Lincoln-Lafayette-Little Haystack Hike (June 1, 2002)

The first big hike of the year brought Joe, Rosa, Kevin, Diane, Mary, Midas and Cheryl out to the trailhead. We made a last minute decision change to go up Falling Waters, across the Franconia Ridge from Little Haystack to Lincoln to Lafayette, and then down the Greenleaf Trail to the Greenleaf Hut. Instead of taking Greenleaf back to the road, we decided to do Old Bridle Path. Approx. 9 miles roundtrip and over 3000' of elevation.

It was a beautiful day, in the 70's, breezy (LOL-more about this later) and sunny. We started out at 10:00 am. Elevation 1780 feet.

Notice the shorts and short-sleeved shirts...

Really enjoyed the water falls along the way.

Stopped briefly at Shining Rock.

Ate lunch just below the summit of Little Haystack. Midas getting comfortable with Mary's pack.

The temperature was at least 15 degrees lower on the Ridge. The wind, well, what can I say about that... It was blowing at 40-50 mph!! At times, we weren't too sure that we weren't going to be blown over. In the pics, look at our clothes flapping in the wind. ;-)

Me at the top of Little Haystack (4760'). Views of Liberty (front) and Flume (back).

Trail from Little Haystack to Lincoln (0.7 miles).

Lincoln summit (5089').

Lincoln to Lafayette (5260') 0.9 miles. The wind was blowing so hard here, we could barely stand up.

View of Lincoln from Lafayette Summit

View from Franconia Ridge looking North-East.

The hike down to Greenleaf hut was a quick 1.1 miles and they had a bathroom - yippee!

  View from hut.

Rosa's knee was bothering her. Diane, Kevin and Cheryl went down before the rest of the group. Saw some interesting people on the way. A girl in spandex halter top, short spandex shorts, and a blue sequin headband. She was with two "guys" one looked somewhat like a hari-krishna and the other one appeared to be wearing a cotton spring-type dress!

Tree on Old Bridle Path.