Franconia Ridge

Knowing that pretty soon I would start to be inundated with homework assignments and social obligations; I decided that the first weekend back at college I would head up to the White Mountains on a day hike. I invited Sam to come along with me. Friday night I also invited Nate; he said he would love to come and was very excited until four the next morning, when he realized that he had a bunch of homework to do. I applauded his commitment to school while I blew it off and went to pick Sam up. On the road by 4:15 after a small SNAFU with the GPS, (I couldn’t find it at first) we made good time to the trailhead. Sam, only having gotten about two hours of sleep that night, slept most of the two and a half hour trip.

Franconia Ridge is a popular summer destination for hikers with a wide range of abilities. During the winter it is still a popular destination, although it is the more adventurous hikers who choose to hike the ridge. Completely exposed and above tree-line for about 2.5 miles, it can be very windy. After returning today from the hike I noticed a section on the Wikipedia that reads as follows.

“The exposed nature of the ridge and the changeable weather of the White Mountains make it a more dangerous hike than it may appear. Injuries and even fatalities from falls and exposure are not uncommon; most recently, one man died after he and a companion were trapped February 11, 2008 by fast-moving winter weather.”

Although this sounds very serious, Sam and I were well equipped, bringing; a tarp, thermal sleeping pad, down sleeping bag, a stove, pot and spoon as well as hot chocolate powder. I knew that the trail would be pretty easy to follow and we would turn around if the weather turned foul, but we still brought this equipment just to be sure. After starting on down the trail I realized that I had left two important things out of my pack, one was the fuel, and two was my compass. Although I had my hiking GPS with me, I never want to depend upon it, thinking that a compass is more reliable. The lack of fuel could be a problem if we encountered any really foul weather. However I was not worried; the weather forecast was that it was to be clear with wind at 5mph with gusts up to 15mph (at ground level).

When we arrived at the trailhead it was getting close to six thirty. The sky was just beginning to lighten up. We drove around the parking lot looking for the trailhead and eventually decided to look on foot. The instant we stepped out of the pickup cab we were greeted with a chilly blast of wind that ate right through our light layer of clothing. We hastily retreated to the safety of the cab and donned our wind shells. Again exiting the cab we quickly located the trailhead. Again returning to the pickup we grabbed our packs and snowshoes, and, putting them on, started up the trail.

The sky was now bright enough that we had no trouble following the trail. We were the first ones on the trail since the recent snowfall. For the first 20 or so feet we were sinking up to our knees even with snowshoes on. We thought, ‘if we need to break trail like this, it is going to be the toughest hike that we never want to do.’ Fortunately though, we soon hit on the old packed snow from previous hikers on which there was roughly three inches of new snow. After breaking trail for a short while I allowed Sam to pass me. I could sense his intensity wanting to get free and thought it would be a good idea to let him take on trail breaking.

He set a wonderful pace, not too fast and not too slow, just the pace I liked. After about half a mile we paused to let Sam take off one of his layers as he was beginning to overheat. As soon he had his pack back on, he took off at a blistering march. I struggled to keep up, puffing along. My legs started to burn and I knew at this pace there was no way I was going to make it at this pace. “SAM, you’re killing me.” I said after five minutes. He slowed down to the pace we were at before he stripped.

Moving along we soon started to have views of what was to come. We caught brief glimpses of the ridge and were awed by its majesty. The sun had fully risen and was shining on the mountains across the valley. It shone on the trees in a wonderful pinkish gold, resplendently reflecting off the snow. We were happy. I remarked to Sam that if we were forced to turn around now I would still be content with the hike. Little did I know what greatness was to come.

Right below the tree line on the ridge is a hut nestled in a col. In the summer it is open for visitors but right now it was locked closed with the biggest lock I have ever seen. We could see Mount Lafayette which looked so close we could reach out and brush the snow off the top! Taking a break there, we snapped a couple epic pose pictures and put on another layer in preparation for exposed portion of the hike. Since Sam had broken trail up until this point, I led. We exited the clearing on the other side than that we had entered and quickly realize we were not on the trial. Instead of doubling back, we struck off to the left as I had seen a manmade object looked like a sign. I was fooled and it was only a manmade something, the purpose of which I knew not what. Continuing to the left we were unable to find the trail. We kept pushing so far to the left that we quickly circumnavigated the hut, arriving where we had stood a few moments earlier.

We set off again, this time, using our heads, we brushed some snow off of a sign and read which way to Lafayette. We quickly located the trail which the sign pointed out, indicating that the summit was just over a mile away. So much for just reaching out and brushing snow off the top. We trudged on. Unfortunately our depth of vision was completely skewed causing us to miss seeing a dip in the ridge that descended below tree-line. Below tree-line I knew I would overheat without the wind so I slowed our pace down so that we wouldn’t have to take a layer off only to put it back on. We soon came out of the col and were on the summit face.

When I had asked Sam earlier to slow down he made a joke about the mountain not going anywhere, so we had plenty of time. This did not prove to be the case. Although it looked like a hop and a skip to the summit, the mount kept going. It kept going and going. And then it went some more. We started cairn hopping. We would spot the next cairn, climb to it, take a micro-break, complain about the wind and the never ending mountain, and then press on. Several times, upon arriving at a cairn we would have to spend a little while looking for the next one as they were all covered with snow.

Although the rest of our bodies were warm, the wind was having it out on our eyes. I had left my ski goggles on my desk in my dorm room because the weather report had been so clear. Now I wished I had brought them to block the wind. We walked with one hand up against our head, blocking the wind which was coming across our left shoulder. Finally we reached just below what looked like the summit. I pulled out my camera and we filmed a ‘summit push’ clip. We climbed over the steepest pitch we would encounter and saw that there, on a gentler grade was a hundred yards to the summit. Now with the wind almost directly behind us we scrambled to the top and dropped behind some large rocks to block the wind. The views were spectacular. From Lafayette, we could see where we had come from, where we were going, and then we could see miles farther in every direction.

We celebrated the summit with two Snickers bars, my favorite. We recorded a short summit clip, took a couple pictures and moved on. We had hoped that the wind would be at our back the length of the ridge, but instead it was over our right shoulder now, varying from quartering to the front and quartering to the back depending on what part of the ridge we were on. The ridge has three distinct peaks, each of which felt like a new accomplishment. The wind was howling around us and we were at the top of the world. Mountains that, in the morning we had looked up to, were now far below us in elevation. The views were phenomenal the whole way across the ridge. One only had to look to the right or left to see for miles and miles.

All too soon though, we descended off the ridge. As soon as we got bellow tree line we noticed how much warmer it was. Without the wind sapping our warmth we were positively toasty. After descending a short way we stopped for a couple munchies. Sam pulled out two frozen PB&J sandwiches. They tasted like cookies, anything in the wilderness tastes better.

Soon after this we saw the first people of the day. It was a couple who were hiking up together. Now, for the first time that day we were no longer breaking trail. The people soon came thick and fast. We passed by a group that had at least ten people. At the steeper portions of the trail we butt slid and stopped to take pictures of some interesting ice formations. Sam found a cave made by icicles dropping off an overhanging rock.

We made it to the bottom, took off a couple layers and hit the road. On the way home we stopped in Manchester to eat at one of Sam’s favorite Diners, The Red Arrow. The food was good and he ate probably about three times as much as I did in the same time. At 5pm we got home tired but satisfied after a wonderful day in the woods.