March 5, 2022

Start/End: Lafayette Place Campground

Peaks: Lafayette (5,260')

Elevation Gain: 3,600 ft

RT Mileage: 7.5 mi

Duration: 6 hours, 14 minutes

Snow/Ice Difficulty: Grade I

For my first above-treeline winter hike ever, I decided to do the uppermost segment of the Franconia Ridge, which includes 2 NH 4,000ers. The weekend before, I had attempted the loop counterclockwise, but turned back on the Falling Waters Trail below treeline after running out of warm water. This time, I came back more prepared but decided to go a bit easier and do just Mt. Lafayette via Old Bridle Path.

The Franconia Ridge was a set of peaks I had first done as a summer hike a few years back, before I really knew much about hiking. That time, I started at a dangerously late 2:30 PM, and ended up descending a good chunk of the Old Bridle Path in the dark. I learned a lot after that and began hiking regularly, and I felt that by this point I was ready for my first winter 4,000er.

Waking up a little before 6:00 AM to get ready, I arrived at Lafayette Place at 8:50 AM to find the parking lot around half full. After getting my spikes on, I began making my way up at 9:00 AM. At the fork about 0.2 miles in, I went left for the Old Bridle Path directly to Mt. Lafayette. The trail was super easy to follow because of the sheer number of people who had done it. This was also a week after the most recent snowfall, so the trail was packed and microspikes were enough. There were viewpoints along the trail a mile or two in, and the Franconia Ridge looked stunning.

Because of the hard-packed trail and lack of rocks in winter, progress would have been quite fast. However, I was not in great shape at this time so I was still averaging just around 1,200 ft per hour. The trail steepened significantly approaching 4,000 ft and the Greenleaf Hut. Since this was below treeline still, there wasn't enough wind to uncover the rock, but there were a couple of sections of exposed ice. There were times I really wished I had crampons, but I managed with just spikes.

At 11:20 AM, I reached the Greenleaf Hut, which is placed atop a false peak and despite being below treeline has great views of the Garfield Ridge, Mt. Lafayette, and the Franconia Ridge. I liked this view so much, I made it the background of this site's homepage.

The trail descends a bit to a dry riverbed after leaving Greenleaf Hut, then dramatically steepens for the last 1,000 ft to the summit. I broke treeline at around 4,500 ft, after which footprints became a thing of the past. The trail remained packed though. Conditions were nearly perfect this day, with relatively calm winds and hardly a cloud in the sky. It was frigid though, and one person I saw descending had a frozen moustache. Some of this last bit involved some route-finding, but it wasn't hard to discern the easiest line.

One section just below the summit was completely exposed ice and was quite difficult with just spikes, but I found a way around it that had a bit more snow and went with that instead. After gaining what is effectively the peak's west shoulder, the remainder was relatively easy, and I was standing on the summit by 12:30 PM. I was the only one on the summit and enjoyed the solitude, though the northeasterly winds were quite brutal on the summit.

I began descending at around 12:45 PM. The bit above treeline was somewhat difficult, especially the one tricky section I mentioned earlier. After making it below treeline though, the rest of the descent went smoothly. The steeper areas below Greenleaf Hut were even smooth enough to glissade down. I was back down just after 3:00 PM, concluding my first winter 4,000er.