Saturday, June 8, 2019

Living near Boston has its major benefits. It’s hard to get bored in a city with rich history, winning sports teams, and spectacular ocean views. But as far as mountains and greenery go, you’re going to have to get outside the Boston area to achieve that.

Luckily, it’s not too hard to find your picture-esque nature experience without breaking the bank or boarding a plane. About 2.5 hours north of Boston along I-93, you’ll find yourself in Lincoln, New Hampshire, a little town in Franconia’s Notch along New England’s White Mountain Range. There are plenty of hiking opportunities in the Notch, some of the most notable being Mt. Flume “The Flume” and Mt. Lincoln/Mt. Lafayette Loop, all connected by the Franconia Ridge Trail, a stretch of the Appalachian Trail.

On this day, a friend and I decided to hike the Mt. Flume/Mt. Liberty loop via The Flume Slide Trail. Both mountains peak at around 4,500ft and the entire loop clocks in at 9.8 miles. The weather could not have been more gorgeous as we headed out bright and early to climb the difficult ledge. From what I had read online (4000footers.com), hikers are strongly discouraged from climbing down the Flume Slide. As we made our ascent, it quickly became clear why.

We made over ten river crossings, some big, some small. The hike is wet, so don’t try it if you don’t have waterproof hiking boots. With the exception of the crossings, the trail starts out fairly leisurely. “This is a lot easier than it sounded online!”

As promised, the last two or so miles got steep and rocky. Tranquil trails turned into rugged rock, and the wet terrain didn’t do anything for our grip. Thankfully, the rapid incline provided ample viewpoints.

Don’t get me wrong, I think anyone can do this hike. I wouldn’t recommend if you’ve never been on a hike before, but laziness aside, you can do it and the reward is beyond satisfying!!

Emerging out of the tree line into the Flume Ledges was AMAZING! The air in the White Mountains – or anywhere up north for that matter – is unbeatable. On a day with hardly any clouds, you could see for miles. We picked a spot at the summit to rest our legs a bit.

After that, was about 1.2 miles to the peak of Mt. Liberty along the ridge. We did the trail in early June and there was still about 8 inches of snow in some areas along the ridge.

It was our consensus that the view from Mt. Liberty’s peak was considerably better than the view from Flume. Peaking just 100 ft. above Mt. Flume, we could see White Mountain National Forest all around us.

The hike down Liberty Springs Trail was relaxing and easy. The terrain was not very steep nor challenging and was the perfect way to put our muscles at peace after the challenging Flume Slide.

For our final act of the day, we set out for a nice cold beer and some food (one of my favorite parts of adventuring – what a reward!). We drove a bit back toward Boston and stumbled upon a nice outdoor pub – Pemi Public House in North Woodstock. What looked like a little skier bar turned out to have amazing food! I ordered a quinoa burger with fries and it was some of the best I’ve had. Awesome beer list, too! 10/10 would recommend for your post-hike relaxation.

And that was it! That was our day along The Flume Slide/Liberty Springs Loop. Or as I’ve heard it referred to (so now I will, too), Fliberty.

Questions? Shoot me a message!