Trip Details
Date: July 3rd, 2015
Total Distance: 10.51 mi (via Trimble Outdoors Navigator Pro on iPhone 4S)
Total Time: 6 hours 41 minutes
Total Elevation: 3951 ft gained
To celebrate July 4
th weekend, Cupcake, Boomer, and I headed up for an in-and-out on Liberty Springs Trail to Mt. Liberty and then continuing on to Mt. Flume depending on how we were feeling. This was my first time on the Liberty Spring Trail, as when I had previously done these two mountains BishopX and I ascended the Flume Slide Trail then after Mt. Liberty, backtracked to take the Osseo Trail down (both of those trails are labeled as
Terrifying Twenty-Five Trails).
Boomer's hiking pack got destroyed on our Moat Mountain hike (thankfully
L.L. Bean will take back anything), but after a completely useless trip up to the Freeport, ME store to buy a replacement (sadly this is one of the few items they do not sell online) we were informed that they were all sold out/discontinued. Once again, I was going to have to carry his extra water so the choice of the Liberty Springs Trail was key as not far from the summit the Liberty Springs Tentsite has a reliable water source. A replacement hiking pack was ordered after this hike from Ruffwear as we saw a dog using the
Ruffwear Palisades during the hike and they said it held up excellently.
We started this trip out at The Basin parking lot off I-93, instead of the normal one at the Whitehouse Trailhead because it makes for a quicker start and finish. To take full advantage, though, you do have to take a very easy to follow bushwhack to the Liberty Spring Trail. The trick is figuring out how to get onto the bushwhack. You basically want to jump off the paved Recreation Trail/Bike Path once the stream starts running parallel with the path. Cross the stream on the downed tree, walk through it, or try to Superman over it and then after a few feet of walking away from the stream you will see the clear as day herd path. Follow this to the left and uphill until you join the Liberty Springs Trail just a short distance from the junction with the Flume Slide Trail. If you use OpenCycleMap the start of the bushwhack and the entire herd path are laid out and make it easy to find/follow.
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| Yes, the sign does say "No Pets" but at that point we were not turning around and saw plenty of other dogs on this trail so it clearly is not enforced. |
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| This is where we jumped off the Recreation Trail/Bike Path. There is a faint herd path forming here. Cupcake is making her way across the narrow tree. |
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| A closer look at the stream crossing. |
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| This is where the herd path rejoins the Libery Springs Trail. As you can see the Liberty Springs Trail clearly curves to the left here while the herd path goes over the rock wall and logs continuing straight. On our descent we were passed by a hiker who I noticed continued on to the herd path. I thought, "that is cool someone else is taking the shortcut." We met up with him on the Recreation Trail/Bike Path looking lost and at his guidebook. He was an Appalachian Trail thru-hiker and wanted to stay on the Liberty Springs Trail but for some reason the rocks and logs were not good enough indicators that the trail is not supposed to go straight. I gave him directions to continue down the Recreation Trail/Bike Path until it intersects with the Liberty Springs Trail and then he would find his friends who had gotten ahead of him. |
The Liberty Springs Trail both before and after the junction with the Flume Slide Trail were muddy after the recent rain storms we had. After the crossing the large brook, the footing on the trail gets very rough. It is basically rock steps for about a mile and half to the Liberty Springs Tentsite.
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| Cupcake captures some nice J.J. Abrams lens flare. |
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| "Junk" rock |
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| Watershed |
After the tentsite, the trail stays rocky until you come to the junction with the Franconia Ridge Trail. The Franconia Ridge Trail has some nice easy sections where you are just walking on dirt paths. There are two scrambles on either side of Mt. Liberty that Boomer required some assistance. The views from Mt. Liberty were phenomenal and Mt. Liberty has shot up on my list of mountains with the best view. You can see for miles.
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| Apparently the Greenleaf Hut is a scumbag! |
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| The Twins, The Bonds, and Owl's Head upfront. Mt. Washington is peaking out in the background. |
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| Mt. Moosilauke |
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| Mt. Flume and the Sandwich Range behind it. |
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| Mt. Flume |
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| Mt. Garfield |
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| Cannon Mt. and Mt. Lincoln |
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| The northern Pemigewasset Wilderness. |
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| Bondcliff |
From there we decided to continue on to Mt. Flume, which is not that rough of a hike and gradual for is just over a mile distance. The summit of Mt. Flume has some good views but the scrub on the east side blocks it to some extant. The summit was a lot smaller than I remember it and gets crowded if only a few people are on it. We hung out and ate lunch but kept Boomer on a tight leash so that he could not get too close to the vertical cliffs on the west side.
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| Whales Tale Waterpark |
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| The Franconia Ride Trail continues along this cliff... |
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| Looking down the cliff... |
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| Mt. Moosilauke |
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| From left to right in the background: Mt. Kearsarge, Sunapee Mt., Mt. Cardigan |
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| The Twins and Bonds |
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| The Bonds |
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| Mt. Garfield, Owl's Head, and the Twins. |
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| The Franconia Ridge |
The view was just that amazing on Mt. Liberty, I took more photos when we got back to it.
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The mileage is off by about a mile or two again. It just baffles me how much extra mileage the GPS logs with this app compared to what the guide lists. |
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