Date: 2014-07-24
From: Franconia Notch

To: Garfield Campsite
Miles today: 10.3
Weather: moderate rain

What is the trail going to bring us today? How about incredible views from Franconia Ridge mixed with tough trail walking, lots of steep climbing, and a very friendly caretaker at the campsite!Woke up today ready to get back on track and back on the trail - going over Franconia Ridge today! Decided to get an early start to the day and tried to set up a shuttle with the Shuttle Connection - they would not write us down for a pick up and told us to call them closer to 7:30. I didn't want to do that in case they got another call but it is what we had to do.Luckily we got the shuttle worked out and they picked us and Pooh Bear up at Chet's - they even stopped to pick up Phys Ed on the same run! We all got dropped off at the Liberty Springs Trailhead and we started the day walking the side trail back to the AT - Phys Ed was delayed slightly since his hiking pole would not extend! After walking back to US 3 we started the long prolonged climb up to the Franconia Ridge trail - man did we hike up for a long time! The climb started out relatively benign but increased in steepness and rockiness as we kept climbing. It was Big Dawg's first day with the pack so we took it slow and utilized lots of breaks to help keep him going. Rested by Liberty Springs tentsite and put on the rain jacket before climbing the rest of the way to the next trail - it was a little chilly and windy! As soon as we joined the next trail the wind stopped and the sun came out - made walking in the jackets a little hot! Soon we would need the jackets again though - a lot of the ridge was exposed to the elements so it was cold! We passed above treeline a little before lunchtime and were fortunate enough to find a sheltered area on the ridge to eat lunch. Lots of day hikers out and about going to Greenleaf Hut near the summit of Mt. Lafayette (Boiler Up!). Now we are near the ridge - Little Haystack Mountain is the first one we came up to followed by Mt. Lincoln and Mt. Lafayette. The ridge was partially covered with fog but it blew in and out while we were eating and walking - amazing views from the mountains along the ridge! We could see all of the area around us - Lonesome Lake, Cannon Mountain, Greenleaf Hut, Mt. Garfield, Franconia Notch. Great photos of the ridge walk and the mountains - such beauty!Pooh Bear caught us on Little Haystack and we made a cameo on a video he was shooting from the ridge - gonna be famous! Taking our time up the ridges to capture the views and we finally made it to Mt. Lafayette - all foggy at the summit so no views for us! Ran into Phys Ed resting at the summit and we pressed on to get warm - standing still was a bit chilly!Amazing to be up on the ridge - clouds rolling in and out, watching people fade into fog and then being rewarded with views when the clouds break - a huge open summit looking over Franconia Notch and the Pemigewasset Wilderness - seeing the hut off in the distance and the long climb up to Mt. Lafayette - a truly impressive spectacle up on the ridge! This is what we were looking for in the Whites - it lives up to the hype!From Mt. Lafayette we still had some tough rocky hiking to do over to Mt. Garfield - steep rock face descents and climbs mixed in with slick trail climbing up and down Garfield. Required caution and care walking but we made it to the campsite - watch out for the steep up and down over Garfield!We were thinking of going on a little further but we decided to rest and stop at campsite - Big Dawg was pretty tired and feeling it in his feet so we decided stopping was better for him. On the way in we met the camp caretaker Becky - a very nice girl who runs the camp for several days before getting some days off. She showed us some spots for hammocking but the trees were a little close and we opted to sleep in the shelter. A very nice shelter it just was meant to be slept in!Shared the shelter with Phys Ed, Pooh Bear, and a couple doing a four day hike around thw Whites with their dog Grubs. Their trail names from hiking the LT were Inclined and Tenderfoot and were good conversation people - we even did Mad Libs that Becky left in the shelter as a group! I had forgotten about them and there were some pretty funny ones!Inclined noticed a beautiful view of the sun reflecting off the mountains across from where the camp was - Inclined, Tenderfoot, Grubs, Becky and I went over to the bench near the viewpoint and enjoyed the amazing view of South Twin Mountain and Galehead Hut in the setting sun - phenomenal view!Inclined and Tenderfoot left with Grubs and Becky and i stayed there for a little longer chatting about the trail and ourselves. She is from New Albany, Indiana and she moved out to NH and is working out here as a summer job. She is a fairly outgoing and talkative person and asked lots of questions about hiking the trail. It is great meeting new people out here on the trail and exchanging stories - you always learn something new or get very interesting stories!We left the viewpoint and shortly after that everyone turned in for the night - not a lot of miles but a lot of work today! Tomorrow the plan is a long day to Crawford Notch - we need to make it since we will be out of food!