Summit: Mt. Liberty=4,459 feet; Mt. Flume=4,328
Route: Whitehouse Trail to Liberty Spring Trail to Franconia Ridge Trail to Mt. Liberty summit
Review: I told Ray on Saturday that I didn't think I could ever do 4,000 foot elevation gain in one day. Well I proved myself wrong! We climbed from about 1,400 feet to the summits of both Mt. Liberty and Mt. Flume, and then back again, resulting in more than 4,000 foot of elevation gain in one day! I discovered today that I CAN do Mt. Washington if I want to!
This trail, part of the AT (Appalachian Trail) begins on a bike path and climbs via switchbacks to the Liberty Spring Campsite, where a spring provides water and we took a group shot (photo). From the summit of Mt. Liberty, you can look southeast toward Mt. Flume (photo) which is 1.1 miles away.
The temperature was excellent for hiking. Mostly in the 60s. Sunlight graced our view when we were on the Mt. Liberty summit the second time. Yeah!
On the way back from Mt. Liberty, in the conifer forest, we saw a spruce grouse (photo)! It had red around the edge of its eye and stayed near the hiking path as half of our group walked right by it. Then it flew over the path into a nearby tree, where it blended even better against the brown background.We hiked 8-3/4 hours; the trip back was definitely long. Apres-hike a few of us, including Leaders Jim Plouffe and Wayne Anderson, Sui-Wen and Dirgny went to the Woodstock Inn for some beer and dinner.
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