onrhodes
New member
First I have to say I was prepared for clouds, drizzle, and no views when I heard the weather report on Friday night. Needless to say that was not the option I wanted.......
HOWEVER....Left Concord at 8Am and arrived quickly in Franconia Notch. The parking lot was packed with out of state plates, which does not surprise me given that NH must be the only place where most of us have to work on Monday.....
On the trail about 9:30ish. It was a little cool in the Notch, but not a cloud over Franconia Ridge. Cannon was different story. but everything we were headed for looked great.
This was my first experience with crowds on any hike I have done. It is never uncommon for me to see maybe 10 people on a given hike in the past 2.5 years. I knew leaf peepers would be in abundance though.
We past several groups on the way up and I quickly became convinced that we were the minority as english speakers. Lots and Lots of French Canandians the whole way up.
Hit the open part on Haystack in just under 2 hours. There had to easily be 30-35 people sitting there.....the views were stunning. There was a decent little breeze and comfortably cool temperatures. My buddy Andy changed into a dry shirt (he sweats like no one I know), I took a bunch of pictures and it was off to Lincoln.
It was seriously almost like queing up for a ticket at the deli counter at your local grocery store at times. It wasn't wall to wall people, but constantly passing or being passed by people as we stopped to take more pictures.
We hit the top of Lincoln and paused briefly for Andy to tag # 17 and me take his picture, shoot a few more pictures and boogie off towards Lafayette.
I was totally taken aback by the great views. Last time I was up here I could barely see the next cairn in front of me. I was soooooo glad to be back on this day.
Little colder and breezier on Lafayette. Andy tagged #18. We took some time for a little snack and more pictures. I took out the binoculars and could see the surrounding peaks. Looked like Garfield had no one on top of it. I could even make out the out watch tower foundation with detail. Also over to Lonesome Lake.
After a few minutes of chilling out and being amazed at the crowds we set off for Greenleaf Hut.
I'm so glad we went down Old Bridle Path. That sucker drops 1,000 feet in just 1 mile. That is pretty steep. Stopped in the hut for some hot soup, a restroom break and more pictures, and then the quick decent back to the car.
Quickly got warmer as we headed down. Sun was shining brightly on us and the color was looking pretty good in the valley below the ridge.
I have to say that after hiking this ridge once in the clouds and now in the sunshine, it was totally worth doing it again. I was amazed at how nice the views were and got to look around and see all the peaks that I have already climbed.
Probably in the top 3 of my favorite hikes so far. I still like Garfield the best.
What a great day!
-Pete
HOWEVER....Left Concord at 8Am and arrived quickly in Franconia Notch. The parking lot was packed with out of state plates, which does not surprise me given that NH must be the only place where most of us have to work on Monday.....
On the trail about 9:30ish. It was a little cool in the Notch, but not a cloud over Franconia Ridge. Cannon was different story. but everything we were headed for looked great.
This was my first experience with crowds on any hike I have done. It is never uncommon for me to see maybe 10 people on a given hike in the past 2.5 years. I knew leaf peepers would be in abundance though.
We past several groups on the way up and I quickly became convinced that we were the minority as english speakers. Lots and Lots of French Canandians the whole way up.
Hit the open part on Haystack in just under 2 hours. There had to easily be 30-35 people sitting there.....the views were stunning. There was a decent little breeze and comfortably cool temperatures. My buddy Andy changed into a dry shirt (he sweats like no one I know), I took a bunch of pictures and it was off to Lincoln.
It was seriously almost like queing up for a ticket at the deli counter at your local grocery store at times. It wasn't wall to wall people, but constantly passing or being passed by people as we stopped to take more pictures.
We hit the top of Lincoln and paused briefly for Andy to tag # 17 and me take his picture, shoot a few more pictures and boogie off towards Lafayette.
I was totally taken aback by the great views. Last time I was up here I could barely see the next cairn in front of me. I was soooooo glad to be back on this day.
Little colder and breezier on Lafayette. Andy tagged #18. We took some time for a little snack and more pictures. I took out the binoculars and could see the surrounding peaks. Looked like Garfield had no one on top of it. I could even make out the out watch tower foundation with detail. Also over to Lonesome Lake.
After a few minutes of chilling out and being amazed at the crowds we set off for Greenleaf Hut.
I'm so glad we went down Old Bridle Path. That sucker drops 1,000 feet in just 1 mile. That is pretty steep. Stopped in the hut for some hot soup, a restroom break and more pictures, and then the quick decent back to the car.
Quickly got warmer as we headed down. Sun was shining brightly on us and the color was looking pretty good in the valley below the ridge.
I have to say that after hiking this ridge once in the clouds and now in the sunshine, it was totally worth doing it again. I was amazed at how nice the views were and got to look around and see all the peaks that I have already climbed.
Probably in the top 3 of my favorite hikes so far. I still like Garfield the best.
What a great day!
-Pete
