Mt Liberty - June 29, 2026

Seven of us OTHH took advantage of a day we found sunny and quite warm, but ahead of the building heat and humidity following, to hike up to Mt Liberty (4459 ft). We gathered at the Liberty Spring Trail parking area just to the north of the huge parking area for the Flume Gorge. Then it was around 3/4 of a mile along the paved but hilly bike path that runs along much of I-93 through Franconia Notch State Park. That was the easy part. Then it was a typical hiking trail for a while, climbing steadily but not too steeply over and around boulders. After crossing a few minor drainage streams and then rock-hopping carefully over the larger last of these, the trail got ever steeper and rockier. This stretch seemed to go on forever, until finally we reached the Liberty Spring tent site, noted for its ongoing bear "incident" problem. Onward and upward perhaps another 1/4 steep and rocky mile, we reached the intersection with the Franconia Ridge trail. It was up here that we saw the sign about the bear issue, while there had been no sign at the tent site (this time). No Yogi for us, so we pressed on and up the last 0.3 mile to the rocky summit, some 3185 ft higher than at the trailhead. The views from there are 360 degrees, looking first north up the ridge to Mt Lincoln, and sweeping around to Mt Garfield, the closer Owls Head long ridge, over to the Twins, east to the three peaks of "The Bonds," south to Mt Carrigain far off, the Loon Mountain ski area to the south, and finally across the notch to the Kinsmans, Lonesome Lake, and finally the easily recognized Cannon Cliff.

Pictured below is our gang of seven, atop Liberty, (L-R) Donna, Ginger, Mary, Michele, Dick, and Pat, with Chris perched on a higher rock behind.

 

Most of us decided to skip Mt Flume and just head down. Chris and Donna chose to "go the extra mile" (actually 1.2, each way) to bag Mt Flume, then return to Liberty for the descent. This added  nearly another 1000 ft of elevation gain and two hours to their day. Below are Donna and Chris atop Flume, with Mt Liberty behind them.

 

Mt Pierce - June 24, 2026

We had a relatively cool day, for late June, for a hike three miles up the Crawford Path to the top of Mt Pierce (4310'). As we passed along the last stretch through the very short trees and into the clearing at the trail junction with the Webster Cliff trail, we could feel just how cool it was up there. We had to layer up to ward off the breeze and temperature in the mid 50s. While there had been some chance of showers during the hike up, none materialized. Mt Eisenhower, off just to the north, was in and out of the clouds, but Mt Monroe and Mt Washington farther to the north stayed in the clouds. We went quickly up the last short stretch to the cairn at the top of Pierce, then came back to the trail junction for a quick lunch.

Below, at that trail junction just below the top of Pierce,  are (front) Barbara, Pat, Dick, Michele, and (rear) Donna, Ginger, Dave R, Chris, and Dave D.

 

 On June 19, the Friday Walkers hiked the yellow trail at Geneva Point Center.

Ann, Nancy, Mary, Jorge, Lea, Ricky, John, Kathie, Monty.   Photographer:  Lonnie

 On June 16, two groups of Turtles hiked the Old Bridle Path to West Rattlesnake, where we all enjoyed the beautiful view.  A perfect day for hiking!

Irena, Ann, Shannon, Jorge, Jane, Robyn, Mary, John, Lea, Peter, Nancy, Ricky, Tracy, Chris

One group headed back down from there, while the other took the Ridge Trail over to East Rattlesnake.

Irena, Tracy, Robyn, Chris, Lea

Mt Tecumseh - June 16, 2026

 A large group of us OTHH had a great weather day, sunny, cool, and dry, for a hike up Mt Tecumseh, in Waterville Valley. Below, gathered at the top, are (front, sitting) Dave, Tracy, Katy, (back, standing) Jonathan, Doug, Donna, Pat, Chris, Becky, Ginger, Leanne, and Pam (pic by Dick).

 

 On June 12, the Friday Walkers hiked a new trail in Tuftonboro:  the Meadow Loop Trail.  The highlight for the group was the opportunity to climb to the top of the viewing station and look out at the marsh:

Finally, the group turned around for the official picture:

John, Sally, Lea, Nancy, Jane, Charlie, Mary, Jorge

B group hikes Welch Dickey, June 9th

 Welch Dickey hike. Left to right are Kim, Donna, Leanne (holding camera), Hillary, Ginger and John. 

It was a great hike, views and company.