Eastern Memories

Hike up to Mt Liberty and Flume

Liberty Spring trail (2.9)
Franconia Ridge trail (1.5)
Osseo trail (4.1)
Lincoln Woods trail (1.4)
April 6th. Group of 9 people.


The plan was to do Franconia Ridge including all five peaks. When we got to the trailhead Michael (organizer) let us know we were doing only Liberty and Flume due to high winds on the ridge and temperatures close to single digits.
I was a little disappointed but since we already drove for 3 hours it was better to hike up those two peaks than nothing! On  our way to the trailhead we almost had a collision with wild turkey. Crazy guy was flying so low that we barely got to slow down before he flyby us trying to get across the highway.
When we got out of the car i was shocked by how cold it was. My hands immediately started to freeze and i had to put extra layers not to get too cold. We had to wait for one more person so i did not want be under dressed before even starting the hike. After 15 min we decided that he was not coming so everybody got ready and we started the hike at 8:05.

First section was fairly easy, i got warm pretty quickly and had to shed some layers. But when we got to the steeper section, pace of the group slowed down and i started to get chilly. We made several short stops to catch a breath and get a drink. It was cold and each stop had to be limited to just couple minutes to not have to put layers on. Before we got to the tree line we put windbreakers on and face protection. We knew the winds up high were gonna be strong. I started to get really cold, and back of my thighs started to get numb.
When we got out of the trees it was like in a different world. Wind was so high and it was so much colder. I had my warmest mittens on. I rushed to the peak to get some quick pics and be ready to leave the peak when the whole group got to the summit. Sky was clear and sun was up but it was not pleasant at the top of the mountain.

After we went down part of our 9 people group decided to turn back due to difficulty getting over the steeps of the mountains. 3 people went back and the rest of us was going to go up Flume.
Stretch from Liberty to Flume was much warmer and easy. I started to feel all additional layers that i had on getting hot on me. I even managed to take my hat off and my mitts for some time.
We also changed to snowshoes at this time because the trail was not as heavy packed as all the way to Liberty. We met a group of three people going down Flume. They were very happy to see us wearing snowshoes. They told us that there was a group of barebooters that made walking on the trail uneasy.

Right before the reaching Flume we put the face protection back on and we were ready to get to the peak. It was not as windy as before but still very cold, that is why we did not spend much time on the summit. We took couple of group shots and headed down to Osseo trail. At the intersection below the summit we took little break in the sunny spot.

We all decided the we were going to continue down the Osseo trail instead getting back the way we came.
From now on it was really easy and fast hike. Mostly downhill with much less snow. Trail was nicely packed but we wore snowshoes till almost the end. When we got to Lincoln Woods trail there was much less snow so we took the snowshoes off.

From there there was a lot of icy patches and several of us took some crazy falls on their butts!
Last stretch went by very quickly. It was first time that i got to go on Lincoln Woods trail during the day hours and that way it didnt feel that long and ugly.
It was still sunny when we got back down to Lincoln Woods. We waited around 30 min for our remaining friends to come and get us to our cars.

It was very nice hike and even though
we did not manage to do what we planned it was very satisfying  day.