Also on this trip

Trails Used

Franconia Notch bike path, Liberty Spring Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail

Trail Conditions

Notes

Came here to say that there's no snow on either Liberty or Flume. Teeny, tiny, 1" diameter pieces of snow off to the side at the most, nothing on the trails. A little bit of passing shower activity today and cool-ish at both summits, but totally comfortable in a long sleeve in the trees.

Parking

No issues

Water Crossings

Easy to rock hop

Wildlife

Also none today!!!!

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Pemi loop over three days. Stayed at Liberty Spring and Guyot Tentsites.

Trail Conditions

Notes

Lovely weather. Best Spring conditions I've ever seen. Glad to have made it out before Lincoln Woods Closure

Water Crossings

Rock Hopping. All crossings were easily crossable by wading or rock hopping.

Wildlife

Gnats and maybe one black fly came out on the final of our 3 days as we returned to Lincoln Woods.

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Bike trail, Liberty Springs, Franconia Ridge, Greenleaf, & Old Bridle Path

Trail Conditions

Notes

Send it

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Pemi Trail, Liberty Springs Trail, Flume Slide Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail, Greenleaf Trail

Trail Conditions

Notes

Pemi trail was in good shape and easy to follow, as noted above some of the footbridges were in rough shape, but they were all crossable. Flume Slide trail was very steep and some spots were wet and required careful foot placement. The trail is also fully within trees, so those can be grabbed onto as well. Overall this trail didn't feel too dangerous, just very steep. Franconia Ridge Trail was well traveled and easy to follow, it also wasn't too busy despite the beautiful weather. The only section that was a little bit overgrown was some of the shrubbier sections in between Liberty and Lincoln, but it was still very easy to follow. Greenleaf trail is relatively gradual and easy to follow. Everything in Eagle Pass was incredibly mossy and there was still a lot of lingering snow. There were some patches that had to be walked on for a few steps and it was a bit slippery, but it was not enough to warrant microspikes or anything like that.

Parking

There were about 12 cars at the Old Man Historic Site parking lot around 8:30, and only 4 at 4:00. This lot can hold many more cars though.

Water Crossings

There were a couple water crossings on the southern end of Pemi Trail, the crossing of Cascade brook required a little bit of creativity but was very doable, and the crossing of Whitehouse brook was easy to rock hop. There were 3 crossings on Flume Slide Trail, all of which were either easy to rock hop with a little searching for a good spot, and there was one with a big log that could be walked across.

Wildlife

Surprisingly nonexistent, although they are definitely out in other parts of the mountains, especially near ponds and other standing water.

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Flume side trail, Liberty spring trail

Trail Conditions

Notes

Great weather and overall great hike. First time up flume side trail, it wasn't that wet, but the rocks were slick with the minimal moisture that was there. A few sketchy sections that were damp and didn't have good hand holds but definitely passable!

Parking

Plenty of spots at 830am and 2pm (Friday)

Water Crossings

Lots, but all passable.

Wildlife

None!

Trails Used

Osseo

Trail Conditions

Notes

Amazing trail conditions. Very green down low and beautiful views from all the viewpoints. Only saw 3 others on trail today. Little swampy section after the ladders but avoidable. No snow. First time on the trail and the ladders aren’t bad at all.

Water Crossings

None

Wildlife

Some bugs at the perch above downlook. But it was quite cool yesterday

Trails Used

Lincoln Woods, Osseo

Trail Conditions

Notes

Beautiful day with comfortable temperatures. Views from the Downlook and the perch above the ladders, not to mention from the crag at the Flume Slide junction and the summit were terrific! No summer haze so western views extended to the Green Mountains. A couple trilliums were flowering along Osseo Brook just after starting up the Osseo Trail.

Parking

No issues

Water Crossings

None

Wildlife

None today!

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Lincoln Woods Trail, Osseo Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, Frost Trail, Twinway, Bondcliff Trail, West Bond Spur

Trail Conditions

Notes

Awesome pemi this morning-started at 2:45 to minimize heat, bugs, and potential afternoon thunderstorms. Saw fewer than twenty hikers all day (no other trail runners), and had every summit minus Liberty to myself! Strong winds and big old clouds kept it comfortable until the eight mile run down from Bondcliff, which felt like I was running through hell it was so dang hot with minimal leaf coverage in the hardwoods. Leave the spikes at home! There was one stretch of stubborn unavoidable snow just before breaking treeline on Guyot. It only lasted five minutes. It was reported that the Zealand-Guyot stretch is still deep and nasty as of this morning. Top of Garfield and West Bond essentially all melted out. Get it before the LW closure!!!

Parking

Tons of space today

Water Crossings

Easy rock hops

Wildlife

Early start and elevated winds kept all the nasty buggers away. There were lots of regular old flies along the ridge in the woods but they were minding their own business!

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Franconia Notch Rec Path, Bushwhack, Liberty Spring Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Patches of ice that are easily avoidable just before Liberty Spring Campsite up to Franconia Ridge junction. Franconia Ridge Trail over Liberty to Flume is a mix of narrow balance beam monorail and bare ground. The most pronounced and prolonged monorail is the final 0.2 push up to Flume's summit, over two feet deep in places. I wore rock spikes between peaks, studs would be fine too, or you could pick your way up and down without traction with the help of poles. Nice day on Liberty and Flume, the high clouds made for some pretty great 360 degree views. About a dozen or so happy hikers out and about. Sarge had a blast rolling around on top of the dirty snow.

Parking

Plenty of parking at Basin parking off 93 North

Water Crossings

Easy rock hop

Also on this trip

Trails Used

lincoln woods, osseo, franconia ridge, garfield ridge, frost, twinway, north twin spur, bondcliff trail, west bond spur

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

This was a three day backpacking trip of the extended pemi loop from 5/7 to 5/9. I camped at garfield ridge campsite and guyot campsite. The tent platforms were all exposed and there was water flowing at each spring. I had a wide range of different conditions. I used microspikes for a few tricky sections but most of this was bare bootable. The osseo trail was melted with swampy sections above the ladders. Between liberty and flume there was still deep snow and monorail. Between liberty and haystack it was mostly melted with a few patches of snow. Lincoln and Lafayette were bare rock. Garfield ridge was mostly melted with a lot of puddles. There was some annoying monorail left between gale river trail and the hut. The twin way up to south twin was mostly melted. The north twin spur was narrow monorail that was a pain to hike across. There were puddles with a thin layer of ice over them. Between south twin and guyot it was mostly monorail with only a few melted sections. The twinway from guyot to Zealand had a lot of monorail left. The bonds had some monorail, particularly on the west bond spur. The Bondcliff trail below Bondcliff was melted with avoidable snow.

Water Crossings

The crossings on the bondcliff trail were all easy.

Trails Used

Lincoln Woods to Osseo Trail to Mt. Flume

Trail Conditions

Notes

Started at 4am. Elevation gain brought transition from rain to snow. Zero views reported.

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Old Bridle Path, Greenleaf, Franconia Ridge, Liberty Spring, Bike Path

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Short version - some ice, some stable monorails, and a lot of dry trail. Bring the spikes and expect to take them on and off a few times. Conditions were as good as you can get in April. A mix of dry rocks and ice started just below the hut and continued until Haystack. Mostly bare booted except for a few stretches where spikes were a huge help. The trail between Haystack and Liberty Springs was a surprisingly stable and wide monorail with an inch of soft, crunchy snow on top. Perfect conditions for spikes. This continued all the way to Liberty and Flume, and made for very fast going. Kept the spikes on to handle ice on Liberty Spring until 3300 feet when the trail was in very good, mostly dry condition.

Parking

Lots of spots at campground all day

Water Crossings

All could be rock hopped without much effort

Wildlife

Some flies coming out on Liberty

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Old Bridle, Franconia Ridge, Liberty Spring, Bike Path

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Barebooted to the Greenleaf Hut. Snow was quite grippy. If descending this way you want spikes, though. Wore spikes until above treeline, where there is patchy snow. Ridge is mostly snow free. From Little Haystack to the Liberty Springs junction is loose granular from the last week’s snow over a firm base. Very slick. I went to K10’s about a quarter of the way as I was sliding around in spikes and slipping off the monorail. Crampons are awesome for these conditions. Monorail to Flume was firm and bulletproof. Icy, even. K10’s for the win again, for more grip. Felt like superman in those today. Snow dissapears about halfway down Liberty Springs. Saw everything you’d expect to see on a beautiful Saturday: several shirtless men, many in tennis shoes, many struggling with no spikes, someone in dress loafers, and someone completely barefoot. No judgement here.

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Liberty Springs Trail, LW Trail

Equipment

Notes

Part of a 4-day hiking push. Gorgeous ridge views. NH Conservation Officer was investigating a bear incident from a few days prior.

Parking

Liberty Springs trailhead - NH Conservation Officer truck was parked on bike path at bottom

Wildlife

Pemi bear has been harassing hikers and shaking down campers. A group camping at Liberty Springs two nights ago had an encounter with the bear. Officer was investigating bear incident. Hikers believed bear had been killed but reporter skeptical of that claim.

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Basin Bushwhack, Liberty Spring Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Trail is a mix of bare ground, mud, standing water, old snow, and minor ice until about 2300' feet, bare boots are best. The rest of the way is mostly hard snow or ice, I used microspikes up and Hillsounds down so I could move faster as it was early morning and conditions had not softened up yet, but microspikes roundtrip from 2300' are fine, especially when it gets above freezing.

Parking

Plenty of parking at the Basin lot

Water Crossings

Easily rock hopable at the moment, watch for glaze ice early in the morning.

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Old Bridle Path, Greenleaf Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail, Liberty Springs Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Firm pack of snow below treeline on Old Bridle Path and then it becomes bare and icy on Greenleaf Trail up to the summit of Lafayette. Smooth sailing to Lincoln and Little Haystack before the real challenge begins. From Little Haystack to Liberty, it's an awkward monorail of spring snow, few postholes and blowdowns. Up to Liberty and Flume, snow was soft and down Liberty Springs, mushy snow and then a lot of rock, mud and water.

Parking

Plenty of room when we car-spotted at The Basin and at Old Bridle/Falling Waters.

Water Crossings

Two crossings on Liberty Springs are moving swiftly, but hoppable by rocks, for the most part.

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Liberty Springs

Trail Conditions

Notes

Cold in the morning. Snowed at the first summit. Winds weren't bad. Beautiful views from both summits, with views improving by Liberty on the return.

Trails Used

Liberty springs, flume slide

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Perfect snow conditions for micro spikes until the steeps began at 2500. All crunchy and grippy. On the steeps, serious ice. We put on crampons and used ice axes.. on the way back down, we rappelled in places for safety. We turned around not because of bad conditions but late start.

Parking

Almost full at 10 am

Water Crossings

13 crossings on flume slide trail. Only one required a detour.

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Lincoln Woods Trail, Osseo Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail, Black Pond Trail, bushwhack, Lincoln Brook Trail, bushwhack

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Lincoln Woods is an icefest for the first 1/2 mile. Then it gets better. I barebooted by staying to the sides. Barebooted Osseo to the ladder section. Some areas of bare trail down low. Ladders are still covered. Spiked up here. K10’s would have been better, but I put on spikes and didn’t feel like swapping. Not enough bite with spikes for the slope angle. And it’s pretty firm. More unconsolidated after the ladders, but no need for snowshoes. Between the peaks was well packed. Out to Owl’s Head I barebooted until the climb, then K10s, which were preferred. Brutus is so steep, and the extra bite was helpful. Thin cover, and firm with ice until up high. Once back down I barebooted all the way out. Leave the snowshoes in the car.

Water Crossings

Both Owl’s Head crossings were bridge hops. Bridges are barely holding on.

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Bike Path, Liberty Springs Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail, Greenleaf Trail, Old Bridle Path, Bike Path

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Bare boots from the Basin lot to just past Liberty, snow was very grippy even without traction, but I knew I'd need the snowshoes for Liberty->Haystack so put them on after Liberty. Trail is very supportive as long as you stay on the previous path. Back at the junction with Liberty Springs Trail, all signs of previous travel were gone heading towards Haystack. With snowshoes, you could walk anywhere and only sink ~6". I'd give myself a solid A- for navigation...only had to double back once. A couple of times I thought "Surely this isn't the trail." as I squeezed through some waist high gap in the spruce but using GPS, guesswork, and the Force I managed to keep on course. There might be 10' of snow in places, and this trail is very lightly used in winter so not very consolidated...it would be foolish to attempt this section without snowshoes. Bundled up at the top of the ladder approaching Haystack, which is good because the wind was ripping once out of the trees. Decided to switch to Hillsounds a couple of 100 yds past Haystack, but in retrospect I wish I'd left the snowshoes on, there is pretty consistently 6"-1' of snow on the ridge with some icy patches mixed in for fun. It looked like 3 other people crossed the ridge today, all bare boot, so the trail is a bit chopped up for now in places. The trail from Lafayette to the hut is more packed but still lumpy, and OBP gets less lumpy the lower you go. The bike path from Lafayette Place back to the Basin lot still has decent snow coverage but bare boots were fine...(it looks like it's been a while since snowmobiles have used it)

Parking

Parked at the Basin lot on SB side, loads of space and I was the only car there.

Water Crossings

The only crossings of note are on Liberty Springs Trail and were easily rock hoppable.

Wildlife

No bugs, but I did see a vole near the summit of Mt. Lincoln running around on the ice...I think the wind chill was -30...the Chuck Norris of Voles...and I learned a new term just now, the Subnivean Zone, which is the thin zone between the snow pack and the frozen ground where they normally hang out. This guy must have wanted to stretch his legs.