Hitting the Trails: 11/09/2013 Mount Flume / Mount Liberty / Mount Lincoln / Lincoln Slide Bushwhack

Saturday 11/09/2013
Mount Flume / Mount Liberty / Mount Lincoln / Lincoln Slide Bushwhack

Lincoln Woods Trailhead / Lincoln Woods Trail / Osseo Trail / Mount Flume / Franconia Ridge Trail / Mount Liberty / Little Haystack / Mount Lincoln / Lincoln Bump / Lincoln Slide Bushwhack / Lincoln Brook Trail / Franconia Brook Trail / Lincoln Woods Trail

I wanted to revisit this hike after doing the same route back in August. I had such a blast the last time, I knew it needed another visit. I brought my overnight gear as sunset comes at 4:30 pm this time of year, which shaves a couple of hours of daylight off of my trek. My only major concern was making sure I had enough time to complete my bushwhack and be back on the Lincoln Brook Trail before sunset. Bushwhacking is hard enough without having to maneuver around tricky spots in the dark. Plus I wanted to plot a slightly different course on this bushwhack and set a waypoint directly to the junction with the Owl's Head Slide.

I had no idea how thick the woods would be so I wanted plenty of extra time. Even though the bushwhack would be about 1.25 miles from the bottom of the slide, I am well aware from past experience that you need to double and/or triple the amount of time needed when you are off trail. You just never know how many blowdowns and dense areas you will have to deal with, sometimes it goes on forever. With that in mind, I was giving myself 2 1/2 to 3 hours for my 1.25 mile bushwhack.

I arrived at the Lincoln Woods Trailhead off of the Kanc and hit the trail at around 7:30. I had 9 1/2 hours before sunset and would closely monitor my progress throughout the day to make sure I had plenty of time for my bushwhack. The temperature was in the mid 30s and there was a light coating of snow on the suspension bridge at the start of the journey. The skies were partly cloudy but visibility was pretty good throughout the day. At this point, I wasn't sure if I would do an overnight, but I was prepared to stay the night. My pack was fairly heavy as this is a hybrid point in the season for me and I bring some winter gear but still have lighter fare, such as my lightweight Patagonia windbreaker. I still held onto bringing my Osprey 3.0 Liter Hydration bladder, which was good for the first part of the hike, until the bite valve and tubing froze solid. I also brought 2 Nalgene bottles, and will need to start insulating them. I will reluctantly have to retire the hydration pack for the season.

I remember standing on the firepower at Mount Carrigain during a sunrise a couple of months ago and I kept being drawn back to views of the Lincoln Slide. During my trek through the Bonds, I also kept looking back fondly at the Lincoln Slide, promising myself I would take another crack at it soon because I had a blast the first go round.

The parking lot was fairly empty as I headed off towards Osseo. There was a fresh coating of snow on most of the Osseo Trail and I knew there was someone ahead of me as I spotted the tell tale boot prints. After about 4 miles in, I needed to add some layers, including a hat, gloves and a shell. I did not see another soul until I reached the summit of Mount Flume. Views were spectacular and Lincoln and Lafayette were in the clouds. My pack still felt pretty good so I decided to press on and wait until Liberty to take a break. Although there was a fairly consistent coating of about an inch of snow on the trail, there was very little ice and footing was pretty solid. I had my microspikes, but didn't need them. I had the summit of Mount Liberty all to myself for a few minutes before a couple of folks approached from the other direction. The views from Liberty were amazing, but I had a hard time making out the tell tale views of the Lincoln Slide, since the entire valley was covered in snow. After a quick snack and some water from my slightly frozen Nalgene bottle, I pressed on towards Little Haystack. Once again, I saw no one until I reached the junction with the Falling Waters Trail.

I was looking pretty good on time, as it was about 12:30pm and I had 4 hours until sunset. I made the decision to go for the Slide. I continued on the Franconia Ridge towards Mount Lincoln, which was still in the clouds. As usual this was the most populated section of my hike. Visibility was good with clear views of Mount Cannon, the Greenleaf Hut and Mount Garfield. While it was certainly cold and windy, relatively speaking conditions on the ridgeline were pleasant and offered amazing views in all directions. After summiting Mount Lincoln, I started my descent to the Lincoln Bump and the start of my bushwhack. As I kept looking toward the slide, I spotted two people in bright jackets near the top of the Slide. I kept my eye on them as I continued along the ridge and they were slowly headed up the Slide.

I reached the logical point to get off trail and make my way towards the top of the north slide. Since everything was covered in snow, there was no obvious path down the boulders this time. In fact the boulders looked very slippery and I decided I would need to find another way. I knew the top of the Slide wasn't that far and I spent a good 10-15 minutes surveying the landscape and deciding the best way to proceed. I could now clearly see two guys making their way up, but they seemed to be deciding which way to come up. I heard one of the guys say, man that's a really big boulder so I think they were deciding the best way to make that last push up. It's funny how that small amount of snow covering everything makes finding a safe path a little harder.

I decided on heading down about 30-40 feet to the right of where I had spotted the guys climbing up. Soon I spotted an obvious path through some trees, as all of the trees were covered in snow, except for the trees along this path. Soon after I was at the top of the Slide. I could make out the stream many feet below where all three sections of the Slide merge into one path. I carefully started to make my way down though I lost my footing on the loose rocks on several occasions. There is just no getting around it, you are going to fall at least once heading down and you have to be ready for it and manage it. I stopped every now and then to look back up at the ridgeline and pick out hikers above. About half way down the Slide, I started to hear water flowing and soon after water started to flow down the slide. This section was a little tricky as not only were the rocks wet, but many were partially covered in ice. I carefully made my way down, avoiding the ice and planning out the best route. Looking back, this is one of my favorite parts about bushwhacking, you don't even necessarily realize how you are constantly evaluating the situation, determining risk, and adjusting your route to manage the risk. You are completely in tune with your surrounding environment.

I reached a point where the Slide has clearly turned into a stream. I had avoided getting my feet wet to this point and I wanted to stay that way, so I jumped off the stream and made my way into the woods from the left bank. Climbing up the bank and busting through the forest took some effort, especially with a full pack, but things opened up relatively quickly. The last time I thought I had gained too much elevation, so I made an effort to keep the sound of the stream within earshot. I set a waypoint on my GPS for the junction of the Lincoln Brook Trail and the start of the Owl's Head Slide, which was about 1.40 miles South by SouthEast.

I made steady progress through the woods and a good portion of the woods was open. There were some patches of marshy areas which were frozen enough to keep my boots dry. After losing elevation, I easily recrossed the stream further down and headed back into the woods with under a mile to go. There were a couple of dense patches, including some impassable blowdowns, but overall not too bad and none of that awful thick spruce that takes forever to get through. With about a half mile to go, the elevation drops pretty steeply and it was slow, careful going. I started to hear water and could see a clearing in the distance and knew I was getting close. Eventually the terrain leveled off and I reached water. I crossed over the brook and linked up with the Lincoln Brook Trail. Another couple of hundred feet and I was at the junction the the Owl's Head Slide. It's always a great feeling when you reach the end of your bushwhack! I had under an hour before sunset and started heading on the trail to the junction with Franconia Brook Trail.

While it's hard to imagine, this section of trail was awful compared to my bushwhack. The trail was so muddy and sloppy, there was no avoiding wet, muddy feet. As I slogged on near dusk, I heard a lot of wood snapping and breaking ahead I the woods. I immediately thought I would get my second moose sighting, but as I got closer, it was a family who had set up camp by the trail and dad was breaking off dead wood for a fire. I said hello and kept going hoping to reach one of my favorite campsites before darkness settled in. I arrived at the area of my campsite and now had to decide whether to do an overnight or keep going.

It was around 5pm and I still felt pretty good and made the decision to keep going. I knew there were still some decent sites ahead if I changed my mind. After continuing through the fading light, I had to stop on the trail and pull out the headlamp as the light from the crescent moon wasn't good enough for the muddy, rocky trail. I hit the intersection with the Franconia Brook Trail and kept going. This was my first extended night hike and let me tell you some of the water crossings were a little unnerving, only because you are pretty sure the trail is on the other side, but you can't see anything on the far bank until you make the crossing. Even after you cross, it takes some hunting to rejoin the trail. Plus for whatever reason, the water seems just a little deeper and colder at night and the length of the crossing seems a little wider. However the fun continued along the Franconia Brook Trail after a water crossing. I spotted a campfire in the distance near the water and then smelled the smoke. This section of trail was tricky for me in the dark. I initially headed down a closed off section of the trail and didn't realize I had gotten off trail for a couple of hundred feet after the trail closed in. I remembered doing the same thing earlier this year. According to my GPS, I could have stayed on this section and eventually rejoin the trail, but I seemed to remember a big pond and lots of standing water ahead, so I decided to backtrack. For whatever reason, it took me a while to find the actual trail. I never was worried about it and didn't hit the panic button, but I had a brief moment where I thought I may need to set up camp back at the water crossing. I was more worried about the nearby campfire and campers as my headlamp kept going slowly back and forth trying to find the trail. I know if I was hunkered down for the night at camp, a headlamp "circling" my campsite would be worrisome. I thought from my previous hikes, that the trail veered to the left and gained elevation, so I kept looking up. After a few slow, methodical passes on the last section of known trail, I spotted the path and was back in business! You really don't have an appreciation for how different the woods look at night until you are out there for a few hours. I was familiar with these trails and still had some minor issues. I passed one other hiker headed in the opposite direction. The one thing about night hiking is you see other hikers (their headlamp) before you hear them, which is different than during the day.

I eventually hit the junction with the suspension bridge and the junction with the Lincoln Woods Trail (the home stretch). I was still feeling pretty good, but stopping to grab the Nalgene bottle for water is really annoying when you are used to just hitting that bite valve (which was still frozen solid). I should have just thrown the Nalgene bottle under my layers for easy access, but didn't bother. With about a mile to go, I saw headlamps off in the distance headed the same way as me. I caught up to the group just as we all reached the suspension bridge. Success!!!

Before long I was at my car, removing my wet, muddy boots under the crescent moon. I got to the Dunkin Donuts in Lincoln just before their 8pm closing. Normally not a big fan of Dunkins coffee, but it tasted great on the trip back south. What an awesome day in the Whites!!!