At the very end of summer I went to the White Mountains of New Hampshire to hike Franconia Ridge. This was a hike that I wanted to do all summer, but never seemed to find the time to get there. I am very glad I made it because it is spectacular, quite possibly one of my favorite hikes that I have ever done.
I parked just off of Route 93 at the Old Bridle Path Trailhead. I hiked up the Old Bridle Path to the AMC Greenleaf hut then continued up Greenleaf Trail to the top of Mount Lafayette. I continued south along the ridge over Mount Lincoln to Little Haystack Mountain. From the top of Little Haystack I hiked down the Falling Waters Trail back to the parking lot. I really enjoyed hiking up the Old Bridle Path because there are many viewpoints on that path along the way up that gives you a view of where you will be going. The falling waters trail is mostly within a forest without any viewpoints so it felt like a nice way to end the hike. Going down falling waters you follow a river for much of the trail and there are multiple waterfalls along the way.
All in all the hike was about 8.6 miles and I would say it is definitely a tough hike. My legs were feeling it by the end as you are constantly going up and down and I was carrying a pack with my food, water and a camera.