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| At the Trailhead |
It’s about time we got back on the trails! On Saturday, Paloma and I decided last minute
(aka, I was fast asleep and Paloma woke me up!) to head up north and do a
hike. We decided that we wanted to try
to finish the mountains up on Franconia Ridge, so we chose Lafayette and
Lincoln. When we left our apartment at
around 7:30AM, the weather was crisp and cool – a nice fall day for a hike…so
we thought. The ride up was relatively
uneventful and we arrived at the Bridle Path trail head at just after
10:00AM. The lot was full – which was surprising
as the weather appeared to be deteriorating pretty quickly. We decided to start the hike off with layers
on as it was quite chilly.
We left the lot and began heading up the Bridle Path trail
towards the Greenleaf Hut. The first
section of the trail was quite easy, traversing across the base of the mountain
rather than climbing. This was a nice
welcome as it had been about a month since our last hike. Soon enough though, we began climbing and
climbing. The weather at this point was
quite chilly and misty, so it was a struggle maintaining the proper
temperature. We stopped often to take
layers off and add layers back on. It
was a never ending battle between sweating and freezing.
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| Paloma Hiking |
By the time we emerged from the trees onto the ridge, the
wind picked up and the trail was socked in by clouds. We couldn't see much further than a 5 foot
radius around us. The Greenleaf hut was
a welcomed site when we reached it at 12:00PM.
The hut was bustling with people, as many had decided to make this their
end point and not brave the elements towards the summit one mile ahead. We stopped inside to use the rest room and
escape the rain and wind for a few minutes.
It was quite cozy inside. The
cook was busy preparing hot soup and drinks for interested hikers.
I took a look at the trail report they had posted on the
wall. 40+ MPH winds at the summit with
temperatures in the mid 30’s. Rain. Wind.
Cold. What were we thinking? This was honestly the first time in my many
years of hiking that I questioned whether or not it would be smart to
continue. After all, from the Greenleaf
hut to the summit of Lafayette is 1.1 miles of exposed hiking. No trees to hide behind or brush to block the
wind. Just rocks. We weren't prepared to be hiking in these
conditions, but luckily had brought a few extra items that helped. Paloma, being the trooper she is, was rearing
to go. I threw on an extra shirt, zipped
my jacket up, and pulled my hood tight around my head. Let’s do this.
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| Greenleaf Hut |
Surprisingly, there were quite a few daring people who
decided to continue on. This gave me a
peace of mind as I knew we weren't the only idiots attempting the summit. With every step we took the weather got
incrementally worse. We couldn't see
more than a few feet in front of us and the only way we were able to stay on
the trail was due to the massive cairns built along the way. The wind was now whipping by, so any attempt
to shield yourself from the elements was futile. I could feel my anxiety kicking in as we
continued on. “What are we doing?” I
thought to myself.
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| Summit of Mt. Lafayette |
We continued on, trying to pick up the pace. A forest ranger was coming down from the
summit and we stopped to chat about the conditions. He was taking headcounts of the people hiking
to the summit – what a great sign…he was probably expecting the worst. “If you are going to do it, you have to
commit now, get up there, and get down.”
We were so close so against my better judgement, we carried on.
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| Bad Weather! |
The feelings when we reached the summit at 1:00PM were a mixture
of excitement, fear, concern, and adventure.
You have to respect the weather in the White Mountains – it can get
gnarly. The American flag whipping in the wind at the summit made the scenery
quite eerie and mysterious. We took a few photos with my rain-drenched
fogged up phone and decided to get the hell out of there. We had a decision to make. Continue over to the summit of Lincoln,
almost 2 additional miles of exposure to the nasty weather, or head back down
to the hut. We chose the latter. It didn't seem that many people were
continuing over to Lincoln, so we weren't going to either. Lincoln will be there for next time.
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| Warming up in the Greenleaf Hut |
We hustled down towards the hut, reaching it at just before
2:00PM. We went back into the hut, this
time to eat lunch. It was packed. It looked like a ski lodge during school
vacation week. Gear was strewn about,
the windows were fogged up, and the smell of sweat mixed with hot soup was
quite nasty. Regardless, the warmth
provided by the shelter was enough to draw us in and make us sit for a
while. I purchased a cup of lemon tea to
warm myself up and we ate lunch. We were
back on the trail at 2:20PM.
The hike down was pretty standard. We were leapfrogging with a bunch of people the
entire way. One couple was hiking with a
black lab – the dog joined Paloma and I for some of the hike before returning
to its owners. It must have been a
holiday in Canada because nearly every group we passed was speaking French. I felt like I was hiking in the French Alps
or something. We made it back to the car
at 4:11PM. What an epic day. We cranked the heat on to dry ourselves off,
stopped at Dunks for a coffee and made our way back home. We capped the night off with a movie – “Machine
Gun Preacher” – which I highly, highly recommend.
Lincoln – we will hike you some day!
Hike Stats
Trails: Bridle Path, Greenleaf
Total Time (Including Breaks): 6:00
Distance: 8.0 Miles
Elevation Gain: 3600'
Trails: Bridle Path, Greenleaf
Total Time (Including Breaks): 6:00
Distance: 8.0 Miles
