Northeast Adventures #64 Mount Flume July 10th 2017.
Shortly after my adventure doing the Bond Traverse in the White mountains(yesterday) I was still hungry for hiking. I set my eyes on Flume mountain for this next day pursuit. Unlike the last hike I was pretty sure the weather this time wasn’t going to be too good, we would soon find out.
I set out on the short 45 minute drive from the cabin to arrive the trailhead located by Flume Gorge. It was still early in the morning so the traffic wasn’t too bad on this Monday morning. I arrived at the parking lot trailhead to find that I was one of the few cars at the lot. It looked like a couple cars were probably overnight. I donned my pack and I was on my way. I set foot on the Whitehouse trail which would link up with the Franconia Notch Bike path. After a quick half mile on this trail I linked up with the bike path. Being still early in the morning I could still hear passing traffic as I was on the bike path. It was a foggy morning and I wasn’t sure how many people I would see or if it would rain on me making the climb tougher going up the slide.
After the short time on the bike path I soon met up with the junction to the Liberty Springs trails. The trails were a bit muddy and wet, the drainage ditches were flowing. I had not seen anyone yet on the the trail. I had nostalgic memories from my last overnight at Liberty Springs where I overnighted and had my shelter fail.The next morning I went up to Franconia ridge only to get slammed by 40mph winds and rain Anyways back to the story.
I soon met up with the Flume slide junction. After having a quick break and doing a time check I was on my way. The trail led me past several streams/ brooks. I was enjoying the downhills until I soon started to work my way uphill. Working my way up I soon found myself at the base of the slide. After doing reading on it ahead of time I wasn’t too worried as I’ve done way worse stuff. I started working my way up the trail, unfortunately to my disadvantage the slide was a bit slick so I had to be sure with my footing and my traction. I steadily worked my way up the slick route. I soon made my way to the junction linking : The Flume Slide Trail, Osseo trail, and Franconia Ridge trail. I took a short break , refueling with both food and water. After my quick break I booked it up the Franconia ridge trail to the summit. I lucked out with the weather and had a somewhat clear day.. I had the summit completely to myself and the only thing I would hear were the sounds of nature and the footsteps from my feet. I sat here for awhile before I would head back down the same slippery slide I had climbed up. They typically don’t recommend going down the slide in wet conditions, but I was up for a challenge.
I hiked my way back to the junction where I took myself back on the flume slide trail. I made sure to take my time going down this as it was very slippery indeed. On the way down I scared the heck out of this dog who was surprised to see someone else out here. The dog’s hiking partners followed shortly behind also very surprised to see someone else. After slowly working my way down I soon made it back to the flat section of the trail. The rest of the way was very quiet and uneventful. Close to the trail head I ran into a boy scout group heading out to camp at Liberty Springs. They looked like they were ready to get the packs off already. They looked excited though. I soon found my way back to my car.
Again ends another adventure in the White Mountains of NH.
