Hiking Mt. Lafayette in November

23 Replies
Canon form Franconia Ridge

Cannon form Franconia Ridge

I know I’ve talked it about it quite a bit and even had posts about it, but just in case you didn’t know, I went hiking in New Hampshire’s White Mountains exactly a month ago, on November 19.  In fact, my Weekly Smile for week 47 was a write up about the hike.  Look at it for details.    OK, here’s a short excerpt:

We got up bright and early (or actually still very dark and early) Saturday morning and drove up to New Hampshire’s White Mountains.  Specifically we went up to the Franconia Notch area and did the loop around Mt. Lafayette.  The loop is about 8.9 miles (14.3 km).  The top of Lafayette is around 3000 feet (915 m) above the trail head and the total climb (since there are several peaks in the loop) is about 3900 feet (1190 m).  It is not an easy trail, but it is a fun one.

I also posted about the fall I took while hiking.  I am still not 100% recovered.  The worse of it was past in a week or two, so a month out I’m fine, but there are still times I can tell I injured myself.

So I finally was able to go through all of the photos, both the photos on my phone and those on my good camera.  I only brought a “standard” lens, so no telephoto shots, but a few closer to wide angle.  There were around 300 to 350 shots overall.  That’s a lot to go through!  And many of the phone pictures and camera ones were from the same place, so some repeats.  If you’ve ever been on a hike like this you know that every time you turn a corner and look at something, say the mountain or the valley, from a slightly different viewpoint you tend to think it’s the best one yet.  This also applies to looking at the photos!  How do I go from well over 300 shots down to less than 30?

I tried to do a few things.  One is I wanted a sense of scale.  This is a big mountain.  It is rugged.  I want you to know that looking at the photos.  I also wanted to show the same things from different vantages, which help give it a sense of scale.  For instance, a ridge we climb is seen in several pictures.  First it is huge.  In the last it is tiny, tiny, just a small bump at the bottom of the mountain.

Anyway, I did get it down to 28.  Yes, a lot of them look very similar.  I’m including two selfies – one at the top and one looking at Canon Mountain just behind me.  Canon is a big mountain with big mountain skiing.  From the top it looks like a bump…  These are almost in chronological order (a few out of place) and so pretty much follow the flow of the hike.   As always, click on a photo for more detail and you can use the arrows on the photos (once enlarged) to scroll through them.

I Hope that you enjoyed some mid-November hiking in the White Mountains!

23 thoughts on “Hiking Mt. Lafayette in November”

  4. Pingback: If We Were Having Coffee on the 24th of December! | Trent's World (the Blog)

    1. trentpmcd Post author

      Thanks! Yes, there is something about waterfalls, isn’t there? I’ve been to Niagara Falls a few times and used to spend a lot of time in southern Ontario, though I’ve never been to Webster’s and Tews Falls.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓

  6. Pingback: The Weekly Smile 51 #weeklysmile | Trent's World (the Blog)

  7. Joanne Sisco

    Great photos, Trent. I’m always looking for new hikes to add to my wish list and this one looks like a good one. What was the total distance?
    From your photos, I get the impression it’s not an out-and-back but a one-way loop. Am I right?
    Is this trail considered part of the Appalachian Trail?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓
    1. trentpmcd Post author

      Thanks! It is a great hike, one of my favorites. The total distance for the loop is 8.9 mils (14.3 km). You can do a “there and back” to the top of Lafayette. You would miss some of the steeper sections, but also miss the waterfalls. I’ve done the loop in both directions and there are good and bad points about each way. The ridge line is part of the Appalachian Trail and the Greenleaf Hut is just off of the trail but used by people doing it for long distances.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓
  8. Serendipitous Web Life. : )

    Spectacular! So fun to take us on your memorable journey. It appears a serious hike, with some amazing rewards! Waterfalls can create moisture, increasing the slickness, and when your muscles are tired, it can cause slips. I’m glad you weren’t too seriously hurt. Beautiful world! Thank you for sharing. : )
    Btw, why do they call them the White Mountains?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓
    1. trentpmcd Post author

      Thanks! It is a serious hike with serious rewards – it is a full day for most people (some run it!). The fall was scary but not as bad as it could have been. I don’t think anyone really knows where the name comes from. The theory I like best is that from the seacoast all you can see are the white peeks of the mountains (mostly the presidential range/Mount Washington) sticking up above the surrounding landscape. Most years Mt. Washington is cover with snow for 9 months, so it is usually white from the Portsmouth area.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓
      2. Serendipitous Web Life. : )

        I’m sorry, Trent, seeing your Smile post reminded me that I forgot to mention you have a very nice face. I hope it gets to smile more this week. : ). Congratulations on your project! I sense you enjoy the challenge! Happy day!

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply ↓
        1. trentpmcd Post author

          Thanks! If I get the heat in my house working again I’ll have a huge smile :) I do enjoy a challenge and would hate (and have hated) work that was too easy. So though work sometimes gets me down, it’s better than not working or being in a boring job with no responsibility (been there for too many years ;) ). Thanks again! And I hope you also have a happy day!

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply ↓
    1. trentpmcd Post author

      Thanks! Yeah, it’s about a two hour drive from my house, but well worth it – this is by far my favorite hike. I haven’t done it in a few years, but my brother was visiting and I wanted to show him what I think of as the best of NH. I’m glad I did – it was a beautiful day and a great hike.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓

Express Yourself

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s