Old Bridle Path: 1/11/23

I spent a glorious sunny, windless afternoon soaking up the views from the several outlooks along the Old Bridle Path. With a late morning start, and still a bit under the weather from a cold, it was not in the cards for a summit of Mt. Lafayette. But the stellar weather and magnificent alpine views, plus a chance meeting with hiking friends, made for a wonderful hike.

Snow cover was pathetically thin at the lower elevations. Just enough packed snow on the trail for decent Microspiking.

 

A fine day in the forest.

Even at 2400 ft., the snow depth was not enough to cover the new rock steps that represent the initial work on the multi-year restoration of the Franconia Ridge loop trails.

Some serious work will be needed here.

A ledgy section on the approach to the lower outlooks.

The view looking over Walker Ravine from the three outlooks around the two-mile mark of OBP never gets old. One of the finest alpine scenes in the Whites.

 

Mt. Lafayette rises above the north branch of Walker Ravine.

Slide-scarred Mt. Lincoln overlooks the south branch of Walker Ravine.

More slides in Dry Brook Ravine, between Mt. Lincoln and Little Haystack.

The slide unleashed in Dry Brook Ravine by the 2017 Halloween storm. Many ice bulges adorn it in winter.

The massive ice flow on the rock slab known as Shining Rock.

A hiker heads up towards Greenleaf Hut.

Looking up Agony Ridge. My next objective, and turn-around point, was the ledge outcrop on the first Agony, at the top of the steep pitch known as Red Rocks.

Meandering along the ridge.

 

 Framed vista of Mt. Lincoln. On the left is the long slide descending from the gully know as Lincoln's Throat. On the right is a slide that fell in November 1927.

Looking SW down the OBP ridge from the open crag at the top of Red Rocks (3700 ft.). Mt. Moosilauke is on the horizon to the right.

Cannon Mountain across the Notch. Distant views beyond to Mt. Mansfield in Vermont.

The Kinsmans and Lonesome Lake.

A spectacular view of Mt. Lincoln and the long chute below Lincoln's Throat. Last winter I made it up on snowshoes to a point between the fork and the bend to the left in the chute above.

What a wonderful surprise when old friend Sue Johnston (aka Snowflea) came by after climbing Lafayette via the Greenleaf Trail. Sue and I and friends had some memorable bushwhack adventures back in the 90s. Right now, Sue, a 3X White Mountains 48 X 12 Grid Finisher (among many other feats), is working on a long-range goal of hiking all the trails in the AMC White Mountain Guide during calendar winter. Yikes!

A few minutes later, along came another White Mountains hiking legend, Georg Feichtinger. Georg completed the 48 X 12 4000-Footer Grid after the age of 75, and last March he finished his second round of the 4000-footers after the age of 80!

Also joining us was a youngster, Eric, aka Bluecollar4khiker, who is about halfway through his first Grid.

Georg and his companion, Lucy, get ready to head down the trail.

Parting shot from this excellent viewpoint.

The descent of the Red Rocks gully, which is steeper than it looks here, was a bit sketchy.

 

Late afternoon at one of the lower outlooks.