Lafayette Campground to Highland Center Hike

Prologue

I started thinking about traversing from Crawford Notch to Franconia Notch early 2008. Originally I was thinking to hike from the Highland Center to the Greenleaf Hut and stay there overnight and then catch a shuttle to come back to the Highland Center. After finishing the Pemigewasset Loop hike, I decided to camp at the Lafayette Campground and get up early the next morning to have my breakfast at the Greenleaf Hut then hike to the Highland Center for dinner passing two other huts - the Galehead Hut and the Zealand Falls Hut. My hiking friend Erica whom I met at the Pemigewasset Loop hike indicated interest in joining me. I planned to do it on the Labor Day weekend (2008-08-30) but due to the crowdedness at the campground, instead, I did the a northern presidential loop.

I was so swamped that I could not find the time for this hike until the week of 2008-10-12. On Thursday, 2008-10-16, after talking to people who hiked the week before and checking the live webcam of Mount Washington, I realized the foliage was fading and I might have the only one weekend to do this. And most importantly, most huts would be closed after the coming weekend. I decided that I could not wait any more. I booked two nights (Friday and Saturday) at the Highland Center. I informed my hiking friend Rob and Erica about my decision. They were planning to do a hike around the Great Gulf for the weekend.

I started preparation for the hike on Friday morning. It took me about 30 minutes to get everything together. I worked till about 13:30 and took off after ordering a takeout at That Chinese Place in Danvers. I had my lunch and nap at the first rest area in New Hampshire. Rob called and left a message when I was talking to my hiking friend Joe about my hike. Rob said that his friend Bob could not make the Great Gulf hike and he and Erica decided to join me in the middle way of my hike - South Twin. Since they would drive from their homes to the trailhead the next morning so they would not be able to join me at the start. I was very glad and grateful for them to do this.

As typical on Friday, there was traffic jam in North Conway. I took a detour by taking the beautiful Rt. 112 (Kancamagus Highway) and Bear Notch Road to reach Rt. 305. I stopped at three view points on Bear Notch Road to take pictures of the Pemigewasset Wilderness foliage, then stopped on Rt. 305 to take pictures of a valley covered with foliage leading to Mount Washington . I reached the Highland Center at 17:30.

As always at any AMC lodge, the dinner was very pleasant. I was sitting with a few people from Montreal and a family from Nashua, New Hampshire - Charlie, a programmer, Andrea. a teacher and their cute daughter Claire. We had a long conversation on a variety of topics. Charlie works at home for a startup in California. This is the trend. I think the companies or the society should provide some socializing services for the people who work at home all day long.

I talked to Rob again to confirm the plan to meet them at South Twin around 11:30 and I also talked to Joe to let him know that there would be only vacancy for one man at the Highland Center for Saturday.

I worked on my computer for a while before going to bed because the Highland Center has wireless Internet access though the speed was low.

I shared a room with 5 other gentlemen. My bunk was near the door. I woke quite a few times early morning when people went to bathroom. I got up at 4:30 sharp. Though my backpack was largely ready, it still took me 40 minutes to finish my morning bathroom ritual and everything ready. I asked the front desk staff whether there was any food that I could take for my breakfast on my way out. He was so kind that he asked a kitchen staffer to get some food for me. The toaster took some time to warm up. I ate two pieces of bread with jelly on them and drank a glass of grape juice. The night was so cold that windshields had a thick layer of frost. It took quite a few minutes to defrost them.

The Journey

It took about half an hour to get to the Lafayette Campground. The small parking lot for hikers was half full. I started the hike at 6:06. It was still pitch-dark, but with headlamp, hiking was not a problem. Within an hour, the sky started to get quite bright but I could not see the sun because I was on the west side of the Franconia Ridge. I stopped at two spots to take pictures. I could sense the wind was getting stronger. I felt cold quickly whenever I stopped moving. I was wearing a pair of Moose Creek hiking pants, Fila's quick dry long sleeve and my Boston Marathon Jacket. I reached Greenleaf Hut at 7:38. Some AMC hut staffers were up cooking in the kitchen. After using their men's room, I asked about food and hot drink, a gentleman kindly offered hot tea and amazingly good breakfast cake. I sent a text message to Rob. The wind was howling outside. Time was flying fast. After I finished my breakfast, I realized that I had already spent 27 minutes in the hut.

To my surprise there were many icy patches on the Greenleaf Trail leading to Mt. Lafayette. The exposed area of Lafayette was covered with rime ice. I reached Mt. Lafayette at 8:51. The wind was very strong. I took a few pictures quickly before starting marching on the Garfield Ridge Trail. This trail is always tough no matter how good the condition is. I reached its junction with Skookumchuck Trail at 9:13 and the summit of Garfield at 10:37. I sent a long message to Rob asking them not to wait for me or take some side hiking because I would not be able to reach South Twin till at least 13:00. I took a few pictures and they turned out to be the last ones I took during this hike. I was amazed by how fast the time flies - 14 minutes passed before I resumed hiking since I reached the summit. In 0.2 miles at the junction of Garfield Trail I saw Joe Commuzi, the legendary hiker of New England. One of his dogs was finishing the second set of 48 footers of New Hampshire. I chatted with him briefly before seeing a large group of New Hampshire hikers coming up to celebrate someone finishing 1000th 4000 footer. I took a look at map before resuming my hike. I reached the junction of Gale River Trail at 12:19. I checked my mobile phone and saw Rob's message saying "see you at the hut". I drank some Gatorade for the first time of this hike and charged to the Galehead Hut which I reached at 12:40. I saw Rob and Erica. They told me they arrived there a few minutes earlier. I was glad that they did not wait for too long. I ate a bowl of soup and some bread and pancakes. I spent about 23 minutes there before we got on the Twinway Trail to tackle South Twin first. To my surprise, Rob and I reach South Twin in 33 minutes at 13:37, a 40 min/mile pace. I did not think we could have such pace on a steep slope like this. Erica hiked at the impressive 30 min/mile pace. I reached the junction of Bondcliff Trail at 14:33 which is about 0.1 mile away from the Northeast Summit of Guyot which we passed without stopping. We reached Mt Zealand summit at 15:07. This is one of the summits that have absolutely no view. It is just a spot in the trees. We continued after a very brief break. We passed by the junction of the Zeacliff Trail at 15:51 and finally reached Zealand Falls Hut at 16:29.

When I did the northern presidential loop about a month and a half ago, I offered a ride to three hitchhikers who were AMC seasonal staffers. One of them worked at Zealand Falls Hut. I saw her and chatted with her very briefly. We spent about 18 minutes at the hut before getting back to the trail. It was very clear we would not be able to reach the Highland Center before dark. Fortunately all of us had our headlamps ready. It was quite dark when we reached the junction of Willey Range Trail at 18:04. We turned on our headlamps. Suddenly I felt I was having a bout of hypoglycemia. I asked for a stop and ate two packets of Trailmix and I got better almost instantly. It was so dark, even with the help of headlamps we had difficulty in finding the trail at a brook crossing. It took quite a few minutes for Rob to locate the trail on the other side of the brook. Hiking with friends in the dark is certainly much more fun than solo ghosting.

We reached the Crawford Depot at 19:34. I made the offer of a dinner at the Highland Center again to Rob and Erica but they wanted to get back home as soon as possible. Erica, whose car was at the Highland Center, would drive Rob to the trailhead of the North Twin Trail and then they would drive home. I was amazed by their capability to move on the mountains for 10+ hours and drive for 6 to 8 hours on the road in a single day.

Epilogue

I remembered that I was told by the front desk staffer that due to short of kitchen staff, Saturday night dinner would be buffet like that of Friday and the time would be from 18:00 to 21:00. I took my time to drink the soup and chat with Joe who came to stay at the Highland Center and was looking for met. He already finished his dinner. Not long, the kitchen staff started to clean the dinning room and I rushed to get the entrees that I had not touched yet and I learnt the Saturday's buffet was from 18:00 to 20:00 and it was already 20:20. I continued the conversation with Joe and resumed after a shower in the lobby.

I slept till 6:30 Sunday morning. I had my breakfast with a few hikers including one who wanted to exchange car keys with Rob because Rob parked his truck at the trailhead of the North Twin Trail where she was heading and she parked her car at the trailhead of the Zealand Trail. Later Joe came and we chatted more. I also talked with two hikers from Montreal about Montreal and their trip to Cuba. Joe kindly suggested offer me a ride to Lafayette Campground to get my car and I gratefully accepted. Before heading the campground, we hiked to the Arethusa Falls, the highest in New Hampshire and the Frankenstein Cliff where I saw the best foliage of the entire trip. It had a stunning view of the Crawford Notch.

After I retrieved my car, I stopped by Lincoln to get a Chinese takeout at Imperial Palace. Their twice-cooked port was quick and tastes not bad at all. I had the lunch at a rest area and a nap after it. I stopped by Market Basket in Haverhill to do my weekly grocery and I arrived at home at 18:30.