Trail(s) Hiked: Franconia Ridge Loop: Up Falling Waters Trail, along Ridge Trail, Greenleaf Trail and then down Old Bridle Path, to the common trailhead.
Distance Covered: 9 Miles
Outdoor Travels Rating: 5 out of 5 Backpacks
Thumbs Up:
- Scenery - waterfalls along the Falling Waters Trail will put you in sensory overload!
- The mile or so of trail that runs between Little Haystack and Mount Lafayette (Ridge Trail) is unique in that it has three summits.
- Hiking to a hut allows one to carry less gear (weight).
- The meals at Greenleaf Hut were very simple and very tasty - the staff was excellent.
Thumbs Down:
- Sleeping in a room with 24 other people may not be everyones idea of a good time.
- This loop has some strenuous climbing as well as some sketchy descents which, once again, may not be for everyone.
Lessons Learned:
- This hike is very popular as a day hike, but it's a lot of fun to stay at the Greenleaf Hut
- Toting around a flask of wine all day is worth it when you kick back at day's end.
Franconia Notch State Park Hiking Log
by Dana Farnsworth
Located in the White Mountains of New Hampshire is Franconia Notch State Park. I honestly had never heard of the park prior to planning this trip. A business meeting in nearby Boston was all the impetus I needed to plan a weekend hike in the White Mountains. After a little research on the web, I stumbled onto a site that offered an Alpine Hut-type hiking experience. Since I had never experienced anything like hiking to a hut before, I thought it would be a nice thing to try out.
This was certainly one of those, “everything fell into place” type of trips. With minimal planning, I managed to book a roundtrip flight from Tampa to Providence, RI for my wife Kelli, for a mere $117. A Ford Ranger from Budget in the Providence airport was $17 a day. The friendly people at AMC Huts helped me plan a hike around the Greenleaf Hut, which was the only one with vacancy on the particular night we needed. Now, all I had left to do on my ever-shrinking planning list was to make camping reservations for the 2 nights that we wouldn’t be staying in the hut. The first place I called was Franconia Notch State Park’s Lafayette Campground. I didn’t know it at the time, but it turned out to be a very short walk to the trailhead of our chosen hike. I don’t think I’ve ever planned a trip that came together so easily!
Day 1
Campfire, popcorn, cheese and wine – does it get any better than this?
After meeting my lovely outdoors buddy and wife, Kelli, at the Providence airport, we jumped in our rental truck and were off! A short 3 ½ hours later we were in the Whites! Finding the campground was pretty easy. I-93 runs through the middle of FNSP (Franconia Notch State Park), and the exits were clearly marked. The office at the Lafayette Campground has firewood, supplies, good information as well as a really good trail/topo map (provided above) of the trails in FNSP. We set up our camp, made some Jiffy Pop popcorn, had some wine and cheese and settled in for a restful night of car camping.
Day 2
Meeting new friends, ill-prepared French and the Bumble
The next morning we readied our packs and marveled at how nice it was to have light daypacks instead of the heavier overnight/multi-day packs we usually carry. Kelli actually chose to use my large hydration pack that I wear biking. It offered enough space for fresh clothes, a jacket, snacks and whatever else she chose to stuff in there. I borrowed my friend Christopher’s Kelty daypack.
A short distance from our campsite was the trailhead for our loop. The trailhead was well marked and easy to find; the loop we chose apparently is one of those “signature” hikes that certain areas have - a “must-hike” on the lists of backpackers. Our route would have us hiking counterclockwise up Falling Waters to the summit of Little Haystack; north, across Ridge Trail that would take us up to Mount Lincoln and then to the highest point of the hike on Mount Lafayette (5,260 ft.); descend west on Greenleaf Trail to Greenleaf Hut and then continue down (south) Old Bridle Trail the next day, returning to the exact spot that we started.
The hike at first was easy enough. The grade was not steep at all, the trail was open and we were energized by our light pack weight. I felt like a swift-footed track star instead of the pack mule that I usually feel like. As we approached a section where we could hear falling water (yes, Falling Water Trail is aptly named), I happened to look up and spot a furry black face peering back at me, not 30 feet away. I whispered for Kelli to stop. This unidentified critter and I were having a stare off, for what seemed to be at least 15 seconds. Kelli hadn’t spotted him yet. I was afraid to move or say anything that might help her locate this White Mountain Ewok-looking thing that was staring at me with a rather, might I say, surprised look on its furry face. The second I raised a slow moving arm to point - he was gone. Kelli got a good view of his ebony ass and furry tail as he skittered off. We would have to wait to review a field guide of mammals, in the Greenleaf Hut, to find out that we had spotted a fisher cat. Pretty cool! Here is some more info on the fisher cat.
After the fisher cat sighting, we hiked by the first of at least three or four distinctly different waterfalls, each one gorgeous in its own way. This is also where the trail began to ascend aggressively. At more than one point, we found ourselves crawling up near vertical walls of stones that paralleled a waterfall. Although possible to do this with a full-sized weighted pack, I was more than happy that I was toting just a few pounds on my back. The trail varied from moderately difficult root and rock-laden ascents to sections that were even steeper and rockier. For reference we started at 1,600 feet, Little Haystack tops out at 4,840 feet in about 2 -3 miles!
For most of the ascent we were experiencing views of a pretty forest environment. It wasn’t until we approached the final (and steepest) ¼ mile of Little Haystack that we started getting glimpses of the surrounding mountain vistas. Within a short distance of the summit, the terrain changed. The trees were almost exclusively spruce and even those began to get smaller (stunted by harsh conditions) as we went up. Near the top, the weathered spruce cover gave way to a breathtaking vista! A short rock scramble later and we were on top of Little Haystack! Yeah! After a rest, snack and a few pictures we set off on the Ridge Trail. Although we were still more than two hiking miles away, we could actually see the Greenleaf Hut off in the distance.
The weather in the Whites is notoriously unpredictable, but this day we were in luck – it was sublime! We had blue skies and great visibility as we headed up the rocky ridge trail to our second summit of the day - Mt. Lincoln. This section required some more rock scrambling and a few more somewhat strenuous ascents. Once at the top, we could finally see Mount Lafayette (look closely in the picture and you can see the trail go all the way up to the summit). I was getting a little tired, and the flask of merlot I was toting around for evening consumption at the hut was taunting me with “drink me now” thoughts! With Mount Lafayette in our sites, we began the hike up through stunted spruce in the saddle between the two peaks and up the 260 feet to the Summit of Lafayette. Gorgeous! What views! Pictures, pictures, and more pictures! I snapped several while Kelli took a look around the rocky moon-like summit.
After another hiker took our picture together, I struck up a conversation about cameras with an oddly dressed hiker and his oddly dressed wife - their French accents and their attire intrigued me. The man had on street clothes and slip-on leather casual loafers; his wife, little Chuck Taylor copy stylish low top tennis shoes – not a backpack or an ounce of high tech fabric could be found on them. In a small fanny pack, he showed me that they had brought water. The wife chimed in with (add French accent), “ve ar nut peepared!” Yeah, no shit, I thought to myself! They had begun hiking at the same place we had this morning – by all normal estimates a six to eight-hour fairly strenuous day hike. We had more food and water and we were actually staying the night! I offered up a spare energy bar to them as I explained that we get dinner and breakfast at the hut that was down the mountain and within our view. The wife queried me, “They huv a restaurawnt dare?” I replied, “Well, yes, sort of. I think you need a reservation though - here, please take this” – reaching out with my energy bar in their direction. The little ill-dressed man had way too much pride to take a hand out from an American (even if he was actually French/Canadian). He replied to his wife with a flip of his hand in my direction, “Yu cun hav zit ifz yu vant it, I am vine.” It didn’t take too much persuading to get her to take it. Within seconds Kelli pointed out the sounds of a wrapper being opened as they hiked down Lafayette ahead of us. We wished them well and figured they would continue down the mountain – and that we had seen the last of them.
As we descended an often steep and rocky trail heading towards our hut, we passed several hikers going the other way, heading for the summit of Lafayette. One in particular caught our attention. A big, orb-shaped, red-faced, panting, sweaty guy, who looked exactly like the Bumble from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’s Christmas Special, was laboriously plodding up the trail with a tiny female companion who was shouldering their entire pack load. We couldn’t help but discuss that this round, German-speaking, Bumble-looking hiker was making faces that indicated he was on the verge of death or at least total exhaustion. As the sun started getting low on the horizon, and we drew near our waiting Alpine accommodations, we hadn’t expected to actually see “the Bumble” again either.
Surprise! As we entered the hut there sat our French/Canadian friends devouring bowls of minestroni soup! Apparently the little macho hiker really was hungry. Later as he smoked a cigarette on the porch, he informed me that, in a defiant machismo tone, “I vas nut dat hungry.” “Bullshit”, was my first thought. I couldn’t stifle the audible chuckle that followed. The way he was slurping down his soup earlier sure made him LOOK hungry. Anyway, we were at our cabin and all was good.
The staff or “croo” as they call themselves were busy making dinner preparations – it smelled great! We checked in and began the process of finding suitable bunks for the night. After picking out a couple and plopping off our hiking boots, we began a conversation with two of our bunk neighbors. As it turns out our “neighbors” - Alison and Graham Hankey - were very cool; we enjoyed talking and hanging out with them.
Dinner time! As we entered the dining area I was surprised to see the one and only Bumble! He looked as wild as ever! After mentioning to Alison and Graham whom we thought he resembled, they laughed aloud and wholeheartedly agreed that he was indeed the Bumble! After a delicious dinner we hung out with our new friends for a while, chatting and enjoying the merlot that I had been toting around and called it a night.
Day 3
A night of snoring and farting heralds a beautiful day
The night was interesting. After sleeping solid for a few hours due to being very tired, I awoke to a symphony of snoring and farting – oh, the joys of a shared bunk room! In the morning a member of the croo woke us up by playing his guitar – very nice. Breakfast was as good as dinner. It did have one added attraction though – a rather interesting and funny theatrical production by the crew on how to fold your blankets and tip accordingly. Graham described it as “Oscar worthy.”
After repacking and gearing up, Kelli, Graham, Alison and I headed out to descend the last couple of miles of our hike. It was an absolutely gorgeous, picture perfect morning in the Whites. The descent was down-right tough at times – sheer rock faces on 20% grades worn smooth by years of water and boot soles made for a slippery, tenuous hike. Soon, the canopy of spruce opened up and gave us an incredible view of Little Haystack, Mount Lincoln and Mount Lafayette. With our new friends, our conversation was lively as was our pace. Before any of us realized it, we were back at the trailhead!
My first experience with hut hiking was a good one. I really enjoyed the light pack and hot meals cooked by someone else. I won’t be turning in my big backpack and tent anytime soon, as I really enjoy the backcountry experience. That said, I’m sure that I will return to the Whites for a longer two-night hut hike in the future, hopefully with our new friends and a new host of interesting hut mates – perhaps someone who looks like, say, hmm, Hermy the Dentist?
