*****
Flume Slide Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail, Liberty Springs Trail. Around 8.5 miles with about 2800 feet of elevation gain.
What a crazy week! A few days ago, New Hampshire experienced a (very!) late spring snowstorm that blanketed the higher summits with six+ inches of snow. The day of our Flume Slide hike, however, we had extreme heat and an air quality advisory. That's mountain weather for you...
Hugh joined us on this one, as did our friend Mike C. Alex and I first met Mike outside Lakes of the Clouds Hut in March 2012, the day Alex and I bagged Washington and Monroe for our winter 4Ks. Mike's a kind fellow and excellent company; we were happy to share this Terrifying 25 trail with him.
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| Got my Paracord Survival Bracelet. |
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| The Paracord Survival Bracelet |
We set off down Franconia Bike Path...
Alex enjoyed chatting up Mike...
Mike knew of a bushwhack we could use that would allow us to bypass the paved path. He pointed the way into the woods...
We were slightly off with the entrance point, but we got to the main 'whack within a few minutes of tromping.
The 'whack led us to the lower portion of Liberty Springs Trail, just a tenth of a mile or so beneath the intersection with Flume Slide Trail.
The Flume Slide Trail starts flat, then climbs moderately to the base of the slide.
There are a few stream crossings here and there (all were rock-hoppable)...
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| Love this picture of Sage! |
Getting a little steeper and rougher...
The fun began with this slab. Alex walked right up the boulders. Sage followed suit. I had to climb cautiously.
More wet ledges...
I'd been keeping an eye out for ways to test my new bracelet. We weren't going to be hunting, fishing, hanging a tarp, or anything like that, but I thought I might be able to rig the paracord in such a way as to be of use on the more difficult ledges.
Soon after we began climbing the slide, I saw a ledge with a tree at the top. Perfect, I thought, for testing ParaVival's Paracord Survival Bracelet. I climbed the ledge, took off my bracelet, and unraveled the 550 parachute cord.
The bracelet was easy to unravel. All one has to do is pull down on that loop just under the buckle. The others waited while I took a minute to unweave the two cords.
Once the cords were unraveled, I knotted them together, end-to-end (ParaVival provides a tutorial on making knots). I then tried to toss the cord down to the Mike, Hugh, and the girls...but that didn't work out.
One can see that the cord is far too short for my chosen ledge. That is not the fault of ParaVival, however...they clearly state on their website that they provide 8-16 feet of cord. I simply hadn't been thinking. I apologized to the others for being a goober and we continued on our way. I stuffed the unraveled cord into a front pocket...and I'm glad I did, because that cord came in handy a mere ten minutes later.
As we climbed, we began to get some views...
Up up up...
More slabs to scamper....
I followed the girls up that last stretch and got stuck near the top. Way up high, just out of clear sight in the above pictures, is a ledge with few footholds. I've no idea how Alex and Sage managed to make climbing that thing look easy, but I ended up suspended without much to step or hold onto. Just out of my reach, a solid-looking tree trunk beckoned...if I could grab onto it, then I'd be able to haul myself the rest of the way without fear of falling.
This is when the bracelet came in handy. While stuck on that troublesome section, I carefully reached into my front pocket with my right hand (while clinging to granite with my left), grabbed the unraveled paracord, and flung one end around the nearby trunk. That end went around the tree and swung back toward me. I then held both ends of the cord and hauled myself up. The tree held and I was genuinely happy I'd brought the bracelet with me.
A few more slabs...
Sage slowed down near the top of the slide. The heat was getting to her. Alex and I went ahead, but we kept her in our sights. Here, we look down a steep stretch toward Sage, Hugh, and Mike (who were also feeling the heat).
Not long after I took the above picture, Alex reached the top. I rounded a bend and there she was, happy as a climbing clam.
A few short minutes later, Sage joined us.
Next came Hugh and Mike.
Family shot...
We trekked the remaining tenth of a mile to the summit....and enjoyed the spectacular views.
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| Heading up to Mt. Flume's summit. Mt. Liberty is in the background. |
Summit!
Views from the top of Mt. Flume...
Hugh and the girls on Mt. Flume...
Mike on Flume...Liberty's right behind him....
We lounged, we ate, we moved on.
The mile and a half between Flume and Liberty went by quickly. Before we knew it, we were approaching Liberty's summit.
Forgive the smudges in the photos below. They're the result of taking pictures with sunblock-covered fingers (oops).
Looking back at Flume...
Onward, to Liberty's peak...
Summit!
We lounged, we ate, we moved on.
Looking back at Liberty's summit as we descended toward Liberty Springs Trail...
The way down was hot, but uneventful. We reached the entrance to the bushwhack (go straight in a northwest direction when the trail takes a sharp turn southwest toward the bike path) without any troubles.
On the 'whack (which looks like a maintained trail)...
On the bike path, looking back toward the entrance of the bushwhack (on the left, up around the bend...enter the woods, cross the small stream, and find the well-developed herd path).
This was a fun hike and we're grateful to Mike C. for his enjoyable company. Looking forward to doing another Terrifying 25 hike this Friday (provided the weather behaves).
EDIT -- afternoon of 6/4/2013 -- Forgot to add that ParaVival's site contains a video on how to reweave your bracelet. Though I liked the look of mine, I think I'm going to keep the cords unraveled for now. Since the girls and I plan to tackle many "scrambly" trails this summer, I think those unraveled cords will come in handy over the next few months. I'll reweave the bracelet when winter rolls around.
Coming soon...Keeping Calm in the Presence of Truly Annoying People (Part Two of Making the Post-Camino Changes Last).
2 comments:
Loved reading about this hike! My husband made a few of those bracelets while deployed and brought some back with him for our kids (all adults) and I actually have worn mine saying..you never know when you might need it! LOL ... Ill have to have my husband read this one! thanks again for a great trip report!! Beth
Pretty serious trail, huh? I've descended it twice, once on snow, but I've never ascended it. IMHO it's the toughest trail in the Whites. I compare it to the Long Trail from the Needle to the Forehead on Mt. Mansfield, and the trail from the Basin/Saddleback col to Saddleback summit in the Adirondacks.
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