Day 141, I-93 (North Woodstock) to Garfield Pond

We were delivered to the same parking lot we left yesterday, and by 7:45 a.m. we were walking (or limping) up a paved walkway back to the AT.

Once we were back on the trail, we began a long climb up Mt Liberty. This was the first of the mountains of Franconia Ridge.

Almost immediately on this climb, Stick took off on his own. We expected to see him stopped somewhere along the way to enjoy a view, eat a snack or collect water, but we never did.

Franconia Ridge is one of the most notable range of peaks in the Eastern U.S. It includes six major summits above tree line and is the second highest mountain group in the White Mountains. The Presidential Range is the only group that is higher, and we will reach those mountains in a few days.

The Appalachian Trail bypasses the first mountain in the range, Mt. Flume, and doesn’t go directly to the 4,459-foot summit of Mount Liberty. It turns just short of that.

After making the turn to follow the ridge line, we got views of Cannon Mountain, with its bare cliff of jagged rock.

New Hampshire citizens took great pride in a natural monument jutting from the side of this cliff. When viewed at profile, the large block of granite looked like an old man. It was called the Old Man of the Mountain.

Soon after the profile was discovered in the early 1800s, it became an important part of the state’s identity. It was so revered the profile was used on the state's commemorative Statehood Quarter, highway signs and automobile license plates.

Over the many thousands of years since the cliff was exposed by a receding glacier, freezing and thawing opened fissures in the rock. When state geologists discovered in the 1950s cracks in the forehead area of the Old Man’s face, attempts were made to seal the fissures and secure the rock.

Efforts to save the profile continued after that, but time and the elements finally won out in May 2003 when the rock face collapsed.

The trail next took us over Little Haystack Mountain. In the line of mountains of the ridge, this is considered a minor peak, despite being nearly 4,800 feet high. That’s because its prominence is rounded and not noteworthy in comparison with nearby mountains.

The top gave us a good view of Mt. Lincoln, the next mountain ahead.

The trail to Mt. Lincoln was a rugged ribbon along the spine of the ridge. We were slow going up the mountain because of the rocks, but also because there were so many views to take in.

Mt. Lafayette is at the northern end of Franconia Ridge and rises 5,249 feet above sea level, making it the highest peak of the range. It was named in honor of Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, the French general who help George Washington and the Continental Army in key battles of the American Revolutionary War.

The summit was mostly bare rock. This elevation was at the upper reaches of the alpine zone.

One feature we could see from here was Greenleaf Hut, which sat a long way down the mountain on a ledge. Ralph and I didn’t go that way, as the Appalachian Trail went down the mountain in the other direction.

Steam told us he planned to go there. He wanted to search through the guest book registers to find where his father signed the book during his AT hike in the 1970s.

Our hike up and down these mountains was thrilling. Ralph and I enjoyed stopping at each summit to take in the views, but by now the time was nearly 3 p.m. and we still had almost four difficult miles to walk to reach the spot where we planned to camp, Garfield Ridge Campsite.

With my ankle still feeling unstable, I needed to go slowly on the long, difficult descent. Ralph didn’t have a bum ankle, but he didn’t seem to mind the pace we took.

When we reached Garfield Pond we decided it was unlikely we would reach the campsite before dark. Looking at the trail profile, we still had to go over Mt. Garfield, which had an intimidatingly steep approach and descent.

An unofficial tenting spot was mentioned in the Guthooks app, so we decided to scout around for that. When we made our way up to the spot we found three hikers already there, Frodo, Gimli and Samwise.

No, we had not entered Middle-earth. Yes, the three were walking this long journey together.

We never did see Stick today. He missed out on the fire Samwise and Gimli built, which helped to take a chill off the night.