Franconia State Park, New Hampshire

May 6, 2012

10:30am - 4:30pm

Franconia Ridge Trail - 8.9 Miles

Difficulty: Hard

This blog was created as a way to keep donors up-to-date with my training for the 26 mile Xtreme Hike to benefit Cystic Fibrosis.  To make a donation to our team, please go to http://www.cff.org/LWC/hiketocurecf

Up at the crack of dawn on Sunday, I made the 2.5hr drive up to the White Mountain National Forest to hike what some believe is one of the most majestic trails in New England. Lucky for me, the clouds gave way to sunny skies and the temperature was a perfect 65 degrees.

I started the hike at 10:30am along the Falling Waters Trail with plans to reach the summit of "Little Haystack", then cross over the Franconia Ridge Trail (part of the Appalachian Trail) over two more summits to the top of Lafayette Mountain. From there I would head down the Green Leaf Trail until I intersected Old Bridle Path which would then lead me the final three miles back to parking lot; in total I was told it would take anywhere from six to eight hours.

The Falling Waters Trail lived up to its name, as the last few days worth of rain made for beautiful waterwalls along the trail, but also flooded some of the crossings. Walking my way through the ice cold water wasn't what I had pictured when starting off on the climb, but quickly came to accept it as the beginning mile called for multiple crossings of the river.

An hour and a half into climbing over large rocks and crossing streams, I finally got my glimpse of the White Mountain Range and decided this would be a good time to take a rest and take it all in; it would be another hour of switchbacks up the steep hills (the last 30mins of white were still covered in ice and snow!!)

After two and a half hours of navigating the rough terrain, the trees kept getting smaller, and I knew I was only minutes away from reaching the Tundra and getting my first clear glimpse of what I had gotten myself into. The terrain eventually turned into all small rocks and little bushes that looked like coral and I got my first unobstructed view of Lafayette, almost two miles to my east.

It was around 1pm by the time I reached the top of Little Haystack, so I decided to sit down on top of the rocks with a passer by and take out my Subway sandwich and eat half of it while enjoying the breeze that was cooling me down; temperature on the summit was around 50.

After 15 mins of resting, I headed off on the 1.7 miles across the Franconia Ridge Trail which would include climbing up both Mount Lincoln and Mount Lafayette. Walking along knife's edge, I took the time to look back at the parking lot and came to the realization of just how far I had climbed; there was no turning back at this point as it would be another three hours (at least) before I would make it back to the Trail Head. I even took the time to pose for a pic at the top of Mount Lincoln.

I even strapped on my GoPro HD camera and decided to film part of my hike up Mount Lincoln so you could appreciate just how desolate the terrain was:

Once I finally got to the top of Mount Lafayette I was already close to 4.5hrs into the hike and was exhausted. By this point my knees were starting to swell up and my feet were bruised and battered from climbing up and over rocks for the last 5 miles basically barefoot. I took another break on what I later found out was the remnants of an old trail house that used to be on the summit.

Around 3pm., I decided to take off and begin the 3.5mile hike back down the mountain so I could finally go home. The ensuing 1.5hrs would be some of the most painful I would do in recent memory as my quads began to tighten and I felt blisters beginning to form on my big toes. I knew I had to keep fighting the pain knowing that it would only be a matter of time before I got off the rocks and back onto the less strenuous dirt trails.

Finally after just over six hours of grueling hiking, I made it back to trail head and walked like an old man back to the car. By now my right quad was tightening up every few minutes and it was time to massage it out and drink the two bottles of gatorade I had saved for just this instance.

Next week, I will be hiking in Upton State Park where we plan on doing a 7.8 mile hike; it will be a lot less demanding, but hopefully just as scenic.