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| Mount Lafayette summit |
Mount Lafayette is one of my favorite of the 4000 footers. I like it because of the above-the-treeline views, especially to the east into the wild expanse of the Pemigewassett Wilderness. I've always had good luck with the weather, as was the case when I did the
Lincoln Lafayette Loop a few years back. I also like that if you choose your route and time of day wisely, the Franconia Range can afford peaceful, lonely trails and solo summit experiences. If you do, in fact, want some solitude at Mount Lafayette, then Skookumchuck Trail has to be part of your itinerary.
I parked at the Cannon Mountain Tramway and started off on Greenleaf Trail. I've always used Old Bridle Path to get to Greenleaf Hut, so the Greenleaf Trail was a new experience. It's a pretty utilitarian, no frills trail that stays in the woods all the way up. I made quick time up to Eagle Pass where the semi-truck noise from the highway finally, and mercifully, ends. Why, oh why, did they put an interstate through Franconia Notch?
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| Eagle Pass, the only highlight on Greenleaf Trail |
From there, it's a steady climb up to Greenleaf Hut, where I refilled my water bottles before pressing on to the summit. I passed a good half hour or so enjoying a second breakfast of "mud meals." Made by a new company called Greenbelly, mud meals are high calorie, drinkable meals that require only unheated water to reconstitute. I like the concept since they are light and filling and will definitely use them again. But I hope that Greenbelly will tweak the recipe to make them taste a little less like mud.
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| Greenleaf Hut from the summit trail |
The real highlight of the hike came after the summit experience on Lafayette. Heading north, the trail above treeline to the "north peak" offers wide, expansive views and is very infrequently traveled by hikers. This is also true of the long, meandering Skookumchuck Trail which I used to travel back down into the notch. Skookumchuck is a fantastic trail, descending along mixed hardwood forests, mossy habitats, stone stairs and the pleasant, babbling brook itself.
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| Stone stairs on the Skook |
Skookumchuck dumped me out at the parking lot for the Recreational Bike Path. The bike path is right alongside the highway, so the last three miles of the hike to complete the loop were horribly loud. I hoofed it on the double-quick back to the Tramway parking lot, glad that I had found a new favorite route to a favorite peak.
I'm calling it "The Skook."
Peak: Mount Lafayette and Lafayette North Peak
Elevation: 5,260 feet
(Gain: 3,400 feet)
Distance: 11.9 miles roundtrip
Route: Loop, Greenleaf Trail to Garfield Ridge Trail to Skookumchuck Trail to Franconia Notch Recreational Bike Path
Conditions: Mostly sunny, 50 degrees F
