FRANCONIA

My primary goal for the New Hampshire trip was the classic hike along Franconia Ridge. The hike can be done as a loop starting and ending in Franconia Notch State Park. The basic loop includes Mount Lafayette, Mount Lincoln, Little Haystack, and the waterfalls along the Falling Waters Trail. Christy and I had planned to do the hike on our previous visit to the area, in 2001. Unfortunately, Christy took a bad fall descending from Mount Jefferson the previous day. She was sore the next day, so we changed plans. I was determined to get up there this time.

I felt better on Tuesday night, thanks to sinus medicine that Christy picked up for me at the Rite Aid in Lincoln. The weather forecast was marginal for Wednesday, but even worse for Thursday. We were planning to backpack in the Adirondacks starting on Friday, so those were my only options. The forecast called for clear skies Wednesday morning, with increasing clouds in the afternoon. Thursday looked cloudy and wet. I decided to do it Wednesday while I had the chance. My plan was to get up at first light and get going. Hopefully I would make it up to the top of the ridge before the weather deteriorated. Christy decided to skip this one. I expected it to be much harder than the trail to Mount Chocorua, and that path had been too much for Christy’s injured ankle. She planned to sleep in a bit, and then drive to town to catch up on work.

Originally, I planned to hike up the Falling Waters Trail, hike the ridge north, and descend the Old Bridle Path. However, the weather forecast caused me to reverse my route. I thought that I would be able to get up to the better viewpoints faster by going up the Old Bridle Path. Hopefully I’d catch the views along that trail and on Franconia Ridge during decent weather. I would enjoy the waterfalls along the Falling Waters Trail more in cloudy weather that afternoon.

I started my hike right from our campsite. It was a cold morning, down around freezing, and I began with several layers on. I crossed the infant Pemigewasset River on a bridge and walked a short stretch of a bike path to the trailhead parking lot. Then I hiked through a tunnel under the freeway and up to another parking area. From there I got my first real view of the Franconia Notch area, as it had been either dark or cloudy (or more likely both) the entire time we had been there. It was a clear morning, as promised, and a little bit of fall color was beginning to show on the mountainside across from me. I took a quick photo and resumed the hike, heading up the Falling Waters Trail. I followed it a short distance to a fork, and the beginning of the loop. I turned left there and started up the Old Bridle Path.

This trail was pleasant at first, but that didn’t last long. I’m not sure how this trail got its name, but I’m assuming it was someone’s idea of a bad joke. I’m certain that it has never been traveled by a horse. Long stretches of this “trail” ascend nearly vertical rock gullies and wet cliffs. In between those highlights are more tedious stretches of steep boulder-hopping. It didn’t help that I was trying to set an aggressive pace to stay ahead of the weather. Although I’d gotten up early, I struggled to get moving that morning, and I’d started out a bit later than expected.

The insane part of the trail, which is most of it, eventually ended and the views began. The first few viewpoints were out over the Walker Brook Cirque, headed by the west ridge of Mount Lafayette. They were nice views, and the upper part of the cirque featured the best fall color I’d seen on the trip to that point. I lingered briefly, but I knew that there was better scenery ahead.

I resumed the hike, and climbed to a saddle and the Greenleaf Hut. As I approached, I noticed a sea of clouds to the north. It was a cool view, but I was disappointed when I realized that those clouds were moving towards me. A few minutes later, the clear sky was gone, and the summit of Mount Lafayette was swallowed by the clouds. That was discouraging, but I held out hope that the first wave of clouds would pass. I stopped on the porch and ate an orange, which was a bit unpleasant in the cold weather. The temperature was probably close to freezing when I started the hike, and any benefits of the morning sun had been offset by my 2,500’ of elevation gain over the first couple of miles.

I briefly considered heading back down. Was hiking Franconia Ridge in the fog a good idea? It was a fair question. However, I wasn’t sure that going down the Old Bridle Path was a good idea in any conditions. Is it possible to stay on your feet the whole way down that trail? I decided to continue on. After all, I had already finished the hardest part of the hike.

I made it a quick break, as I still had hopes of getting more views higher up. That actually panned out, as the west ridge of Mount Lafayette provided some nice views of waves of peaks to the south. However, the scenery didn’t last long. A few minutes later, I climbed up into the clouds.

The hike from the Greenleaf Hut up to Mount Lafayette was much more reasonable than the Old Bridle Path. I made good time, and stopped for another break on the summit. I joined the Appalachian Trail there, which was a different experience. I’d seen a few other hikers earlier, but the AT was surprisingly busy for a Wednesday in late September in marginal weather. Most of the other people I encountered were either on an extended backpacking trip or had planned the same hike as me.

From the summit I hiked the A.T. south along Franconia Ridge. Early on, I was pelted by a sudden burst of snow and ice pellets. That passed quickly though. The rest of my hike on Franconia Ridge was an eerie walk in the fog along the edge of precipitous cliffs. Giant boulders and bizarre rock formations loomed in the murk, barely visible despite being only a few feet away.

Initially I was disappointed by the lack of views. However, as I wandered along the foggy ridge, I really began to enjoy myself. The trick was letting go of what I had expected and embracing the beauty around me. It’s possible that I actually enjoyed this stretch of trail more than if it had been a clear day. Well ok, probably not, but the overall point remains.

At some point I crossed the summit of Mount Lincoln, though I didn’t really notice it in the fog. One brief final climb brought me to Little Haystack, which is about 500’ lower than Mount Lafayette. I’d hoped that Little Haystack would be below the clouds, but it was not to be. The entire mountain appeared to be surrounded by a wall of fog.

I started down the Falling Waters Trail from the summit. The initial descent was steep, rocky, and generally pretty miserable. It was really slow going, but it still wasn’t as bad as the Old Bridle Path. After the initial descent, I passed a side trail leading out to a viewpoint from a cliff. I walked down it far enough to confirm that the overlook was in the fog before backtracking and resuming the descent.

On my way down I was surprised to pass several dayhikers going up. It was mid-afternoon, and if they were doing the same loop, they had a long way to go. At that point, it was apparent that the weather was only going to get worse. Early on I passed two women wearing ponchos, which looked miserable. They warned me that the trail along the waterfalls was extremely dangerous, and urged me to be careful. This was a bit alarming, as I was fully committed to my route. In hindsight, I should have warned them about the Old Bridle Path, which is much, much worse. Of course, I didn’t have any basis for comparison at that point.

The trail along the waterfalls was slippery in spots, but it was worth it, because it was AWESOME. I descended towards the creek, and immediately spotted a small waterfall below the trail. I thought about bushwhacking down for a better look, but decided to skip it. That was a good decision, as there was much more spectacular scenery just ahead.

The next stretch of trail passed one waterfall after another. Each one seemed to get better than the one preceding it. One of my favorites was a sheer drop on a blueless tributary. More cascades followed, and I stopped to check my location. Incredibly, the three named waterfalls on Dry Brook were still ahead of me.

I crossed the creek a couple of times, and dunked a boot on the second crossing. I arrived at the brink of the largest waterfall, Cloudland Falls, a few minutes later. Getting to the base was slippery and a little sketchy, but you could say that I’ve been training my entire life for this sort of thing. Cloudland Falls is absolutely spectacular. The stretch of falls upstream had been fantastic, but this was the top highlight of a great hike. In fact, it was one of my favorite waterfalls on the entire trip.

I took some photos before resuming the hike. The creek downstream from Cloudland Falls was almost as nice as the stretch above. There are two more named waterfalls downstream from Cloudland, Swiftwater Falls and Stairs Falls. I enjoyed the final, cliffy waterfall before crossing the creek and leaving it behind. It was sad leaving it, but it was getting late and I was ready for dinner.

Shortly after leaving Dry Brook, I paused briefly to check out a series of cascades on Walker Brook from the hillside above. That was a nice bonus and a final highlight to a great hike. From there, I enjoyed a short, easy walk back to the junction with the Old Bridle Path (shudder) before returning to the campground.

We enjoyed dinner and a fire that night before heading to bed. I was looking forward to a good night of sleep, which I had definitely earned. Fortunately, my illness hadn’t gotten any worse despite some serious exertion over the last couple of days.

Back to New Hampshire

Back to Hiking and Backpacking Trip Reports

Home

Please remember to Leave No Trace!