Got up at 4:45, packed my gear, met Ethan, and drove up to the White Mountains in New Hampshire to hike the Franconia Notch Loop! My uncle told me about this awesome hike and I have been dying to do it... a 80 degree day in October sounded like the perfect chance! We started out at 8:15 am on the Old Bridle Path Trail from the parking lot and hiked the 2.9 steep, rocky miles up to the AMC Greanleaf Hut...wooo what a hike so far! After a quick stop at the lodge we took off for the 1.1 mile climb on bare rock that at the time seemed vertical to the summit of Mt. Lafayette (5260 ft), the 6th tallest mountain in NH. This part of the hike was brutal! The rock, the incline, the blinding fog, whipping winds...you get the picture! I briefly considered turning around at the summit and coming back down the way we came up rather than do the full 3 summit loop, but then my sense came back and we pressed on. Didn't spend too long at the summit since we couldn't see much anyway with the fog (but I bet it was beautiful with all the fall foliage!). So from there we continued on the Franconia Ridge Trail 1.0 miles along the ridge between the mountains until we hit Mt. Lincoln (5089 ft). This climb was just as foggy and windy but since we came across the ridge, not nearly as steep. Another 0.7 miles later we hit the final summit of Little Haystack Mountain (4780 ft) where we finally lost some of the fog and saw miles and miles and miles into NH and VT....BEAUTIFUL!!! Then we headed down the Falling Waters Trail what seemed like forever to continue the loop, crossing the river and waterfalls at least 7 times back and forth and making a little stop off to the Shining Rock and finally back to the car. In all it took us 6 hours to complete the hike and it was awesome. I can't wait to do this loop again!!! 
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