bintrepidhiker
New member
Learned something important on this trip: when in doubt as to what to bring on a trip, just bring it.
Got to the trailhead for Old Bridle Path around 7:30. Going by the car termometer it was in the upper 20's to start and it sure felt that way. Least the skies were clear and winds calm so off I went. Decided to take Falling Waters going up because i figured it would be easier going up then down on this trail with the water everywhere and all. There is a reason why this trail is named Falling Waters, its everywhere! Nearly the first half was all crossing of brooks and falls. It must really be nice in the summertime but today it just made everthing seem cooler. Once past that the trail goes up somewhat steep for a ways and goes thru switchbacks. Ice was starting to become a problem in places the further up i went but with care it was easy to go around. Most importantly, i saw my first snow of the year. Was only patchy dusting here and there but still snow. Won't be long before this whole area will be covered in it
. I also made a small detour to Shining Rock. I must have seen it many times from a distance but never saw it up close. Its steep. If i was more experienced in climbing i'd love to tackle that climb one day, not today though. Wasn't long before breaking thru the trees and reaching Franconia Ridge. Up here the wind had picked up but wasn't too bad. The sunlight made it feel better offsetting the cold. After taking a few photos I pressed on. The views were awesome everywhere i looked. There was snow up here too again in patches. Was surprised the wind wasn't whipping it around but it remained. In what seemed like 10-15 mins, i made it to Lincoln, and behind it loomed Lafayette. After getting my summit shot of #27 for me i continued on. Off the summit the winds died down but i had more ice to contend with. Met a couple of people along the way here likly doing the same loop just in the opposite direction. Its amazing on how looking at the views makes the time go by. Felt like no time at all before i was ontop of Lafayette. This would be a repeat for me having done it once before last year. Here the winds were howling and quickly added on my layers. Here is where my lesson comes in. I debated bringing my heavier jacket but decided to leave it in the car. Because of that i had to leave quicker than i wanted to because i was getting far too cold for comfort. I stuck around for as long as i could tolerate then booked it down to the hut. There was some ice to deal with but wasn't a big obsticle. Here the groups of people heading up increased. I don't i went 5 minutes before meeting a new group. Finally i reached the tree-line that provided some protection from the wind but i was still cold. After reaching the hut i went inside and warmed up and ate lunch. There was a fair amount of people that kept coming and going while i was there. Not surprising concidering the visibility range for the day. Looking at the weather station it was gusting around 40 there so it had to be close to 50 at the summit. Brrrrr.
After half an hour, i started out again going down Old Bridle. This was one slippery trail. It was a mix of water and ice everywhere and i ended up falling a few times, once banging my knee on a rock pretty hard. It kind of made going down from here more challenging. but at least i could walk. I continued to meet more and more people heading up but the crowds died down steadily the closer to the end i got. Some parts had fully bare trees but closer to the trailhead there was still color that looks just as good as the trees off Garfield i saw last week. Soon as i heard water again i knew i was close because right around the corner was the junction with Falling Waters. 5-10 minutes later i was at the parking lot. It was completly full compared to the near emptiness i saw this morning. The pain in my knee had gone down some but still troublesome. Should be fine in a day or 2 i'm sure. Still was an awesome day for views, just have to remember to bring more layers next time to take it all in more without having to rush away for warmth.
Little Haystack, Lincoln, and Lafayette
Got to the trailhead for Old Bridle Path around 7:30. Going by the car termometer it was in the upper 20's to start and it sure felt that way. Least the skies were clear and winds calm so off I went. Decided to take Falling Waters going up because i figured it would be easier going up then down on this trail with the water everywhere and all. There is a reason why this trail is named Falling Waters, its everywhere! Nearly the first half was all crossing of brooks and falls. It must really be nice in the summertime but today it just made everthing seem cooler. Once past that the trail goes up somewhat steep for a ways and goes thru switchbacks. Ice was starting to become a problem in places the further up i went but with care it was easy to go around. Most importantly, i saw my first snow of the year. Was only patchy dusting here and there but still snow. Won't be long before this whole area will be covered in it
. I also made a small detour to Shining Rock. I must have seen it many times from a distance but never saw it up close. Its steep. If i was more experienced in climbing i'd love to tackle that climb one day, not today though. Wasn't long before breaking thru the trees and reaching Franconia Ridge. Up here the wind had picked up but wasn't too bad. The sunlight made it feel better offsetting the cold. After taking a few photos I pressed on. The views were awesome everywhere i looked. There was snow up here too again in patches. Was surprised the wind wasn't whipping it around but it remained. In what seemed like 10-15 mins, i made it to Lincoln, and behind it loomed Lafayette. After getting my summit shot of #27 for me i continued on. Off the summit the winds died down but i had more ice to contend with. Met a couple of people along the way here likly doing the same loop just in the opposite direction. Its amazing on how looking at the views makes the time go by. Felt like no time at all before i was ontop of Lafayette. This would be a repeat for me having done it once before last year. Here the winds were howling and quickly added on my layers. Here is where my lesson comes in. I debated bringing my heavier jacket but decided to leave it in the car. Because of that i had to leave quicker than i wanted to because i was getting far too cold for comfort. I stuck around for as long as i could tolerate then booked it down to the hut. There was some ice to deal with but wasn't a big obsticle. Here the groups of people heading up increased. I don't i went 5 minutes before meeting a new group. Finally i reached the tree-line that provided some protection from the wind but i was still cold. After reaching the hut i went inside and warmed up and ate lunch. There was a fair amount of people that kept coming and going while i was there. Not surprising concidering the visibility range for the day. Looking at the weather station it was gusting around 40 there so it had to be close to 50 at the summit. Brrrrr. After half an hour, i started out again going down Old Bridle. This was one slippery trail. It was a mix of water and ice everywhere and i ended up falling a few times, once banging my knee on a rock pretty hard. It kind of made going down from here more challenging. but at least i could walk. I continued to meet more and more people heading up but the crowds died down steadily the closer to the end i got. Some parts had fully bare trees but closer to the trailhead there was still color that looks just as good as the trees off Garfield i saw last week. Soon as i heard water again i knew i was close because right around the corner was the junction with Falling Waters. 5-10 minutes later i was at the parking lot. It was completly full compared to the near emptiness i saw this morning. The pain in my knee had gone down some but still troublesome. Should be fine in a day or 2 i'm sure. Still was an awesome day for views, just have to remember to bring more layers next time to take it all in more without having to rush away for warmth.
Little Haystack, Lincoln, and Lafayette
