Liberty & Flume

Saturday 1/12/13, Sean and I went on our first hike up Liberty (4459') & Flume (4328') with a group from meetup. We had been waiting for this hike for quite sometime because we wanted to go butt sledding! Last winter, when we were hiking Tom & Field, we saw a couple people with butt sleds and thought it was such a great idea. Why not utilize the snow as a way to get down the trail faster, especially since it gets dark so early. 

We met at the Basin parking lot on Route 93N in Lincoln NH, and began our hike by walking .8 miles down the bike path until we reached the start of the Liberty Spring Trail. We would be on this trail for 2.9 miles until we reached the Franconia Ridge Trail that would take us to the summit of Mt. Liberty and then to the summit of Mt. Flume. We would follow the same trail in reverse back to the parking lot totaling 10.1 miles RT. 

2.9 miles!

The trail was packed out for us

Crossing the first stream, none of us wanted to fall in at this point!

The Liberty Spring Trail starts out pretty gradually until the stream crossing at about 1.1 miles. It then begins to climb steadily becoming steeper, following switchbacks as elevation is gained. We all got a little tease since we thought we only had .3 miles to get to the Franconia Ridge Trail once we saw the sign for the Liberty Spring Tent site, but it actually wasn't until we saw the sign that said .3 miles to go. 

Soaking wet

Carrying our butt sleds! They are very light 

The actual sign that said .3 miles until the Franconia Ridge Trail

Sean loving it

Not fully drenched yet, but getting there

The night before the hike, there was freezing rain which left all of the trees covered in a layer of ice.  The temperature the day of the hike was in the upper 40's, so we all got drenched from the ice melting off the trees when we were under tree line. The one time I forget my rain coat, I actually could have used it. I wore a little poncho that was ultimately useless, because it held in my body heat so I was sweating. We all had a difficult time regulating temperature because it was so warm out. Thankfully, I had extra layers and was able to change from my wet layers to dry layers at the summit of Liberty which made me feel better, although they didn't stay dry for long. If it were to have gotten really cold, we may have been in trouble since we were all soaking wet.

View of Liberty's summit 

Our first view's although it was foggy

Our group at the summit of Liberty!

Sean & I at the summit of Liberty!

There were views of Moosilauke, the Kinsman's and Cannon when the fog would roll out

Liberty's geological survey

We only carry the essentials :P

There is 1.2 miles in between Liberty & Flume, so we were able to test out our butt sleds! It definitely took a little getting used it because you have to hold up your legs, which is actually a very good ab workout! I think we all took a couple of spills that were pretty funny. The hike back up Liberty was intense, and very steep. My legs were pretty spend by that point, but it was the last uphill climb of the hike! 

Looking at Lincoln and Lafayette from the summit of Flume

Flume slide

Allison & I at the summit of Flume 

Such pretty views when the fog rolled out

Mt. Moosilauke

Sean & I at the summit of Flume

The last uphill section back to Mt. Liberty

On the return trip down Liberty Spring Trail, we were able to start butt sledding again! If you lift your legs up, you get going really fast which can be dangerous if you aren't careful because of rocks and trees. I kind of kept my feet in the snow to control speed and used my hands to help me steer. If the person who was leading crashed off the trail a little bit, everyone following would too because of the sled path. We all had so much fun and felt like little kids! 

Me sledding down the trail!

Butt sledding is so much fun!

Here's Allison's video she made of us butt sledding! It's really good :)

Overall, we had a great hike with great people who enjoy the outdoors just as much as we do. At just about the end of the trail, we noticed a little unmarked side path, so we were able to bushwack a little bit which may have shaved off some mileage, but not much. Our total trip time was about 7.5 hours, getting back to the parking lot at about 4:30 pm before it got dark.