FRANCONIA NOTCH TO ZEALAND NOTCH APPALACHIAN TRAIL TRIP REPORT SUMMARY

Four days in the woods? Count me in! Wait… what’s that about the hard miles?  When we packed for this trip, we put a lot of effort and thought to reduce our pack weight. We kept our clothes to a minimum, used freeze dried meals for dinner, and were conscious of the weight of our tents, sleeping bags and air mattresses. 

This was a 3 night/4-day spectacular backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail from Franconia Notch to Zealand Notch! Highlights included:

* Backpacking across the panoramic Franconia Ridge

* Climbing seven 4,000 footers: Liberty, Lincoln, Lafayette, Garfield, South Twin, West Bond, and Zealand

* Sunset on top of West Bond

* Rest stops at Galehead and Zealand Huts with coffee, baked goods and bathrooms. We enjoyed leftover scrambled eggs, homemade chocolate chip brownies, potato dill soup and much more! 

We altered our original plans for more favorable weather resulting with losing one of our good hiking buddies, Martin. We missed you! Temperatures ranged from the low 70s during the day to 50s at night. Winds were negligible in the trees and most summits. We had sunny days throughout!  

We hiked approximately 25.2 miles with 10,300 ft elevation gain.

Day 1: Liberty Springs Campsite 3,870’, Miles: 2.6 Elevation Gain: 2,450’.  After dinner sunset hike to Mt. Liberty that is 1.2 miles roundtrip with 600’ elevation gain.  

Day 2: Garfield Ridge Campsite 3,900’. Miles: 7.7 Elevation Gain: 3,250’. Summit Mts. Lincoln, Lafayette and Garfield.

Day 3: Guyot Campsite 4,580’. Miles: 5.5 Elevation Gain: 1,800’. After dinner sunset hike to West Bond that is 1 mile roundtrip with 350’ elevation gain. Summit South Twin and West Bond.   

Day 4: Hike back to cars summiting Zealand Mountain. Miles: 8.4 miles Elevation Gain: 950’

I’ll post separate reports and pictures for each day to make reading more manageable!

FRANCONIA NOTCH TO ZEALAND NOTCH APPALACHIAN TRAIL TRIP REPORT DAY ONE: LIBERTY SPRINGS CAMPSITE, JUNE 20

We started the hike around 2:30pm because we did not want to get to the campsite too early. It was a good start, and as we crossed the bridge over the Pemigewasset River and turned onto the Liberty Springs Trail, things went well — the sun was out, the birds were chirping, and the temperature was comfortable. Before long, we were in a long steady climb with the footing rough in places.

We spent our first night at Liberty Springs tent site. Bean, the caretaker, was super friendly and accommodating. We were rather shocked to see they were at full capacity on a Tuesday and we had triple up on the tent platforms. We saw that she wore a head net to protect her from the swarming black flies. Oops, we did not think we would need that!  

After dinner, we hiked up Mt. Liberty. Jon and I have been to this summit numerous times, and even in the swirling fog, it still takes our breath away! We brought up a little whiskey to toast the start of a successful trip.    

>> VIEW DAY ONE PICTURES

FRANCONIA NOTCH TO ZEALAND NOTCH APPALACHIAN TRAIL TRIP REPORT DAY TWO: GARFIELD RIDGE CAMPSITE, JUNE 21

The next day we had a gorgeous, sunny day, as we crossed over Franconia Ridge. Nomad, was an early bird and always left a few hours before Jon and I woke up, so you won’t see him in many of our pictures. The trail to Little Haystack was not too rocky and enjoyable with one steep climb up ledges to reach the summit of Little Haystack. On one of the ledges, we looked back at a spectacular view Mts. Flume and Liberty with the valley below; up ahead was the summit of Little Haystack and Mt. Lincoln further way!

After Little Haystack, we began our hike above treeline across the Franconia Ridge towards Mt. Lincoln. Looking back from the summit of Mt. Lincoln, we saw the twisted rocky spine of the Franconia Ridge with Mts. Liberty and Flume reaching for the skies! From there we hiked towards Mt. Lafayette.

The old foundation of the summit house signaled that we were on Lafayette with a glorious view of our next peak, Mt. Garfield. We got a look of the magnificent peaks past Garfield: Galehead, North & South Twin, West Bond and Mt. Bond. We saw Owl’s Head-a Mountain that I’m glad is underrated by many, because I find a lot of peace and solitude there. We got a look out over Carrigain, and even Washington with a bit of clouds at the tip of its summit. Just being in the mountains is its own reward!

We of course had to take a selfie at the summit sign! It was noon, and we were on schedule, for sure, to make it to Garfield campsite. It’d be nice to stop and rest, get some dinner, and then enjoy the sounds of the birds as they sing us to sleep!  

But of course, there was actually getting to, and past Garfield. It was fun walking north above treeline over North Lafayette to Skookumchuck trail junction with a unique perspective of Cannon Mountain and Greenleaf Hut!

I’d forgotten about this from many years ago. Yeah, about that part of the trail. Descending the Lafayette portion of the Garfield Ridge trail, things got rough, and consequently slower. It was a lot of picking our way down a very rocky path with black flies swarming around us. I had a lot of time to think about the weight of my pack as I plodded along. I forgot about Garfield Pond since I rarely hike up Garfield from this direction. Carrying on, we crept up the steep route, ascending gigantic, blocky stone steps at times, up the magnificent Garfield cone that we’ve admired from afar during the day. I was buoyed by the thought that it’s a hard trail up a very handsome mountain! 

But it’s worth noting that I understand why a lot of AT hikers regard the Granite State as the hardest miles, even if they’re some of the most scenic. In some spots, the trail heads straight up and down very steep and rocky sections. It was slow heading up Garfield, and it was at least as slow going back down. I’m thinking there was some protective shield in my head, because that part of the trip seems to have been utterly blocked from my memory from when I was last here. Yikes!

And then, the old foundation of the Garfield fire tower. Which, for the life of me, I’m still imagining how they got all that concrete up there. From Mt. Garfield we could see the serrated Franconia Ridge on the right, at our feet the remote valleys of the western Pemi wrapping around the bulging Owl’s Head, the slide-scarred Twin-Bond Range on the left, and even Galehead Hut below South Twin! Even as far as Passaconaway, Tripyramids and the Sandwich Range beyond.   

Onward and downward, we made our way the short distance to the campsite. Nomad had checked in the caretaker Peter, who got us a spot on a tent pad next to him. Jon and I got our tent set up and because the black flies were out, we went inside it for a few sips of whiskey before cooking dinner near our tent pad. Night fell and I didn’t even notice much after my head hit the pillow.  

>>VIEW DAY TWO PICTURES

FRANCONIA NOTCH TO ZEALAND NOTCH APPALACHIAN TRAIL TRIP REPORT DAY THREE: GUYOT CAMPSITE, JUNE 22

After yesterday’s slog, this section of the trail was a joy! A great way to start the day. The trail went over minor ups and downs until we reached Galehead Hut where we met Nomad, who arrived a couple of hours before we did…. he is an early riser/starter. The sun was out, and there was only a couple of people hanging around on the inside besides us. Drinking water was available so we topped off our water supply, used the bathrooms and enjoyed some hut hospitality. We decided to skip tagging Galehead Mountain as Jon and I have been up there many times before and Nomad did not seem to mind. I’ve always enjoyed the view from Galehead Hut down into the Pemigewasset Wilderness Valley!  

It was now time to elevate our game! We turned to the beast of an ascent that’s the trail to South Twin. By the AMC book, in 0.8 of a mile, there’s 1,150 feet of elevation gain. And there’s no way you’re not going to notice. Thankfully, it was early still, and our legs, though still feeling yesterday’s mileage, were somewhat fresh. But it’s still a hard ascent. This massive, rock-crowned peak offers a 360-degree visual feast from all sides where we stopped for lunch. Notable views include the Presidentials rising to the east beyond Hale-Zealand ridge and the deep Little River valley, the Bond range twisting away to the south towards Mt. Carrigain and the Sandwich Range, the western Pemigewasset Wilderness, the Franconia Ridge and Garfield Ridge to the west.

We then continued hiking and across one of my favorite summits, Mt. Guyot! I could view its hump as I approached, and appreciate the green against the random rocks that stick out. Maybe I’m weird, but I think it’s one of the prettier summits. And, of course, totally underrated itself. Unlike Owl’s Head, it’s not even on the list. 

We then continued on to reach the Guyot campsite. We decided to go up the stairs and spend the night in the new and improved Guyot shelter. It has a gorgeous view to the valley below and it felt like were in a treehouse for backpackers! There were only three others staying in the shelter with us. A couple came from York Beach, Maine and Steve from Gilford, NH trying to bag the nearby peaks to complete his 4,000 footers. Our original plan was to get set up, drop our big packs and take a small one to tag Mt. Bond and Bondcliff but I was really feeling tired and decided to rest and save it for another day.

We sparked up our stoves for an early dinner so we could hike to West Bond for the sunset. Without the weight of a backpack, we made quick time to the summit. It felt good to have more of a spring in my step. From the Bondcliff Trail, we turned onto the spur and watched a glorious sun setting behind Mt. Garfield! There were a few other people on the summit partaking in this special moment.

We returned back to camp with our headlamps and got back around 10pm.

>>VIEW DAY THREE PICTURES

FRANCONIA NOTCH TO ZEALAND NOTCH APPALACHIAN TRAIL TRIP REPORT DAY FOUR: ZEALAND NOTCH, JUNE 23

We had breakfast at the sunny shelter sitting on the handmade chairs and soaking the views for one last time. We then backtracked to the Twinway Trail, up and over Mt. Guyot once more. We made our way and took the spur trail to Mt. Zealand where I got a picture of its famous handmade sign that’s been there since the first time, I summited…at least 25 years ago! 

We reached Zeacliff for a break that I love for its clifftop vantage overlooking Mt. Carrigain, Zealand Notch and Whitewall Mountain; and the long valleys and rolling forests of the eastern Pemigewasset Wilderness!

We then began the steep descent to Zealand Hut where Nomad was waiting for us. We took a break topping off our water supply and soaked our heads in Zealand Falls to cool off. That was so refreshing!  After taking a break the only thing left to do was walk back to Nomad’s van.  The soft Zealand Trail with minimal rocks and roots was a relaxing way to finish our trip.

>>VIEW DAY FOUR PICTURES 

Overall, this was a successful backpacking trip due to a lot of planning, communication among ourselves, execution and overall fitness level!