On Oct. 22, the Turtles hiked Black Snout at Castle in the Clouds.
Peter, Patsy, Andy, Deb
The B group hiked Welch Dickey hoping to take advantage of beautiful views and fall colors. However, on this particular day, we decided to call the hike short and turn around prior to the summit as rain was moving in, and those slabs are certainly intimidating, if not dangerous in wet weather. So, it was a short hike, but any time in the woods is a success.
Fall is beautiful time of year for hikes with great views, and the A/B group hike on the Franconia Ridge is a prime example. We did the ever popular Falling Waters - ridge - Old Bridle Path loop. This is not a hike to do on a fall weekend (or even a summer weekend), as the crowds are huge. But midweek offseason is perfect for this, and since we all are "over the hill," we can do so. The views from the ridge are fabulous in all directions, from the western view down and across Franconia Notch to the eastern "hidden" side view into the Pemigewasset Wilderness. Below, the group appear a short way up the trail at a point where the two primary trails diverge. In front are Dick and Andrea; one row up has Pat, Katherine, and Jonathan; in the top row are Michele, Jane, and Steve.
Falling Waters is a good name for this trail, as the lower section has a number of falls. Here is but one.
The Falling Waters trail tops out at Little Haystack (elev. 4760'). From here, the trail runs along the ridge, over and up to Mt Lincoln (elev. 5089'). From there, the view northward, toward Mt Lafayette (elev. 5260') is shown below.
Mt Lincoln was a good spot for lunch. From there, the view southward shows the well-worn trail we traveled from Little Haystack. The two pointy peaks just beyond are Mt Flume (L), and Mt Liberty (R).
Finally, the ridge trail tops out at Mt Lafayette. Here we have Dick, Pat, and Andrea.