Franconia Notch Loop Hike

Nancy (niece Nancy) and I went hiking! This hike was the longest I think I have ever done. It was about 9 miles and it took us 7.5 hours. Arriving at our starting point at about 8am on the Friday of Labor Day Weekend (avoiding the crowds), we parked the car across the highway from the Lafayette Campground, ascended to Little Haystack Mountain climbing the Falling Waters Trail, then crossed the other two mountains, Lincoln and Lafayette, using the Franconia Ridge Trail, then switched to the Greenleaf Trail that connected us to the descent along the Old Bridle Path. The descent was the most difficult; it took about 3 hours, and was a continuous pounding on hips and knees. I understand now why so many hikers use poles to redistribute the weight to their upper body, because my quads were sore for a week!

Getting an Early Start

Checking the maps.....

And off we go!  This was a looong hike, so there are a LOT of pictures :)))

I love moss......

....and ferns....

...and waterfalls....

Two hours later...still climbing...

Nancy's New Haircut

Hair-flipping Hotness!

Still misty...

Above the treeline at last!

Up On Top: Franconia Notch

Starting along the Franconnia Ridge, traversing 3 mountains. 

That's Nancy up front in the white round cap.

It was incredibly exhilarating to have made the climb to the top and be
 travelling across the ridge in the midst of all this beauty!

Fun on the Top....

...or so we thought....

Goofing around.

Where are we, anyway?

Need to practice the panorama setting more...

Lunchtime!

Have to have a feet picture...

3 guesses what this is and the 1st 2 don't count!

On the downward trek along the Old Bridle Trail

And seven and 1/2 hours later, back where we started!
A BIG THANK YOU to Nancy for being a great hiking companion!