatively quick. Soon it was time to turn off onto the Osseo Trail. Having come down this trail once before, I knew it wouldn't be too difficult heading up. The trail is pretty gentle and has a good surface. While the trail was staying easy, it was getting a bit humid in the valley it was going up through. This would later burn off though as the morning went on. Eventually the trail reaches a series of switchbacks to keep from getting too steep. It was in here that I sat down for a break and nearly fell asleep while resting. Hopefully this wouldn't a sign of things to come after a bad nights sleep.
After the switchbacks, you soon come to the ladders. They are all in good shape and easy to navigate, but it does mean some quick elevation gain. After the ladders though, the trail does go back to being gentler. I was able to keep a good pace and make good time through here as I neared the Flume Slide Trail intersection. Once there, I knew I was almost to my first peak of the day, which was nice after nearly 4 hours on the trail already.
After some time enjoying the views on Mt. Flume, it was time to head out for Mt. Liberty. The trail coming down Mt. Flume is a little steep, but not bad. It does however has plenty of smaller lose rocks that you need to watch your footing on. Between the peaks, there is a brief period of flat trail before you start to head up Mt. Liberty. The trail gradually gets steeper before the summit and also gets some larger rocks in it near the summit. All in all, not too bad though.
After enjoying more great views from Mt. Liberty, it was now time to head off again. This time towards Mt. Lincoln. I've only been on the Franconia Ridge Trail between the Liberty Spring Trail and Falling Waters Trail once before, but thought it was an enjoyable section of trail. This time headed in the other direction, I thought the same thing. It goes through some nice forest, and isn't overly steep or difficult. The only tricky part is a short scramble over some large rocks just before coming up to Little Haystack Mountain. Once here, it would be all above tree line until part way down Lafayette going to the hut. The trail through here is well maintained and has few difficulties. It's just a steady push up to Mt. Lincoln.
Knowing I would need to climb Mt. Lafayette tomorrow morning, I found myself now thinking how much fun it would be to have a zip line from the summit of Mt. Lincoln to the Greenleaf hut. That would be easier, quicker, and eliminate some elevation gain. Knowing this wasn't going to happen, I just pushed on steadily climbing up to the final peak of the day. Unfortunately while doing this, the clouds were starting to come in and while the summit was still in the clear, lighting wasn't as good for photos. Knowing I would be back in the morning, I didn't stay long and soon headed down to the hut for the night.
The hike down to the hut was easy and went quick. The food was great and there were plenty of friendly hikers. A group of thru hikers were also there (mostly northbound, but also one southbound) and it was fun listening to them trade stories about their hikes so far.
Start of the ladders
View from Mt. Flume
Nearing the summit of Mt. Liberty
Mt. Liberty view
The scramble before Little Haystack
Mt. Lincoln just beyond Little Haystack
Looking down the ridge from Mt. Lincoln at the days progress
The hut is in sight
The clouds cleared as supper approached
DAY 2
Distance: 7.297 mi.
Elevation: 1,036 ft (overall) 3,267 ft (total)
Time: 1:05 (Lafayette) 4:11 (Garfield) 6:42 (Galehead Hut) 6:59 (Galehead) 7:18 (Galehead Hut)
Trails: Greenleaf Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, Frost Trail
After a great breakfast, it was time to hit the trails again. It was cool and windy to start. The summits of Lincoln and Lafayette were also still in the clouds. They looked like they would burn off though as the sun got higher. Part way up the climb to the summit I met a fellow hiker who was out for the day and fitting in a hike before he had to drive back home from the area. We chatted on the way up to the summit. I've hiked this section a few times now, have find that it's not a bad stretch and isn't as hard as one would think before hiking it. Once at the summit, the clouds were still lingering some, but views were nice and they would clear periodically. It was however only about 45 degrees and it was a bit breezy.
The section of trail between Lafayette and Garfield would be new to me. It would be time to find out what everyone talks about when they say how many PUDs will be through this section. The trail while above tree line is very nice. It's easy to navigate and has good views. Soon though, the trail heads down steeply. Footing is good, but there are a couple spots with large rocks to descend or go around. I imagine that going the other direction on a Pemi Loop would make this section the hardest part of the hike.
After a long descent, the trail levels off some and then goes back uphill for the first PUD of the section. You then come back down some as you near Garfield Pond. I took a nice break here enjoying the location and getting my body ready to start the long climb to the summit of Garfield.
The climb up to Garfield stays pretty steady with a fair amount of rocks. There are one or two short steep scrambles, but with good routes through/over them. While doing this climb, a couple passed me headed down. A couple minutes later while taking a brief break, I noticed the same couple headed up (I recognized the hat on one of them). I commented on how they looked familiar and found out that they accidentally left the summit headed the wrong direction (they were headed to Galehead Hut). I'll bet they study the map a bit better now. Before long I was at the summit of Garfield where there are great views and more people than I expected today.
Having come up the east side of Garfield before, I knew just how steep it was going to be. The only real problem that I thought might come up would be the section of trail that turns into a waterfall when wet. While it was drier than the last time I was here, the wet rocks with running water still required careful foot placement. Once down off of Garfield and past the Franconia Brook Trail intersection is where I found the PUDs to be the most annoying, but still not bad. Terrain is good through here and doesn't seem to get overly hard or steep, but to me it just seems like you aren't going as fast as you would expect. Maybe it's because there isn't much for views and it's harder to judge your progress. Once you do get to the limited view along the trail, you see you still aren't as close as you would like to be. Knowing I had plenty of time before supper at the hut tonight though, I knew I could just set a pace and make the best of it.
Once at the hut, I checked in and picked a bed. I dropped off all of my gear other than fluids, camera, and GPS. I made the quick hike up the summit of Galehead in 17 minutes. It sure is nice having a light pack at this point. I headed back to the view point for some pictures, then made the rest of the trek back to the hut. Time to rest a bit and wait for another great meal. The curried pea soup was awesome.
Clearing views
View across the notch
Garfield Pond
The steady climb up Garfield
Looking out over the Pemi
The wet trail headed down Garfield
Still a ways to go
The only hard part going up Galehead
Galehead view point
I'll be honest, I didn't think the section of trail today was as bad as everyone made it sound. It didn't seem like as many ups and downs as people claimed. It did take longer than I expected it to though. Maybe going the other direction it is worse. The PUDs don't seem to be overly tall or steep through this section, which helps.
DAY 3
Distance: 16.548 mi.
Elevation: 952 ft (overall) 3,163 ft (total)
Time: 1:10 (South Twin) 1:53 (North Twin) 2:36 (South Twin) 4:47 (West Bond) 5:33 (Bond) 6:18 (Bondcliff) 9:58 (Lincoln Woods)
Trails: Twinway, North Twin Spur, Bondcliff Trail, West Bond Spur, Lincoln Woods Trail
Heading out from the hut this morning, the trail starts off with the steep climb up South Twin. The trail gains 1,100 feet in 0.9 miles. It's not the easiest way to start a day of hiking. The good news is though, that this is as bad as it gets.
At the first summit of the day, I enjoyed a nice rest and some good views. I'll be honest that I contemplated skipping North Twin right now to save distance on what would be the longest day of this hike. But in the end, I knew I wouldn't want to make the journey back up just to get North Twin later this year. So I stashed some items in the trees to lighten my pack a bit, and headed over to quickly grab North Twin. The hike went quick with good footing and no difficult sections of trail. In 1 hour and 26 minutes, I was out and back and glad I didn't skip the peak.
Heading down off of South Twin was a bit steeper than I expected, but it went smoothly headed down. Before long I met my first southbound thru hikers of the day. Once down the initial steeper section, the trail gets much more gradual and turns into a great walk through the woods. A nice section of forest and nothing tricky to negotiate. Eventually the trail heads back uphill and you come out of the trees near Mt. Guyot. It's a bit rocky here, but it only lasts a short bit.
Heading over Guyot was quick and easy. You next descend into the saddle where the shelter spur is and then start heading back up. Upon reaching the West Bond Spur, you turn back a bit while heading down into the saddle. I was a bit tired from so much hiking in three days, but it still doesn't seem like much of a gain up to the summit. The trail is pretty easy until a brief rocky section just before the summit. The small opening at the summit provides nice views though.
After getting back to the Bondliff Trail, it's a steady climb for a bit before things level off mostly. An easy hike through here leads you to the summit of Mt. Bond.
The trail is a bit rocky heading down off of Bond to start. Some large rocks that require hoping between and over. As you come down out of the trees, it gets better though. The trail down into the saddle is nice and doesn't get very steep heading up onto Bondcliff.
Bondcliff has some great views, and I could see most of the peaks I had visited over the last couple days. But with views starting to get a bit hazy and knowing I still had a long hike out to the car ahead of me, it was time to head out. There is one steep scramble shortly after leaving the summit, but other than that the trail is in good shape. Before the couple switchbacks, I even came across a rabbit in the trail that didn't hop too far away into the woods as I went by. Continuing down the easy descent, you'll also come to a couple brook crossings. The biggest of these is a great place to splash some water on yourself and cool off. The section of the Bondcliff Trail before the old rail bed was a bit muddy on this trip. Most of it was easy to avoid, but I did have one splash in the mud that got some into my boot. I should have cleaned this out sooner, as by the time I had, the grit of it started to rub my skin badly. Wanting to just keep moving and cover ground got the best of me.
At the Franconia Brook Bridge, I took a nice break to rest my feet and clean out that mud. Other than to clean out the mud, I should have left my boots on though as my feet seemed more sore when I put them on to head out. The remainder of the hike seemed slow, but only because my feet were ready for me to be done. 3 days and over 30 miles was getting to them. I see why thru hikers complain most about their feet for the first few weeks. Once I reached the washout/relocation section of trail from Irene, I knew I was close and my mood improved. Upon reaching my car, I eagerly set down my pack and just sat down with my boots off for a few minutes. It had been a great hike, but it felt nice to be done.
Heading up South Twin
Summit of South Twin
North Twin view
Along the twinway
West Bond view
Bondcliff to the south
Nearing Mt. Bond summit
View east from Mt. Bond
Bondcliff
Bondcliff views
Google Earth representation of the hike
It was a long 3 days, but this turned out to be a great hike and the weather cooperated nicely for being planned so far in advance. I'd certainly do this hike again with just a few small changes, mostly in what I brought with me. It'd be fun to try it in the other direction as well to eliminate the long boring portion at the end.
TOTALS
Distance: 34.421 mi.
Elevation Gain: 4,091 ft (overall) 11,724 ft (total)
Time: 25:41
For all the pictures from the hike, just go HERE
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