8:30 Start hiking on the Falling Waters trail. This trail is pretty aggressively steep, and better for ascent than descent. Since I was a little concerned about my condition, and my ability to make it the whole way, I wore my heart rate monitor for the ascent. Though it's hard work climbing, my heart rate stayed in the 140's for most of the time, and only hit the alarm rate of 160 once, briefly. This is a good way to pace yourself and not burn out too early, I recommend it.
11:00 Arrive at Little Haystack summit. The cloud ceiling has lifted just enough to see the ridge to the south, and the Pemigewasset Wilderness to the east. No views to the north yet. It's windy and raw, I changed into long pants.
There are quite a few people up here -- about half a dozen or so. Snack time, hard boiled eggs and trail mix. Fran gave me a Clif Bar, which is really good, and I gave him dried fruit from my variety pack.
11:30 Leave Little Haystack, heading north along the Franconia Ridge Trail. Clouds have now lifted enough to see Lincoln. My knees are already a little sore, which is a bad sign this early in the hike.
12:30 Leave Lincoln. Clouds have now lifted enough for some views of Lafayette, intermittently. The ridge is kind of windy, but not too bad, but I feel dumb for not bringing a winter hat and gloves, which would make the experience less grueling.
1:15 Arrive at Lafayette summit. Lunchtime! The cloud deck is just above our heads, and the views are spectacular all around. Several training jets fly though the Pemi area to our east, it's neat to look down on jet aircraft! It's also wild to look down on Cannon, which I'm used to seeing from below.
1:45 Leave Lafayette, heading west on the Greenleaf Trail. This descent faces directly into the wind, and I put on every piece of clothing I had. The descent is also rather steep, and my hiking stick is a lifesaver for my knees. Several other people on the trail have been complaining about knee pain, and I've been doing my best to spread the word about using a hiking stick or ski poles for extra support.
2:45 Arrive at Greenleaf Hut. This is a very nice hut, two rooms with 24 bunks each, and a huge kitchen. We got tea and apple juice at the self serve bar, and they also have a store with lots of good stuff -- even Clif bars!
3:15 Leave Greenleaf Hut on Old Bridle Path. This path follows a ridge (called Agony Ridge by the hut runners who carry supplies up and down) and has many excellent views of the Franconia Ridge. In fact, from several places we could look west over Walker Ravine and see the entire day's hike spread out, from Shining Rock all along the ridge to Lafayette. The clouds are mostly gone, and the ridge is breathtaking and beautiful in the light of the westering sun.
Once down below the hut, the temperature got warm again, in the 70s (opposed to the 40s on Lafayette). Fran and I both shucked the heavy clothing and changed back to shorts. My knees are getting more painful on this long descent, but as long as I lean heavily on the hiking stick, it doesn't get too bad.
5:30 Back at the parking lot. My knees are sore but not too bad, which is a miracle compared to how bad they would have been without the hiking stick. Don't leave home without it!
8:30 Home in Boston, after getting grinders in Lincoln (at the Kancamagus) and Scotch at the state liquor store.
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