Our trip began late Friday afternoon. We spotted a car at Nancy Pond trailhead and drove around to the Flume visitor's center. We hit the trail at 6:05 PM and headed up the bike path to the Liberty Springs trail. Pierre was cruising since he wanted to get as far as he could before we needed headlamps. His pace surprised me, since I am quite fit and 20 years younger than him, but I was struggling to keep up!
We set up camp at Liberty Springs tentsite and decided to go up to the ridge by the moonlight and bag Liberty and Flume. This was one of the most amazing experiences of the trip. The full moon had risen and it was illuminating the peaks in every direction! It really was remarkable! We went back to camp and slept quickly since it would be an early morning.
Saturday was chilly at 4:45 AM, and we were packed up and on the trail by 5:15 AM. We caught the morning glow on Little Haystack at a little past 6, and the sun rose over the east at 6:20 AM. We dropped our packs at North Lincoln and ran up to bag Lafayette at 7:00. The scree on the slide was a little slipperier that I was prepared for, possibly because ice had formed on some of the gravel overnight. Rock hopping would be treacherous all weekend, but we avoided any real mishaps. At the foot of the slide we stayed to the left where it looked like an old trail or logging road is still visible through the trees. The bushwhacking was relatively open and easy, and we made it to the Lincoln Brook in 1.5 hours.
From there, we travelled south to the Owl's Head slide and climbed up tot he summit. Here, I found Pierre's only weakness: I could climb the steep slopes a bit faster than he. It was also more cumbersome with a full pack. We broke for a snack on the summit and started our bushwhack off to the direct east of the true summit. We tried to stick to a ridge and didn't get too close to the brooks to the north and south of us. It was steep at first, but the woods were still relatively open and we made it to the Franconia Brook in another 1.5 hours.
Here, we crossed the brook - I took my shoes off but Pierre just waded through. We had another snack at Hellgate Brook, and headed up the south bank. We followed an old logging road for a little bit and made good progress, but the going got a bit tougher farther up. We crossed the brook and started hitting thicker Spruce patches, and eventually we walked up a dry part of the stream bed. Once we were past Bondcliff, a talus field stretched almost all the way down to the stream bed on our right. We decided this was the best option after 3 hours of bushwhacking, so we started climbing towards the Bond ridge.
This talus field was a fun scramble. Many of the rocks are still loose, so extreme caution was used, and after pushing through some krumholtz to the upper talus field, we quickly gained the ridge. From there, we dropped our packs and headed over to bag Bondcliff. We encountered far too many tired and bedraggled backpackers along the way, including a couple that were deciding to camp on the summit of Bondcliff. They used the excuse that the wife was too tired to continue, but they were probably either lying (and had planned to camp illegally) or truly unprepared for a strenuous hike. I personally just don't respect people like that.
We scrambled back to Bond and went over to bag West Bond at sunset. From there, we headed over to Guyot shelter, where all of the tent platforms were filled but there was plenty of room in the shelter. I happen to love Guyot Shelter - I think it offers the best sunrise in the Whites. I snapped a few photos of it in the morning, and we were off bushwhacking down Jumping Brook at 7:30 AM on Sunday morning.
This section would easily prove to be the most difficult and frustrating going of the weekend. It took 4.5 hours of thick Spruce, crossing brooks, following stream beds, and cuts and scrapes - but we made it. We crossed to the true left of every brook we came to. From the Thoreau Falls trail, we kicked it into high gear all the way to Norcross Pond. We bagged Mt Nancy (a beautiful view!) and headed down past Nancy Pond and Nancy Cascades for an uneventful exit.
Thanks for a wonderful weekend, Pierre, and if anyone would like more info/advice on our route feel free to contact either of us. Happy bushwhacking!
Pics are
here.
