A two day hike along the Franconia Ridge
Lonesome lake looking up to Lafayette
Too tired to walk down after day one
Day One
The Old Bridle Path was amazing nice approach. Coming out of the tree line to see the Franconia Ridge was absolutely spectacular. Got the last spot in the parking lot at 7:30 AM and the energy in the parking lot was palatable. I looked around with excitement and a little of uncertainty. This was the moment that I saw what I was up against for my first large hike and overnight backpacking. You see multiple mountains in sight and I got really excited. The last mile was tough and once you get over a ridge there is another one. Meet a guy in his 60s that told me that he did the Pemi Loop 20 times and I could be like him if I kept going. Got to the top with 360 degree sights as far as you could see. Beautiful day.
Way too many people - I must have passed 1000 people and too many to sit for too long. Ate something quick because I keep looking at Mount Lincoln down and up the ridge and I wanted to get there. Walking the ridge was completely magical as on both sides you can see down the ridge. There was some really tricky parts up and down for Lincoln. I didn’t stay too long on the top of Lincoln either. I saw Little Haystack as the last down and up the ridge and my body was getting tired. Little Haystack was great and made the decision to push to Liberty Springs campsite rather than down to the car. I needed to make this trip a backpacking trip.
Coming down Little Haystack was really really hard and I took a digger when my heel slipped out from me trying to shimmy down a large boulder. Luckily it wasn’t too bad but it my body was completely done at this point. It took me another hour to get to the Liberty Springs campsite but it felt like an eternity. My left knee was hurting bad. Luckily there was a platform open at the campsite. The girl who was there when I got there decided to get back down because it was going to be really cold that night. I was not going to make it out so I decided to stay. I did it! I stayed in a tent and it got down to 23 degrees. I had 5 layers on with 3 pairs of wool socks and woke up every hour getting warm and shifting sides.
Day Two
The next morning I made some coffee, some oatmeal, and filtered some water. I took 4 aspirin and hit the down side of Liberty Spring trail down to The Basin and up the bike path back to Lafayette Place and under 93 back to my car. The first two miles were all steep rock steps and I needed my trekking poles real bad to save my knee. After that it leveled out and cross some nice streams and back next to the highway.
I met a through hike with only one arm and he was trying to get to Mount Khatadin with 350 more miles to go with knee issue. He was at Moosilauke 3 days ago. He was from West Virginia. I wished him good luck and though of his trials and triumphs for the remainder of the day. I listened to Paul Simon and Blues Traveler for the entire day which was awesome to put me in a good frame of mind.
As I got to the parking lot the attendant stopped me probably after seeing my backpack with my crocs hanging off the back and asked me if I was coming down the Kingsman. I told him about doing the Ridge and told him I was "too old for this shit" with a smile. He patted me on the back and told me he that my journey was spectacular and he hoped to see me back there next spring. I told him I wanted to prove it to myself and for my kids to be proud of me and made the last hundred feet to my car.
Distance
7.9 miles Day One
5.0 miles Day Two
Elevation Gain
4,351 feet
AllTrails