Mt Liberty Trip - 18/May/97
I had a late start from a friend's house in Vermont, so I didn't get
to Franconia Notch until around 9:30. The weather was looking dubious
so I decided to run up
Artist's Bluff, at the north
end of the Notch
while it was still partly sunny. The sign says .5 miles, but I figure
it is less than that. From the top you get great views of
the Notch and the
Cannon Mountain ski area. Be sure to admire
the cut rock steps on the way up. This trip
only took about 15 minutes, so I was off to the Liberty Springs
trailhead.
There were a few cars in the parking area, near the Flume Visitor Center
when I arrived. I quickly packed up and headed out the .8 mile section
that parallels the highway. This was added when the Franconia Notch
Turnpike was put in and all the trailheads were relocated. Then you
hit the bikepath which you hike along for .2
miles and cross two bridges. Then you hit the Liberty Springs trail
and start the real hike. It was a bit muddy but nothing too bad. I
ran into another hiker and we hiked together for about a mile. Then
he had to stop for a cigarette and I continued on. At around 3000' I
hit snowline, but it was very firm and I didn't posthole.
I ran into a couple that were finishing their last section of AT in
New England with this hike up Liberty Springs and across the ridge to
Greenleaf. They had full packs, snowshoes, plastic boots, and all.
We hiked together and talked about all sorts of things, but then I
pushed on again for
Liberty Springs. Then tent platforms were
covered with snow so I wandered over to the
view. This is a site with great views of
Moosilauke and
the Kinsmans, and is the perfect spot to watch
sunset. I put on my vest and headed up to the Franconia Ridge junction. It's about .3 miles of
fairly steep climbing, but the snow held and it went quickly.
Then it's just another .3 along the
snowy ridge to
the Liberty summit.
I threw on some more clothes and started taking pictures. There were
360 degree views, and I picked out
Garfield,
the Bonds(West Bond, Bond, and Bondcliff),
Carrigain and the Hancocks,
Cannon and the Kinsmans,
Lonesome Lake and the Cannon Balls,
Cannon Cliffs,
Moosilauke,
Flume,
and
Lincoln.
After about 30 minutes, the first guy I'd hiked with
showed up. We talked for a while until
Mt Washington showed up from behind the
clouds. Three feet of snow had fallen in the past two weeks and it
was much snowier that when we
skied Tuckerman just a few weeks
earlier. Another group showed up on the summit after another 20
minutes and I was ready to head down. The two of us hiked together
until just above the snowline when he had to break for another
cig. There were about a dozen more people heading up or nearly at
the top. The snow was getting softer and we were just begining to
posthole, so I bet they had a fun time getting down.
Just before I got to the car I saw a trillium
in bloom, a sign that spring really was coming.
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