NH Appalachian Trail: Mt. Liberty

A.T. access starts on the White House Trail from the Liberty Spring parking area.

Time to climb up and along the Franconia Range! This was easily the most challenging hike so far, and it needed to be backpacked. My goal was to start at Franconia Notch off of I-93 where I left off last time, climb up to the ridge and cross the peaks of Mt. Lincoln, Lafayette, Garfield, South Twin, Guyot, and Zealand, all 4,000-footers, before descending the ridge down to Zealand Trail, where I would leave the A.T. and head towards the Cohos Trail.  I allowed four days, which included the long drive up from Connecticut.

Hobblebush

I decided I had to start on a weekday in order to get a parking space at the Liberty Spring parking lot, so when I arrive at 11:30 am on a Monday morning, there were no problems parking. This is apparently a very popular spot for thru hikers to take a break from the trail. They grab a shuttle into Lincoln and spend the next day (a "zero day") doing laundry and restocking their packs. They then arrive back a day later, clean and refreshed. But I didn't see any thru hikers on my first day. They undoubtedly had an earlier start and were long gone before I parked my car.

Franconia Notch Bike Path

There was a surprising lack of signs telling you which way to the A.T. considering that most thru-hikers appear to be using this parking area to grab a ride. The trail map in my pocket showed the short access trails, but not the names of the trails. So I didn't realize that the access trail I needed was called "White House Trail," until after I got home and started looking at my photos. But there were    arrows pointing towards Liberty Spring Trail, and my map did have that labeled as part of the A.T., so was able to follow the arrows. Along the A.T. in the Whites, there are a number of locations with great trail signs that do not mention the Appalachian Trail. You're supposed to know the local name of the trail and go with that. In reality, local trail names are just another thing to juggle and keep track of when you're trying to make time, so a number of these signs have had "A.T." added after the fact, sometimes scratched into the wood, sometimes with paint, and other times with a Sharpie.

The Whitehouse Trail joined the Franconia Notch Bike Path for a very short ways, then crossed the Pemigewasset River where I left off last time (this is now also the A.T.), and then took a right onto Liberty Spring Trail and started up the mountain.

The big loop everyone was doing

It was very hot and steamy. The forecast was for potentially record-breaking heat, and my glasses spontaneously fogged up for no reason. I prayed that it would cool down as I climbed the mountain, and started up slowly.

Passing the junction with the Flume Side Trail, I didn't realize that this is a very popular two-day backpacking loop, and that most of the people I would see that day would be doing the loop. They go up the Flume Slide Trail, scale Mt. Flume and then Mt. Liberty, and spend the night at Liberty Spring Camp before descending down the Liberty Spring Trail the next day. Mostly it appeared to be college kids getting one last adventure in before school started. 

Wonderful water on a very hot day

After climbing about 700 feet, which felt like more due to the heat, the trail crossed a nice clear brook, a great spot to take a break and cool down. A few bright red maple leaves decorated the brook. Let it be fall!

Hot and sultry but with a hint of fall

It did get a bit cooler and less oppressive above the stream (elevation 2100), but not by much. Every so often there was a wisp of a breeze. The uphill was technically very easy. No decisions to make, no scrambles, just a steady boulder to boulder climb that went on and on in the heat.

Up, up, up, up.....

It steepened after that, going up another 1700 feet. There weren't many hikers on the way up.

Finally

I took it very slow. There was no rush, since I needed to camp at Liberty Spring and wait until the next morning to really start hiking. The next tenting site after Liberty Spring was on the far side of Mt. Lafayette, another seven miles, and it would be reckless for me to try to make it when I didn't even start hiking until 11:30.  So it was nearly 3:00 pm before I arrived at Liberty Spring.

Singles only get half a platform.

This was the first camp I'd stayed at with an attendant and wooden platforms. I paid the attendant $10 and he told me the rules, then let me go find a platform. If you're in a single tent, you only get half of the platform in case someone else rolls in and needs the spot. I was lucky. No one took the other half of the platform.

Creative staking

My tent is only partially free-standing, so it was a challenge to set up on the wooden platform. I used a variety of techniques to stake the tent, and had to cut some extra pieces of string here and there.

More creative staking

After getting the tent set up, I wandered over to the spring. It was most adorable spring I've ever seen. It trickled down a piece of notched wood lined with carefully overlapping leaves. There was often a line at the spring because it flowed so slowly and everyone was so hot and thirsty.

I only saw one spring. I mention this because the name of the camp and the trail is sometimes plural and sometimes not. The camp diagram had the plural form, while the trail signs had it singular. Officially, I'm pretty sure it's the singular Liberty Spring. But it's often called the plural "Liberty Springs," which I think is just some tick people have with wanting to add an "s" at the end.  This seems to happen a lot with place names for some reason.

Liberty Spring.

After filling up and filtering plenty of water for the next day, I grabbed the sandwich I brought up and headed up the trail to the top of the ridge, then took a right towards Mt. Liberty. It's a short spur off of the Appalachian Trail.

On the ridge heading towards the Mt. Liberty summit

It was a delight to walk along the ridge line sans the heavy pack, and it was cooling down as well. It didn't take long to get to the top of Mt. Liberty. This is the peak with the perfect pyramid shape when seen from below. The views were breath-taking, and there were only a few passing hikers heading in the opposite direction, towards Liberty Spring Camp. So I mostly had the place to myself. I sat down and ate my sandwich and enjoyed the view.

Looking south-ish down the notch and I-93

From the top you could vaguely see I-93 far below as it ran through Franconia Notch. Across the notch were North and South Kinsman and Mt. Moosilauke beyond them.

North and South Kinsman to the west, the previous hike

The view to the north consists of the ridge and peaks I'd be hiking over the next few days. The route would follow the ridgeline in a semi-circle above the Pemi Wilderness. To the left was the ridgeline with Mt. Lincoln and Lafayette, then Mt. Garfield stood solo to the right, and finally the long ridge heading east with North Twin, Guyot, and Zealand. Wow. Below them all was the Pemigewesett Wilderness.

Looking north towards Lincoln/Lafayette, Garfield (center),
 and the A.T. ridgeline beyond (South Twin - Zealand)

Back at camp, I grabbed some more water and explored the site. It's oriented along a pretty steep hill, and the platforms were necessary to created level sites. There were a number of larger shared tents. Most of the campers were college-aged and enjoying their dinners. I saw piles of pots and pans. These were not your typical backpackers. They were kids having an adventure and making do with whatever materials they could get their hands on.

Pee in the woods

Although the sites were spread out well, and I had chosen one on the far end, some of my neighbors were pretty loud. Groups of boys. It really wasn't a problem until it got dark and I went in my tent and tried to read a book. It was impossible to concentrate. I put on my ear plugs and sleep phone (they play white noise), but even then I still heard boisterous laughing cutting through the night. It was annoying. I wish the caretaker would have said something to them. But eventually they quieted down, around 10:00 pm and I was able to go to sleep.

Platforms were well-spaced