January 25, 2009
Time for another solo hike. Drew headed back to Vermont while Cath and Larisa went for a reenactment of Tecumseh. They are all well ahead of me in the quest for 48 in 1 winter so I was grateful for the opportunity to catch up a little although I would miss their company. This normally is a great hike for my canine pal Madison, but it was -6° when I left home so I opted to go without her.
I started about 8:45. The bushwhack I sometimes take at the bottom of the trail was broken out which I quickly decided to take, saving me self about a half a mile. Up, up, up past the Liberty Springs Campsite. I met the only hiker I would see of the day. He already had bagged both peaks.
Junction with the Franconia Ridge Trail
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Entering the Twilight Zone . . . I mean Alpine Zone.
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Nearing the summit of Liberty
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I reached the 4459' summit of Liberty. This was #35 for any winter and #23 for this winter. This peak also had other significance for me. It was peak #192 toward the Grid. I'm exactly 1/3 of the way.
The view over to Cannon
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Franconia Ridge struggled to stay out of the clouds.
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The Presidential Range, however, could not escape the clouds.
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It was cold, but I had lucked out. There was very little wind on this open summit. On to Mount Flume.
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The trail today was well trodden, but last night's wind had filled it in partially as I made my way down into the col. The hiker who had gone through ahead of me had been wearing crampons and not snowshoes. So I had some work to do, but not like yesterday when I broke out the Rollins Trail. Next I reached the 4328' summit of Flume. This was #36 for any winter and #24 for this winter. Woo-hoo! I'm halfway to my 48 in 1 winter goal.
The summit of Moosilauke which was free earlier was now struggling to get out of the clouds.
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Time to return to Liberty
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Down I went all the way back to the Basin parking lot, finishing a few minutes before 3:00 p.m.
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