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We set out on August 7, a gorgeous Saturday, to tackle two more peaks on Brian’s 4000′ list. Because it’s been so dry, and the humidity was forecasted to be low, we thought it was a perfect day to hike Mt. Flume (4325′) and Mt. Liberty (4459′). The guide book rates the loop as a 5/5 for difficulty and 9/10 for views – it made us wonder what a 10 view must be with panoramas like this! (Click on the link for a 360 panorama.)

This route was just about perfect as far as I was concerned. The start of the trail, Whitehouse to Liberty Spring, was a nice warmup, and we even jogged a bit on the section that coincided with the bike path. Then it starts up steadily on the Flume Slide once we were warmed up. It was pretty steep, but we enjoyed spectacular views the whole way up.

Owls Head, Bonds, and beyond from Mt. Liberty summit

I especially enjoyed the Franconia Ridge Trail between the peaks, which was cool and shady and smelled of fresh pine. Both peaks had good places to sit and relax. We stopped at Liberty’s summit for lunch.

Sweaty hikers Beej and Su with Lincoln and Lafayette in background.

After taking some photos and identifying all the peaks Brian’s already hiked, we started our descent, a stairmaster workout to the Whitehouse “cooldown” out to the parking lot.

Franconia Ridge from Mount Liberty

The most excitement we encountered was a hiker traffic jam, which included a group of six hikers ahead of us picking their way through the scramble and accidentally dropping water bottles our way, while impatient hikers behind us tried to find alternate routes up. It wasn’t the best situation to be in the middle of all this, so we were glad to duck back into the trees and put a little distance between ourselves and the pack.

It was a nearly perfect day for this hike. As trail names such as Liberty Spring and Flume Slide clearly advertised, the uphill included a steep rock scramble, and a large section of the trail followed a stream bed. Neither of these would be much fun – and could actually be quite dangerous – on a wet muddy early spring day. On a dry August day, however, the stream crossings were forgiving, the rocks were dry enough to offer good traction, and the footing on the descent was stable. We made excellent time for the hike and enjoyed a good workout and plenty of fresh air for our 10 miles that day.