To help us document the hikes, we thought keeping record via a blog would be helpful for ourselves, but may also be interesting to other hikers out there who are actively doing this or contemplating doing it. We've looked at blogs that others have posted about their experience and have found them helpful - particularly when considering which peak(s) to tackle when (John's job).
Before I get to our first hike, just a quick note about us. John and I live on the South Shore of Massachusetts, a couple hours drive from the New Hampshire state boarder. I'm 33 and John is 29. I guess we're both in pretty good shape. I've run a few marathons (not very fast, though) and enjoy long distance running. John likes cycling and, well, John is just awesome! (sorry, shameless flirting) He completed his first century ride last fall (which I bailed out of... lol) and is getting ready to train for another.
So, we officially began our journey this morning, picking Mt. Lincoln and Mt. Lafayette as our first peaks. Mainly, this was because they are situated in such a way that we could hit both of them on one, same-day hike and have two peaks under our belt right away. It also helped that the trail head is immediately off route 93. Our plan was to get up at 5 a.m., drive three hours up to the trail head, hit both peaks and drive three hours home. Our only real goal was to get back to the car before dark, but we were really aiming to be home in time for dinner and to feed our cat.
What actually happened is that we got up closer to 6 and didn't get on the road until 6:30. We arrived at the Falling Waters Trail head to find the parking fairly full already. Being Saturday, and nearly perfect weather with temps in the mid 70s, it was obviously a great day for people to get out and hike. I didn't think the trails were overly crowded, though, and found the other hikers to all be very courteous and friendly (especially to John, who wore a Guinness t-shirt that seemed to evoke lots of comments from thirsty travelers!).
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| Today's Trail Loop |
It got hot right away. I'm not going to lie. I had a hard time from the beginning adjusting to the pace John set. Our first hike of the season, my quads were not feeling quite ready to be bounding up rocks the way he was - so effortlessly! I was out of breath and doing my best to keep up when, about 45 minutes in, John turned around and suggested to me that we re-think the 48 peaks plan.
But I was having fun! Apparently, it wasn't obvious (lol). I want to reiterate, though, that it wasn't that the trail was too strenuous, it was that my body was not accustomed to this and was thrown off by our pace. My breathing settled down, though, as we eventually got into a rhythm.
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| Falling Waters Trail |
Along the way, we took the little side trail over to see Shining Rock. We were making good time and knew we weren't far from the tree line. The side or 'spur' trail seemed to me to be a bit more steep, but it was a lot shorter than I expected. The entire side excursion probably only added about 10-15 extra minutes onto our trip. Shining Rock was exactly that, shiny. There were quite a few people there, some of whom ventured out onto a small ridge on the rock, itself, and were enjoying the sun and great views. John snapped a quick picture and we both reach out to feel the refreshing, cool thin stream of water cascading down the rock (oh, it felt so good!) and then made our way back.
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| Shining Rock |
A very short while later, we broke tree line and the view around us was just stunning. By this time, my quads were tired and I was looking forward to just getting the incline over with!
We hit the top, which is actually the peak of Little Haystack, also technically above 4,000 feet, but not an official qualifier of the 4k ft. Club because of it's proximity to the peak of Lincoln. We found a number of other people there, relaxing, eating lunch and sunning. We couldn't find a marker, so at first, we weren't sure where we were and which of the other peaks around us were what. We correctly figured it was Little Haystack, and decided to move on to Lincoln's peak before stopping to eat.
This was my first view of the Franconia Ridge Trail. John had showed me a picture online a few days ago, so I would know what to expect for our hike between peaks, but seeing it in person was an altogether different experience. It was narrower in places than I expected, more exposed, but the views were grander than I expected, too. From where we stood on Little Haystack, the peaks of Lincoln and Lafayette seemed so close!
And they weren't really that far. The hike along the ridge went quickly. Of course, the inclines at the actual peaks were a bit rocky and steep (and, in my case, slow), but not bad at all compared to the long climb of Falling Waters.
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| Franconia Ridge Trail |
We got our first, official 4k Foot Peak, Mt. Lincoln, before noon. This peak was not marked, either, which we were surprised at (unless we missed it), but another hiker confirmed that's where we were when he confirmed the next peak over was Lafayette. We sat and had ate some kashi bars and had some water, made friends with a couple of dogs who were also enjoying a rest, and then continued on our way. We did ask another hiker to take a picture of us on the peak, but I won't be posting it. It was NOT our most photogenic picture. If AMC wants to see it, we'll include it with our application. Otherwise, it will remain in my 'Hiking' images folder on my laptop!
Just a note about the top, while I am thinking of the picture. We found little, black bugs (Gnats, maybe? Some of them did bite.) to be a bit of a pest once we hit the peaks and for much of the hike down afterwards. We had long sweat off our bug repellent and they were swarming all over, landing on our arms, necks and shirts. I mention it because the bugs make an obvious presence in the pictures as well as a large flying insect that resembled a big yellow jacket. Luckily for us, he eventually made his way onto other places.
After continuing on, we hit Lafayette's peak a little before 12:30 p.m.We did take one, semi-presentable (but still bad) picture there, and continued on, mainly because of the bugs but also because we could see our next destination, the AMC Greenleaf Hut... and it was all downhill to get there!
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| View from Lafayette peak |
What I was forgetting is that, sure coming down is not the aerobic strain that going up is, but it's a lot harder on the joints. I'm 5'2'' and some of those rocks are hip-high for me. The impact of each step/jump down was soon apparent in my knees. John subscribes to the belief that running down or bounding quickly lessens the impact, and I think he's right. It wasn't until we cleared the more seep, rocky part of the descent, though, that I gained enough confidence in my footing to move at a faster pace.
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| Us on Lafayette peak |
Once we got down to a point where it leveled out a bit and the rocks got smaller, we started running a bit. And it felt great. I think this was my favorite part of the hike, itself. Purely because I felt the best physically.
We had about two miles to go before John commented that his legs were starting to get tired. :-) By the time Old Bridle Path Trail met back up with Falling Waters (completing the 'Loop' and nearing the parking lot), he had blisters forming and I could tell by watching him walk that the day was starting to catch up to him.
We got back to the car at 2:50 p.m. I loudly declared, "2 down, 26 more to go!" John corrected me, "46 more to go." Oh yeah. So, I was tired. :-) It was a long three hour drive home.
I'm really excited to be doing this with him. We are lucky to be living in New England and able to make these hikes on any given day within season. Since John is Hike Planner, he's already looking at which peak(s) are next and we're planning on doing our next trip in July. We've both learned some things from today including:
Things John Learned:
1.) Carry bugspray with us - don't leave it in the car.
2.) Carry sunscreen or wear a hat.
3.) Don't wear a Guinness t-shirt.
Things I Learned:
1.) John must have better blood oxygen levels than Lance Armstrong.
2.) Always fix my hair before the picture is taken at each peak.
3.) Carrying motrin is a must.
4.) I should give trecking poles a try.
5.) Not every down hill is easier. :-)
8.9 mile loop - 5 hours, 24 minutes
