MrAmeche
New member
After a pleasant morning drive up I-93, I arrived in the parking lot north of the Flume Visitors Center at 7:15 AM. From the looks of the sky driving up, it had looked like it would be a cool and sunny day, yet Franconia Notch was blanketed in fog. I was hoping the sun would burn it off as I stretched and got my pack together. It was a comfortable 60 degrees at the lot, where there were five other cars. I started on the Whitehouse Trail at 7:20.
I followed the trail through the woods, then came out onto the bike path that runs parallel to I-93. The unexpected loudness of passing trucks on the highway was a little startling at this hour of the morning. I crossed the bridge over the Pemigewasset River and onto the Liberty Springs Trail, a well-traveled path through a hardwood forest. At 7:45 I met my first hiker of the day at the Flume Slide Trail junction; we exchanged greetings as I turned right onto the trail. I noticed a difference immediately in the amount of use this trail received, with a lot of overgrown patches and some fairly rough footing. I began inhaling spiderwebs as well, so I found a decent stick to hold out in front of me while I walked.
The weather showed no signs of clearing up, and I began to feel a little clammy, plus my glasses wouldn’t stop fogging up. As the trail continued and flirted with the Flume Brook, I started feeling some mild anxiety about not gaining much elevation this far into the hike. Finally, at 8:45 I arrived at the base of the Flume Slide, where the trail changed to a gravel bed interspersed with the steep rock slabs of the slide. I tossed aside my spider stick and slowly made my way forward. I found myself pausing often to contemplate my next move as I scrambled up. The Flume Slide wouldn’t be easy on a perfect sunny day, but with the fog and the springs on the slope, I was having a rough time navigating myself to the top. Miraculously, I didn’t have any serious slips or falls, but I was thoroughly wiped when I reached the ridge at 9:40. It started to drizzle as I walked along the Franconia Ridge Trail up to Mount Flume, so I put on my rain jacket. I reached the summit at 9:45 and was greeted with an ocean of white from the top.
A part of me was still hoping that the sun might chase all of this away, but when the rain started pouring as I made my way down Flume and along the ridge, all doubts were confirmed. I suddenly felt a strong hunger urge, and as it didn’t look like I would be enjoying my lunch in the sunshine on Liberty, I ate while I walked. Nothing like a cold, soggy banana to get the energy up. Fortunately, the trail had good footing and the rain didn’t slow down my progress. At 10:30 I reached the Liberty summit, still socked in. Here I began to see other hikers, including two gentlemen who were thinking of going down the Flume Slide in this weather. I quickly convinced them otherwise. Sadly, there was nothing to see from Liberty in the rain and fog, so I descended the summit area and continued along the trail. After passing a few more groups of hikers, I met the intersection of the Liberty Springs Trail.
In a few minutes I had reached the Liberty Springs tentsite, and I stopped and chatted with another hiker there. It turned out he was DonL from VFTT, whom I vaguely remembered posting some trip reports from the AT this past spring. After talking for about 15 minutes or so, I wished him luck and better weather and continued down the trail. By now it had stopped raining for the most part, and the footing was better than I had expected. I had started to zone out when I suffered my only serious slip of the day, which luckily resulted in just a few scratches on my wrist. After conquering the Flume Slide unscathed, I could accept it. Evidently I was so out of it that I completely missed the intersection of the Flume Slide Trail.
The sun began peeking out from the clouds as I crossed the bridge and walked along the bike path. I reached my car at 12:15 PM, packed up, and drove south on Route 3. While filling up my gas tank at a station in Lincoln, I looked up to see the fog had lifted from the Liberty and Flume summits. I was glad that the other hikers I passed would have some views, and I concluded that I would have to make this trip again on a better day.
I followed the trail through the woods, then came out onto the bike path that runs parallel to I-93. The unexpected loudness of passing trucks on the highway was a little startling at this hour of the morning. I crossed the bridge over the Pemigewasset River and onto the Liberty Springs Trail, a well-traveled path through a hardwood forest. At 7:45 I met my first hiker of the day at the Flume Slide Trail junction; we exchanged greetings as I turned right onto the trail. I noticed a difference immediately in the amount of use this trail received, with a lot of overgrown patches and some fairly rough footing. I began inhaling spiderwebs as well, so I found a decent stick to hold out in front of me while I walked.
The weather showed no signs of clearing up, and I began to feel a little clammy, plus my glasses wouldn’t stop fogging up. As the trail continued and flirted with the Flume Brook, I started feeling some mild anxiety about not gaining much elevation this far into the hike. Finally, at 8:45 I arrived at the base of the Flume Slide, where the trail changed to a gravel bed interspersed with the steep rock slabs of the slide. I tossed aside my spider stick and slowly made my way forward. I found myself pausing often to contemplate my next move as I scrambled up. The Flume Slide wouldn’t be easy on a perfect sunny day, but with the fog and the springs on the slope, I was having a rough time navigating myself to the top. Miraculously, I didn’t have any serious slips or falls, but I was thoroughly wiped when I reached the ridge at 9:40. It started to drizzle as I walked along the Franconia Ridge Trail up to Mount Flume, so I put on my rain jacket. I reached the summit at 9:45 and was greeted with an ocean of white from the top.
A part of me was still hoping that the sun might chase all of this away, but when the rain started pouring as I made my way down Flume and along the ridge, all doubts were confirmed. I suddenly felt a strong hunger urge, and as it didn’t look like I would be enjoying my lunch in the sunshine on Liberty, I ate while I walked. Nothing like a cold, soggy banana to get the energy up. Fortunately, the trail had good footing and the rain didn’t slow down my progress. At 10:30 I reached the Liberty summit, still socked in. Here I began to see other hikers, including two gentlemen who were thinking of going down the Flume Slide in this weather. I quickly convinced them otherwise. Sadly, there was nothing to see from Liberty in the rain and fog, so I descended the summit area and continued along the trail. After passing a few more groups of hikers, I met the intersection of the Liberty Springs Trail.
In a few minutes I had reached the Liberty Springs tentsite, and I stopped and chatted with another hiker there. It turned out he was DonL from VFTT, whom I vaguely remembered posting some trip reports from the AT this past spring. After talking for about 15 minutes or so, I wished him luck and better weather and continued down the trail. By now it had stopped raining for the most part, and the footing was better than I had expected. I had started to zone out when I suffered my only serious slip of the day, which luckily resulted in just a few scratches on my wrist. After conquering the Flume Slide unscathed, I could accept it. Evidently I was so out of it that I completely missed the intersection of the Flume Slide Trail.
The sun began peeking out from the clouds as I crossed the bridge and walked along the bike path. I reached my car at 12:15 PM, packed up, and drove south on Route 3. While filling up my gas tank at a station in Lincoln, I looked up to see the fog had lifted from the Liberty and Flume summits. I was glad that the other hikers I passed would have some views, and I concluded that I would have to make this trip again on a better day.
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