Mount Liberty

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.

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.

Trails Used

Bike path, Liberty Spring Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Excellent trail conditions today. Hillsounds went on for tricky water crossing and stayed on until parking lot. No one wore snowshoes today and no one was postholing it appeared. Conditions should be stellar early tomorrow but with rapid warmup incoming snowshoes will be necessary very soon, possibly by tomorrow afternoon. Only ice was small patches before water crossings. Zero ice on steeps or ridge. Chilly day with abundant sunshine and stellar views.

Parking

Basin lot is well maintained

Water Crossings

Main crossing is rock hoppable with care. Some rocks were icy. Poles helped tremendously. Not the easiest, but my eight-year old did it, so you can also!

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.