The Route: Whitehouse Trail -> Flume Slide Trail -> Franconia Ridge Trail -> Liberty Springs Trail
Total hike time: 7 hr, 40 min (~40 min breaks)
Summit beer: Rising Tide Maine Island Trail Ale (FINALLY remembered to bring one)
A few weeks back in the midst of a couple of weeks of hell that included being swamped at work AND moving (ugh), I decided a couple of mental health days were in order and requested a couple of days off for a long weekend at work. At the time I had no idea what exactly I was going to do with said days off, but the idea of heading up to the Whites for at least a day came to mind almost immediately. I initially had planned on doing a solo hike but I somehow found myself researching the Flume Slide trail, got completely invested, but also knew there was no way I was doing that one solo. As it happened, a "friend" (long story) of mine happened to mention that he'd be willing to come with me, and after some hemming and hawing I eventually accepted because the goal of conquering the Flume Trail had pretty much consumed me. So at 5:30 am on Tuesday, I found myself not waiting for my alarm to go off to go to work, but driving up the the Whites. Pretty much an ideal scenario for a Tuesday.
Low clouds in the morning
We arrived at the Liberty Springs parking lot just after 8 and by 8:20, we were off on the trail. The first mile or so of the trail is sort of silly in comparison to the rest but it was a nice warmup, and would prove to be a nice cooldown later. We began with a 0.9 mile jaunt on the Whitehouse Trail, which also includes some walking on a bike path. Given that this was the first double digit hike we'd attempted and the stories I'd heard about the slide, I was OK with an easy and brisk paced start.
Also, not every day you see this while walking on a bike path...
We reached the bridge that marked the junction for Liberty Springs Trail, and I could feel my excitement mounting. I'm going to climb a mountain instead of being at work today! Yippee!!
That's a gleeful smile right there
The hike got off to a fairly gradual start, just trekking through the beautiful woods. Sunbeams were flickering in and out of the trees and I was once again struck with how much I love being out here in the mountains. As someone who grew up in the midwest I don't think I'd have ever guessed I'd become someone who loved hiking mountains, but we'll just add that to the list of things I never expected I'd love (ahem..marathons). We quickly reached the junction of Liberty Springs and Flume Slide, and now it was decision time. My excitement over the slide had given way to more realistic fear over the course of the morning, especially given the fact that it had rained the last couple of days and basically everything I'd read about the trail stated something to the effect of ONLY DO THIS IF IT'S DRY. But it was a gorgeous, sunny day today, and in the end, I knew I was only going to choose the path of most resistance. So right, and up the Flume Slide we went!
The beginning of Flume Slide was quite lovely, although both of us found ourselves asking "uh...aren't we supposed to be going UP?" Compared to our previous experiences in the Whites the beginning of this trail was like a walk in the park! Of course, we knew that the section that really mattered was yet to come. We ran into the first people we'd seen all day at a river crossing; a couple also headed up to Flume. Shortly after, Andrew mentioned that he thought maybe we were supposed to cross the river on the left. I wasn't sure and it certainly looked like the trail went straight...so we went straight. However, after a somewhat ridiculous bushwhack up a muddy ledge we all quickly realized that this was not, in fact the trail. I pulled up my map and realized that there was a pretty quick right/left/right river crossing, so that cross to the left was definitely the right way to go! Once across the river again we were slightly disconcerted by the lack of blazes, but the width of the trail and the lack of encroaching trees was a pretty good sign that we were back on track. Onward and upward!
Just off the trail after the confusing crossing. "Whenever I see something like this, I feel like I've discovered magic" is what I said about this place.
Finally, it started to feel like were were starting to climb a bit. The trail began to get rockier, with dirt becoming less and less apparent. After the easier section, I definitely felt the heart rate start to climb a bit more and was happy I'd gotten rid of my arm warmers - it was a gorgeous temperature, but a bit humid. We stopped for a quick Honey Stinger break before continuing upwards to the infamous slide.
Up. The trail is going up.
Things kept getting rockier and I kept finding myself wondering OK, just where exactly is this slide? Because if it keeps on like this I can TOTALLY handle this. No sooner did I think that that we came up on the first steep slab, and it was go time. Now Andrew, as it turns out, is part mountain goat and was happily hopping, scrambling, and throwing himself from hold to hold. I took a much more conservative approach and took my sweet time finding whatever I felt to be the optimal path. The first couple of big slides were just straight up fun - plenty of good hand and footholds but certainly steep enough that you might not want to think too hard about what's behind you. I was happily patting myself on the back for my absence of fear in this situation. AND THEN we reached the slide that was my nemesis. Andrew scurried on up as usual, and I tried my best to find a path. The rock was wet, slippery and basically flat without a hand hold to be found. You know those videos where a dog tries to run up a slide? That was basically how I felt, except if I fell backward down the slide I was in big trouble. I was aware that there were bailout trails off to the side but I had come here to do the damn slide and I was going to do it. After trying at least 3 different ways up the middle, all of which resulted in my getting stuck and uttering a few choice words, I saw something resembling a route on the far right side where I figured I could benefit from using the tree trunks and branches over there. I did benefit, sort of, although not without a few terrifying moments wondering how I was ever going to get out of my current position. "I'M BEING A TERRIBLE STEWARD OF NATURE!" I yelled mournfully after getting stuck somewhere in the branches of yet another pine tree. But eventually, with a few dicey moves, I found my footing. After what felt like ages, or possibly 10 minutes, I FINALLY made it up onto some semblance of a ledge.
Hey, that looks like a fun waterslide! Oh wait that's the trail. And we're on a mountain.
I needed a couple of minutes to compose myself, but after that I figured nothing could be as bad. The rest of the trail was for the most part just a delightful, fun, adrenaline fueled extravaganza. I certainly used my share of tree trunks but I also had quite a lot of fun "rock climbing" and using my body in all sorts of fascinating ways to pull myself up. Somewhat amazingly, I was rarely scared at all - mostly just filled with the exhilaration of doing something crazy. I think stuff like this is the closest to extreme sports I'll ever get.
"Easier" section
This is what we came for!
At long last, things started to calm down a bit and we finally made it to the sign marking the junction with Franconia Ridge Trail, and therefore indicating that we had survived the slide! I was very excited, very proud of myself, and feeling very badass.
BAMFs.
Of course, the slightly ridiculous thing was that we still weren't even out of the trees, nor had we summited a mountain yet! So of course now it was time to do those things. We headed up the short spur to the Flume ledges, and as soon as Andrew popped out of the trees he said "I know where we're having lunch!"
I dub thee Sandwich Rock. Andrew is slightly more daring than I.
The hike up the Flume Ledges was delightful, and I was once again pleased that my acrophobia decided to stay quiet. The views out to the left were absolutely stunning, and at a couple points the trail would just drop away into a ravine. I stayed quite far away from the side of the trail on those ledges, but the views were still amazing. We continued on up to what we assumed was the summit of Flume - no cairn or sign, but a fairly obvious summit - took in the views for a few minutes, and then continued on down the trail into the col. Up until this point we hadn't seen a soul since our friends at the complicated river crossing, but we started to pass a few people in between the two mountains. By a few, I mean maybe 5...perks of going up on a random Tuesday. The ridge trail was in the trees and made for a fairly relaxing break after the trek up the slide. We ambled along, enjoying the sunshine and the day which had turned out to be absolutely gorgeous. Going up to the summit of Liberty there were a few fun and funky little scrambles, including one interesting one where you had to hop up onto a large, slanted rock and creep your way along the top. Surprising even myself, I chose to just walk across once I got up and had something to rest my hand on. Andrew chose a different approach..
"Ta da!"
And soon enough, we were at the summit! I had read overwhelmingly positive things about Liberty and on this gorgeous day, it did not disappoint.
Wait...we came from there?
Gazing over the Cannon cliffs
Finally remembered to bring a summit beer
I enjoyed this rock with the crack
Can I stay forever?
Just...yup
Sometimes you have to take advantage of the opportunity to arabesque on a mountain
There were only 3 other people on the summit, a couple with an adorable dog and a guy who we had leapfrogged with a couple of times in the col who said he was doing a 4 day Pemi loop. He also said he envied our daypacks...I can imagine! I could have probably stayed on the summit all day but alas, this was only a day trip and we had several more miles of hiking to go. The way down is never as exciting as the way up, but it was still a lovely and relatively pleasant descent - definitely a consistent stair stepper of a trail, but didn't feel as technical or hard as the descent from Jackson a few weeks back (sorry, mom). We hiked through the tentsite which was cool; someday I'd love to make more of a foray into backpacking but I think I'll probably start with the huts if I'm planning any overnight trips in the near future. We also partook in the time honored Halfway Down Meat Stick Break and I enjoyed my favorite mountain descent tradition of finding a pretty pool and putting my feet in it. After a couple of hours of descending, we were back on the ground - it's always a little hard coming back to reality after being in such a spectacular place, but we were both extremely proud of our accomplishment and I felt more relaxed than I had in weeks.
Post hike happiness!
All in all, this was a glorious hike. There was also something just so delightful in realizing that if I pick my hike right, I can actually day trip up from Boston...I think that means I'll be spending a LOT more time in the Whites in the years to come. I can't say I'm antsy to do the Flume Slide again anytime soon, but Liberty was so magical that I'd totally be up for doing those two mountains again via a different route. And yet...48 mountains is a lot, and I have many left to climb! So we'll see if any summits get repeat performances. When's the next one??
