Drumhaggart
New member
Needed six more summits to finish the NH4Ks, and with the good weather forecast this weekend, I decided to knock off five of them on one trip.
Plan A
My original plan was to do the west side half-loop (Lincoln Woods to Garfield via Franconia Brook, down Franconia Ridge and out the Osseo) counterclockwise (that's anti-clockwise for you, Prino
). I'd take three days with stops at Garfield Ridge CS the first night and Liberty Springs CS the second.
Then, while reading Trip Reports, I find that 7Summits, Nif and Adventurous banged out the full Pemi loop in one long day. I thought, "Wow, three days to do the half loop sounds pretty wimpy now."
So I came up with Plan B...
Plan B
Plan B was to do the half-loop in two days, clockwise, with one night spent at Garfield Ridge CS. This meant a 14.5 mile day up Franconia Ridge and a 10.5 mile day back out to Lincoln Woods through the middle of the Pemi Wilderness. Surely I could manage that...
Back to Plan A
The night before I left, what little common sense I have left overruled the testosterone and I went back to Plan A. I reasoned that our three robo-hikers are all younger than me, and they were probably not carrying 35 lb packs.
I admit it's kind of weak, but I had to have something to cling to.
Plan A-modified
OK, so we started out with Plan A. I left Lincoln Woods at 6:30 AM Friday morning and headed up through the heart of the Pemi Wilderness. I made good time up Lincoln Woods and Franconia Brook and I arrived at the Garfield Ridge CS just past 11:00 AM. This is where things took a turn.
It just seemed too early to set up camp and call it a day. I had brought a paperback with me, but I didn't really hike all the way in just to read. I chatted with the caretaker for a bit and, firmly convinced that I was feeling strong, decided to go ahead and make the 7.5 mile trip over Garfield, Lafayette and Lincoln to the Liberty Springs CS. I figured to arrive by 7:00 PM.
Where is common sense when you most need it?
Long Story Short(er)
I didn't summit Lafayette until 6:00 PM. I rolled into Liberty Springs at 8:30 PM (by headlamp). The platforms were full, so the caretaker let me share his "storage platform" with two big drums, the contents of which I don't even want to know. I was too tired to care.
The trip out the following day was uneventful, except for the constant burn in my thighs and ache in my knees.
Weather was phenomenal and the views from the ridge breathtaking. It had been 20+ years since I had been up on Franconia Ridge, and it was even better than I remembered.
Ironic Twist
When I left Garfield Ridge CS on Friday, the first person I ran into was Cath Goodwin (two sightings in two weeks and no snow anywhere). We determined that we had VFTT in common, and in chatting I learned that Cath was doing the same loop that I was, only in the other direction. The sad part was that she had left Lincoln Woods an hour after me and had completed three more miles than I had.
Lessons Learned
Steve
Plan A
My original plan was to do the west side half-loop (Lincoln Woods to Garfield via Franconia Brook, down Franconia Ridge and out the Osseo) counterclockwise (that's anti-clockwise for you, Prino
). I'd take three days with stops at Garfield Ridge CS the first night and Liberty Springs CS the second. Then, while reading Trip Reports, I find that 7Summits, Nif and Adventurous banged out the full Pemi loop in one long day.
I thought, "Wow, three days to do the half loop sounds pretty wimpy now." So I came up with Plan B...
Plan B
Plan B was to do the half-loop in two days, clockwise, with one night spent at Garfield Ridge CS. This meant a 14.5 mile day up Franconia Ridge and a 10.5 mile day back out to Lincoln Woods through the middle of the Pemi Wilderness. Surely I could manage that...
Back to Plan A
The night before I left, what little common sense I have left overruled the testosterone and I went back to Plan A. I reasoned that our three robo-hikers are all younger than me, and they were probably not carrying 35 lb packs.
I admit it's kind of weak, but I had to have something to cling to.
Plan A-modified
OK, so we started out with Plan A. I left Lincoln Woods at 6:30 AM Friday morning and headed up through the heart of the Pemi Wilderness. I made good time up Lincoln Woods and Franconia Brook and I arrived at the Garfield Ridge CS just past 11:00 AM. This is where things took a turn.
It just seemed too early to set up camp and call it a day. I had brought a paperback with me, but I didn't really hike all the way in just to read. I chatted with the caretaker for a bit and, firmly convinced that I was feeling strong, decided to go ahead and make the 7.5 mile trip over Garfield, Lafayette and Lincoln to the Liberty Springs CS. I figured to arrive by 7:00 PM.
Where is common sense when you most need it?
Long Story Short(er)
I didn't summit Lafayette until 6:00 PM. I rolled into Liberty Springs at 8:30 PM (by headlamp). The platforms were full, so the caretaker let me share his "storage platform" with two big drums, the contents of which I don't even want to know. I was too tired to care.
The trip out the following day was uneventful, except for the constant burn in my thighs and ache in my knees.
Weather was phenomenal and the views from the ridge breathtaking. It had been 20+ years since I had been up on Franconia Ridge, and it was even better than I remembered.
Ironic Twist
When I left Garfield Ridge CS on Friday, the first person I ran into was Cath Goodwin (two sightings in two weeks and no snow anywhere). We determined that we had VFTT in common, and in chatting I learned that Cath was doing the same loop that I was, only in the other direction. The sad part was that she had left Lincoln Woods an hour after me and had completed three more miles than I had.
Lessons Learned
- Even though my mind still works like it did twenty years ago, my legs don't.
- 7Summits, Nif, Adventurous, Cath - You Rock!!!
Steve
