For many, many months, my father in law, Tom, and I have been discussing taking a LONG hike up Lafayette mountain. He's done the hike several times and wanted to give it another go. The trail is popular, so a weekday trip was a must to avoid some of the crowds. Since we were up there all week, we were hoping for a nice day to make the trek. Honestly, the weather didn't look super promising for any day that week, but we decided to take a gamble and go on the day that had the most promise. This landed smack dab in the middle of our vacation week.
Lafayette Mountain makes up part of Franconia Notch, which is one of the most beautiful places in NH. I seriously am not allowed to drive when we go through that area because I just can't stop looking at the views around me and pay absolutely no attention to the road. One of the most noticeable parts of the notch is the huge rock face, shown below. On the right most side of the rock in this photo is where the historical Man In The Mountain, the symbol of NH, used to be located.
Tom was driving up from the Boston area so we decided to meet up in the trail's parking area at 9:30am. After "gearing up" for a few minutes, we started out for a LONG day of hiking! The loop we were taking started with the Old Bridal Path Trail. When hiking up a mountain, you of course start uphill pretty immediately. It was a gradual climb at first and then we started getting to some ledge parts that were a little steeper but still very manageable. I really didn't pay much attention to time that day so I have no clue how long after starting it was that we got to the first outlook. It was incredible! We stopped for a snack on the ledge that overlooked Lafayette and the ridge trail that we would traverse after making it to the peak.
After a snack and a little rest, we started back up the trail. The Old Bridal Path ends up at the AMC's Greenleaf Hut. We decided to break there for lunch since we would need the energy for the next bit of the trail, The Greenleaf Trail, which leads to the summit of Mt. Lafayette. It was such a gorgeous picnic spot! In the picture below, you can see Tom and I munching on some grub. In the background is the peak of Lafayette. DO NOT let this view fool you. That peak looks very close, but trust me when I say IT IS NOT!
The Greenleaf Trail is approximately 1.1 miles of very steep rock stairs. Those stairs are the start of the alpine zone. So we said goodbye to any kind of tree cover and said hello to unobstructed views of the white mountains!
It was a tough uphill battle and we stopped several times to catch our breath. Below's a picture of Mike catching his breath. I realize that the background looks like gently rolling hills. Um, those are mountains. To get some sense of perspective, on the left of this photo is the rock ledge of the notch (pictured twice above in this post) and directly behind his head are the ski trails of Cannon Mountain Ski Resort. We're up there!
After a lot of huffing and puffing and stopping to enjoy the fantastic views, we finally made it to the top!
After hitting 3 peaks - Lafayette, Lincoln and Little Haystack, we headed down the Falling Waters trail. I have so many pictures of waterfalls from that trail, it deserves its own post!
Mike and I in front of the "Ridge Trail" (the shiny parts are wet granite)
The rock ledge (as in the first picture posted) from our first outlook
The peak of Lafayette is at the left of this photo
After a snack and a little rest, we started back up the trail. The Old Bridal Path ends up at the AMC's Greenleaf Hut. We decided to break there for lunch since we would need the energy for the next bit of the trail, The Greenleaf Trail, which leads to the summit of Mt. Lafayette. It was such a gorgeous picnic spot! In the picture below, you can see Tom and I munching on some grub. In the background is the peak of Lafayette. DO NOT let this view fool you. That peak looks very close, but trust me when I say IT IS NOT!
The Greenleaf Trail is approximately 1.1 miles of very steep rock stairs. Those stairs are the start of the alpine zone. So we said goodbye to any kind of tree cover and said hello to unobstructed views of the white mountains!
It was a tough uphill battle and we stopped several times to catch our breath. Below's a picture of Mike catching his breath. I realize that the background looks like gently rolling hills. Um, those are mountains. To get some sense of perspective, on the left of this photo is the rock ledge of the notch (pictured twice above in this post) and directly behind his head are the ski trails of Cannon Mountain Ski Resort. We're up there!
After a lot of huffing and puffing and stopping to enjoy the fantastic views, we finally made it to the top!Just beautiful!
Tom, myself and Mike at the top of Lafayete
After more resting and snacking and taking in the scenery, we started off on the Ridge Trail. It was so amazing! It's just too cool to be walking along the top of some of the tallest mountains and looking down on 360 views of other mountains.
Cool rock - eagle or turtle..what do you think?
After hitting 3 peaks - Lafayette, Lincoln and Little Haystack, we headed down the Falling Waters trail. I have so many pictures of waterfalls from that trail, it deserves its own post!
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