This morning I got up around 5:15 AM and began packing up. A shuttle is going to come this morning and take three of us back to the Liberty Springs trailhead. I wanted to get all of my stuff packed up and ready to go. Then I still had some food left over to eat for breakfast before we got our ride.
It’s been so nice spending the last few nights here at the Notch Hostel. I’m glad that it worked out to get some miles in, do some slack packing, and then take a zero day here. With the bad weather coming in I definitely enjoyed being indoors the last few nights. For breakfast, I drank the last of my chocolate milk and also a chai tea drink that I bought at the grocery store. And I had an eclair and a cinnamon roll.
Our shuttle driver came right at 6:30AM and drove the three of us back to the trailhead. The one hiker named Fishhead was going to be walking southbound from the trailhead. He’s going to do the Kinsman today. And the other hiker named Blue is also going to be doing Franconia today. It looks like he’ll be doing a bit of a shorter day though so I’m not sure if I’ll be seeing him again.
When we got to the trailhead, I got to meet Katie/Ibex for the first time. She hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2022 and is a very experience hiker here in the white mountains. She has just about completed the grid, which is when you do all of the 48 New Hampshire 4000 footers every month of the year. Meaning you hike all 48 in January, February, March, April, Etc. For the entire year. So she has hiked all of the 48 New Hampshire 4000 footers 12 times each. Except for I believe one of them. When I learned that I was pretty excited. I’m hoping that we can hike together for the entire day. It would be really nice to have some company and get to hang out with someone.
The calm before the storm.
When we first got dropped off at the trailhead, all of us hiked close to one another for the 1st mile. It took a little while to go back down the spur trail and reconnect to the Appalachian Trail. Once we got back to the trail, we said goodbye to Fishhead who is going the opposite direction. Then it didn’t take long to begin the very steep climb up towards Franconia.
I knew in my mind that this section of trail was going to be very steep. But I didn’t completely remember just how much elevation gain there was in the first few miles. There will be a whole lot of elevation gain over the course of the day in total. But a significant portion of it came right away. You basically have to get up very high and then ride along a ridge for a lot of of the day. And then we will go up and down 1000 or so feet here and there. But won’t have to do as a substantial of elevation gain in one push.
Initially, I started off out front. Then after a couple miles, I stopped to pee and Ibex got out ahead of me. She’s super fast and was really light on her feet because she was slack packing. It took me a little while to catch back up to her. I’m excited though that she’s so fast! It’ll be nice to be able to actually hike together for the entire day. Honestly, if anything I’m going to be significantly slower than her. My backpack felt so heavy today with all of the new gear that I’m carrying. I have so many more layers and articles of clothing than I typically carry. I have multiple extra pairs of socks, hot hands, leggings, micro spikes, and all sorts of other things.
Climbing up to the Liberty Springs campground was pretty tiring. I could definitely tell that my backpack was way heavier than usual. I also have about four days of food because I’m hoping to do this section in three days, but I was way too nervous to bank on that. So I really wanted to bring an extra day of food just in case I’m not able to make my mileage goals. I also was carrying about 2 L of water because I figured it might be too cold to be stopping off and filtering over the course of the day.
We passed by another hiker when we got close to that first campground. It seemed like he was staying there because he didn’t have a backpack on and was just smoking a cigarette. And then not long after that, we passed the junction for the first 4000 footer of the day, Liberty. That peak was off trail and I had no intention of going up to it. In 2023 we did the side trail and bagged that peak. But today my main focus is just making it through on the Appalachian Trail.
Ibex up ahead in the snow once we got up onto the ridge.
At this point, we had officially made it high enough that we were surrounded by snow. Initially, it was just a dusting on the ground. Then an inch or two. But the higher we got it was more consistently about 4 inches of snow. The trail did level out at this point, and we were basically just maintaining our elevation. The rocks were super slick because they were covered in. They were really soft and wet snow. Downhill portions of trail are going to be a nightmare today.
Around this time, we climbed up little haystack mountain. That’s not a 4000 footer. Then eventually we made it up and over to Mount Lincoln, the first 4000 footer of the day. The climb up to the top was super gradual because we’d already done the greater majority of the elevation gain. And at this point, the conditions really weren’t too bad.
Mount Lafayette.
The snow was at most 4 inches deep. And it was not really precipitating at all and the wind was very tolerable. I remember thinking that the conditions were way better than I could’ve possibly expected. Then we continued along Franconia Ridge, which was pretty beautiful in the snow. Visibility wasn’t great, but we definitely weren’t in a white out by any means. As we got closer to Mount Lafayette it began to snow and the wind picked up a little bit. It was crazy to see the sign at the top of that next peak, which was covered in jagged chunks of ice and snow.
Mount Lafayette is about 5200 feet. So it will be the highest and likely most exposed portion of the day. There were certainly areas around the peak which had drifted snow that was much deeper than 4 inches. At times I was definitely sinking 6 to 12 inches in. But it wasn’t consistently that deep. When we begin making our way off of Lafayette, that’s where the tracks that we had been following came to an end. The people who had previously come this way had clearly turned back at this point.
Not the conditions I was initially expecting for my time in the white mountains.
From here on out, we were setting first tracks in the snow. At least until we got closer to Mount Garfield and the next couple 4000 footers. Around this time the wind also picked up and so did the precipitation. I was getting smacked in the face with little chunks of ice that were falling from the sky. I remember holding my hand up to my left cheek to protect it from the icy rain. But at this point, I was still thinking that the conditions were a lot better than I had expected. I thought the wind was going to be a lot more intense when we were up on top of this exposed ridge.
The next mile or two were rough at times as we continued along the ridge, heading towards tree line. The snow made everything so slick and slippery. There were some areas where you had to walk across very steep rock face covered in eyes. My feet were slipping out from under me so frequently. It’s definitely not comfortable slipping and catching yourself quickly. Around this time is when I noticed I started going fairly slow to make sure that I didn’t slip and fall. All it took was a couple close calls for me to realize that I just could not move too fast.
They were also some areas where it was very hard to tell which direction the trail went. Visibility wasn’t that bad, but it wasn’t amazing. Every now and then you would pass by a cairn, but could not see the next one up ahead. Luckily Ibex is very experienced in these mountains so most of the time she just knew exactly where to go. There were only a couple moments where we both had to stop and begin looking around to try to gauge which direction we should head in. I just kept thinking how grateful I was for her being here with me. This would’ve been an absolute nightmare alone!
Near the top of Mount Garfield.
Eventually, we got back to tree line and then began a pretty steep descent. By this point in time, it had began sleeting and snowing up top. And once we descend it, it was basically just lightly raining. By the time we got down to tree line I was shocked how wetted out all of my gear was. Between the combination of sweating profusely under my rain gear and getting soaked on top of my rain gear, I was just absolutely wet. I was wearing a pair of gloves with rain covers over them and could tell that my hands were wet.
Luckily, when we got below tree line, the temperature went up a bit. But I remember the two of us talking about how it was a little concerning the state we were in. We had a really long day ahead of us and would likely be in more cold and exposed sections of trail. And both of us were pretty much drenched. The only thing we had going for us was that we really never planned to stop moving again. You really couldn’t. The next descent was really tiring because the trail was so steep. You would step down onto a rock and inches of snow would slip off of it like butter in a pan. I had so many times when my hips got very jarred by having my foot slip out from under me. It’s just super uncomfortable, slipping and catching yourself quickly.
This section of the trail was actually some of the best. I couldn’t even photograph the areas with worse snow because of how wet I was.
There were so many instances where almost completely fell and ate it. But I just wound up really taking my time on the downhill and trying to hold onto trees and branches when I could. Eventually, we got down and out of the snow, which made things a whole lot easier. I didn’t really remember the section of the trail. For some reason in my memory, you stayed up on the ridge For the entire day. But now it was coming back to me. We would drop down very far and then go all the way back up to Garfield. Then drop down once again and do another long uphill stretch.
The segments of the trail that didn’t have any snow we’re still really wet and muddy. But at least going downhill on the wet rocks was a lot more secure than going downhill on the snow covered rocks. The snow was just a very wet and slushy mix which really made things more difficult. That next climb up to Mount Garfield wasn’t so bad. It was a lot less steep than I remembered. I was also excited to warm up a little bit because I was soaking wet still.
A picture of me chugging through the snow.
It didn’t take long once we started climbing again to get back into the snow. But navigating over the snow covered rocks is way easier going uphill and downhill. Fortunately the top of the climb near Mount Garfield is still within tree line. The actual top of the mountain is a very short side trail, which is open and exposed. But the actual Appalachian Trail portion was still within the trees. There was probably about 3 to 4 inches of snow in this area and it was very slushy and slippery. We stopped super briefly at this point just to reassess. Even with rain mitts on my gloves were completely soaked. I took the glove covers off and literally rang out my gloves. Tons of water came pouring out of them. Somehow, though the wet gloves still provided more protection from the elements and no gloves at all. Especially because we just were continuously moving and keeping our body heat up.
Then the trail stayed up in the snow for a little while before we began to descending again. I totally forgot that in this next section of trail, when you come down off of Garfield, the trail is literally a waterfall. And at this point my feet were completely soaking wet, which meant I didn’t have to worry about getting them wet in the waterfall. There was no snow on the segment of the trail, which helped things as well. I just had to use my hands to climb down the large boulders across the waterfall.
What a brutal day it was.
Not long after the highway, we passed the next water source and the spur trail to the Garfield shelter. This would be the first high-quality option for camping in this section. If you chose not to camp here, then you would basically have to go all the way to Zealand hut or the shelter past there. There is another hut in between Garfield and Zealand. But it isn’t open yet for the season. So there really wouldn’t be much benefit to camping there, except that there might be an area where you could pitch a tent. But if I recall, it’s a fairly exposed portion of the trail.
I have a feeling that this is where the other hiker Blue will get set up for the night. Just because the snow conditions have been very slow going. And I can’t imagine that they get any easier over the next handful of miles. We got to enjoy some snow free trail for at least another mile or two after that. Generally making our way towards that next hut. In this next section, we passed by a group of about six hikers. After not seeing anyone all day, I was pretty surprised. They seemed shockingly dry! I can only imagine that they’re coming from New Zealand hut. We did take the spur trail down to the building, just to be sure that it wasn’t open. And it was in fact, all boarded up. I vividly remember sitting here in 2023 and hanging out for a nice break. The weather conditions were incredible when I was here before.
It felt nice to sit down for a minute or two. But we were still soaking wet so I didn’t want to hang out for too long.
When you left this next hut there was a 1 mile climb up to south twin. I remember it being ridiculously steep! So with all of the snow, I figured it was going to be quite the slog. And boy was it. The trail was just so incredibly rocky and steep that it was really hard at times to get your footing right. If the angle of the trail and rocks was too steep, there was so easy to just slip right off the rocks. Many times I just climbed up on my knees to get on top of some of the rocks. I really didn’t want to risk losing my footing and slipping and falling.
The snow through this section of the trail was probably some of the deepest of the day. At times, it was easily a 6+ inches deep. I was slipping and sliding all over the place as I made my way up. I felt like it took forever, but eventually we got to the top of South twin. Once again, the climbing actually felt pretty good because it warmed us up a little bit. I knew once we got up to the top of this, that the trail would remain in line for a little bit. But then there would be some open sections that we had to go across before the end of the day.
I was just hoping that it wasn’t too cold. It’s going to be hard to maintain body temperature because of how wet we are as the day progresses. The next couple miles weren’t so bad after we got to the top. There was tons of snow and a fair number of blow downs. But at least we weren’t going downhill. There were so many times today that my feet slipped out from under me, and it really jarred me. And I think at this point in time I slipped and fallen at least once or twice. One time I fell onto my butt pretty hard which hurt. And I had at least one other fall which wasn’t too bad.
The two of us were just super cold so we are moving as quickly as we possibly could. It was exhausting, trying to move so quickly when my feet were slipping and sliding all over the place. In this next section, I think I felt at least 2–3 times. At one point, I fell into a puddle, which was super annoying. But honestly, I wasn’t any more wet after that then I had been before. So at least there was that.
We went by a couple section acres who looked surprisingly dry in this next stretch too. I was shocked how dry everyone looked that we went past. How is everyone else so dry and we got soaking wet today? Over the next handful of miles the trail went up and down generally. There was a ton of snow and a fair number of blow downs. And then there were some extended sections where the trail was basically just a river filled with icy slush.
Sometime around this I had slipped and really jarred my hip and it sent a pretty sharp pain shooting through my leg. And over the next couple hours this happened at least one or two other times. I was a really sore and probably would’ve liked to slow down. But we were so cold and wet that it was just not an option. The final 2–3 hours before we came to Zealand hut were really hard.
Ibex and I talked to one another, and both expressed that we were in incredibly cold. We were both just about as cold as we could be without being majorly concerned for our well-being. Truly, if it had been any colder, I would’ve been genuinely concerned about getting hypothermia. We were riding a very dangerous and fine line. There was about an hour where I couldn’t solve thinking about how incredibly uncomfortable I was. I thought there was no way I could be ok if I got any colder. But then that next hour was much colder. I was way more uncomfortable, but still didn’t think that I was in risk of hypothermia.
Before we began descending toward Zealand hut the trail was submerged in water continuously. I would’ve loved to avoid walking in it because my feet were so cold. But there was no way around it. It didn’t take long before my feet were completely numb, which made walking really uncomfortable. But we just kept moving as quickly as we could. Within the last couple miles before we got to the hut, we went past a few hikers. They didn’t really say much of anything, and we just went past as quickly as we could. It was way too cold to slow down at all.
It took much longer than I would’ve hoped for us to start descending towards the hut. I wanted to check a couple different times to see if we were close, but I knew that we weren’t. By the time that we did start approaching it, though, I could tell my body was really sore. I was going as quickly as I could, but I definitely tweaked my hip a bit. It was such a relief to finally get to Zealand hut where we could sit inside and take a break. I was really hoping that they had a fire going in there.
When we got inside, there were a ton of people in there hanging out. But of course, there was no fire going. The girl who was manning the hut was super nice and let us come in and get comfortable. We were soaking wet at this point and just wanted a brief break. I had hardly eaten or drink anything all day because we just did not have the time. So I sat down and ate some delicious cookies. And I made myself a hot drink. The girl who was managing the hut, asked if we were the people who had called search and rescue. Which we obviously weren’t. But that meant someone else nearby had.
After sitting for a few minutes, my body really tightened up. And when I stood up to do something I realized just how sore my hip was. I was practically limping around. It’s crazy how quickly that had sudden. Originally I was hoping to go another 7 miles for the day to get out to the highway. And Ibex was going to go another few miles toward the trailhead where she could get her car. Then she had planned to pick me up at the road, because I was soaking wet and was definitely not going to be camping out tonight. Somewhere around Garfield I’ve made the decision that I was definitely going to be staying in town tonight.
But after we sat there at the hut I realized I probably didn’t have seven more miles in me for the day. I was so incredibly so sore that the idea of doing even two more miles seemed crazy. But I was completely drenched so there was no way that I was going to be pitching a tent tonight.
Just before we left, the people arrived, who had been search and rescued. They were actually two of the people who we had gone past very recently. But at that point the moment, your search and rescue had already gone to them. So they were just slowly, but surely making their way toward the hut. The girl was saying that she had hypothermia and they were going to get her some dry socks and wrap her in a blanket. We headed out not long after that.
The conditions were definitely really bad so I can’t say whether or not that girl had hypothermia. But considering the circumstances that the two of us had been hiking in all day, I found it a little hard to believe. I realize everyone’s bodies are very different so some people might be more susceptible to something like that. But I think a lot of people might not be able to tell the difference between being incredibly uncomfortable and cold, and having hypothermia. Or even approaching range or hypothermia was on the table. Because for the last 2–3 hours, I had been some of the most uncomfortable I’ve ever been. But I know that I wasn’t too dangerously close to hypothermic. If the temperature had dropped significantly then I would have been. But I was just incredibly uncomfortable, so it’s tough to say.
Those next 2 miles to get out to the trailhead parking lot we’re pretty rough. The trail was so incredibly flat and easy, but my hip hurt really bad. It’s specifically the front of my thigh which I guess is my hip flexor. It was just so tight That it made hiking really uncomfortable. Obviously I would’ve preferred to stay on the red line and just complete the section of trail all the way to the road. But going so slow and hurting so bad meant I probably wouldn’t get out until almost 10 PM. And I was soaking wet and really uncomfortable.
We wound up getting to Ibex’s car around 7 PM. And I was very glad that I chose not to go any further. It would’ve been such a crazy late night. And my hip was absolutely killing me. I was basically limping at this point. Then we got out of there and started making our way to town. It took a while to get service but eventually I did and I looked up motels in North Conway. Typically, I would’ve been pretty worried because it was a Saturday night and Memorial Day weekend. But it seems like a lot of people must’ve canceled their plans because of the storm. Because motel rooms were insanely cheap.
I booked a room and then before we got there Ibex took me through the Taco Bell drive-through. I was hurting so bad. I knew there was no way I was going to walk down the street to get anything. When I got out of the car, I was even more stiff than I had before. And was literally limping to get into the motel. I’m so grateful for being able to suffer through the miles today with Ibex. It made things so much better! I think today would’ve been absolutely terrifying going solo. I was riding such a fine line all day. But together it was a completely different situation. And we were already able to laugh about it. I think I would have minded the whole thing a whole lot less if I wasn’t limping into town.
Then I got checked into a room and waddled my way upstairs. I texted my parents to kind of briefly informed them of what had gone on. And let them know that I’m probably going be taking the day off tomorrow. With the snow conditions on Franconia there’s absolutely no way that I’m going up with the Presidentials tomorrow. That just sounds incredibly unsafe. And there’s definitely more snow up there than there was today. I also can barely walk! So it’ll be interesting to see how I feel tomorrow.
I laid all my stuff out to dry and unpacked my bag. Which is when I realized I must’ve had some holes in my bag liner, because a lot of my stuff was wet. My quilt was actually wet and a few of my different dry layers of clothing were wet. So it would’ve been nightmarish to camp out tonight. I’m so glad that things played out the way that they did.
For the rest of the night I just relaxed, ate a bunch of food, and took a nice hot shower. I’m so glad that I’m able to spend the night in town and be comfortable. And I messaged Hippie Chick from Shaw’s Hiker Hostel to see about possibly getting a shuttle tomorrow to head further north. And I can go southbound through this section. That way, I’ll be up in some better conditions with less snow, and be able to slowly make my way back here by the time the snow is melted. There’s no way I’m going to go back out into the whites with the way the conditions are.There’s also a really good chance that I’m not gonna be hiking at all tomorrow. I’m just hoping that I wake up in my hip feels a whole lot better.
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