Date: 2021-06-20
From: Liberty Trailhead

To: Guyot Campsite
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Where to begin?  Ok, at the beginning.Sister Sherpa and I left for the trail, heading about 45 miles north to the Liberty Springs trailhead which connects to the AT near I-93 and the base of Franconia Ridge.  I really appreciate that Laura came all this way from Michigan to support my hike for a week. Other hikers have talked about how incredible the Ridge is and how hiking it on a clear day is the only way to go.  So getting shuttled up here to start the presidential range on a beautiful day was incredible. I did have a .7 mile hike from the parking lot up the spur trail to the AT. Then it was climb climb climb 3300 feet in four miles to get above the tree line into the Alpine zone and go to the top of Little Haystack Mountain.  From here you can see Franconia Ridge stretching up to the north, with Mt Lincoln next in line, it¢s summit a mile away and shrouded in mist. The views were simply incredible - surrounded on all sides by the Mountains and valleys with mostly sunny skies. For much of the next 7 miles I put away my trekking poles and kept my hands free for when I needed to scale the rock faces. I couldn¢t imagine hiking this section in bad weather without being prepared to fall a dozen times. At the summit of Mt Lafayette (5260 ft) I wan into Slippers and Sweet Corn, who I hadn¢t seen in almost a month. They were out doing an 18 mile slack pack. Talked to them for about 10 minutes before we started the downhill, where they quickly outclassed me and disappeared into the trees when we left the Alpine zone.span class="Apple-converted-space"> The descent was even more steep and at least a half dozen times I flipped around and climbed down backwards to avoid a potential fall. Halfway down the mountain there was a campsite and I had to decide whether to stop there or continue on to the next site five and a half miles away. Well, if you¢ve been following this journal you probably know what I did. But between me and the other campsite was the 1500 foot climb up South Twin mountain. It was a hard, hard climb. Rock faces, boulders, roots and all stacked towards the sky. Part way up I pulled off at the Galehead Hut - run by the Appalachian Mountain Club. The huts have a bunkhouse available, but they are still at reduced occupancy due to Covid and all the accommodations have been booked for months. I contended myself by eating a payday candy bar and refilled my water.  I was also able to text with my youngest and return my daughter¢s phone call from earlier in the day. I created the summit at 4:57, beating my goal by three minutes and then calling my pops to wish him a happy Father¢s Day. I am so fortunate to have the father that I do. He instilled in me to treat people as individuals and don¢t prejudge anyone based on their race, color, or creed. He¢s always shown an interest in other people and can strike up a conversation with just about anyone, always showing an interest in them, not as a means to talk about himself. I do so miss my wife, children, family and friends. I made it to the side trail to the shelter at 6pm, only to discover that it wasn¢t .2 miles from the trail but .7 miles. Ouch. I sighed aloud and made the trek down to the site and managed to find two live trees amongst all the dead pines around here. Answered a lot of questions about thru hiking as a was setting up from a group of retired guys who are out for a four day hike. They were fun to talk to. So this was, by far, the toughest 16 mile day I¢ve had on the trail and probably the overall toughest day as well. The Whites are just as advertised: steep, rocky, difficult, and breathtaking. I really couldn¢t have asked for a better hiking day.