Mount Flume-East Peak - Lonesome Lake: 3/29/2014*

With the weather predicted to be nice for Saturday, we opted on doing a bushwhack for the first hike of the day, and then decide on what to hike after.  Joe decided he needed to get out for a hike and would be joining us, at least for the first hike.  

Mount Flume-East Peak

Mileage: 7.95 mile
Elevation gain: 1885 feet
Trails used: Lincoln Woods Trail, Osseo Trail, bushwhack.
Highlight(s): 

We decided on the east peak of Mount Flume which would be our target for the day, which we thought would be an easy bushwhack to do with the decent weather.  We figured the snow would not be that bad of an issue if we had to break trail, and with the three of us we could make quick work of this hike.

East Flume is located in Lincoln, New Hampshire and is part of the Pemigewasset Wilderness.  It is a trail-less summit which requires a combination of trails and a short bushwhack to reach its summit.

 Joe crossing the bridge over the Pemigewasset River to the Lincoln Woods Trail.

There is still a lot of snow still on the Pemigewasset River but it's early March so it is to be expected until mid to late April.

We hike down the Lincoln Woods Trail (which seems like it goes on and on and on...) towards the Osseo Trail.

The junction for the Lincoln Woods Trail and Osseo Trail.

We start working our way up the Osseo Trail.  There was an old track in the snow so we had to break trail although it wasn't too bad.

Some nice ledges off of a ridge from Whaleback Mountain.

We started the bushwhack around the height-of-land on the Osseo Trail on our way to East Flume. We started getting some brief glimpses through the tree's.

Victory!  We reached the summit of East Flume (elevation 2779') and the views were decent.  This is looking south towards Potash Knob, and Scar Ridge in the background.

Fashion shot selfie on the summit of East Flume.

Brian eating some snacks on the summit of East Flume.

We started heading back down the Osseo Trail, which went fairly quick as we had laid down a nice firm snowshoe track.

The open woods on the lower sections of the Osseo Trail.

A view of West Hitchcock from the Lincoln Woods Trail.

A washed out section of the Lincoln Woods Trail from hurricane Irene a few years ago.

We made good time back to the car's and decided since the first hike was quick, we could get some more miles in and head over to make the hike up to Lonesome Lake.

Lonesome Lake

Mileage: 4.05 miles

Elevation gain: 1070 feet

Trails used: Lonesome Lake Trail, Around-Lonesome-Lake Trail.

We knew there were a bunch of "Fools" at the Lonesome Lake Hut having a soiree called the Fool Scout Ball and because we were nearby, we decided to make the walk up to say hello.  It is a steep but direct climb up to Lonesome Lake and the hut maintained by the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC).    

Lonesome Lake is located in Franconia Notch, just south of Cannon Mountain and is a nice winter hike as the trail is usually broken out by snowshoers.

The main parking lot for the Franconia Ridge hike with views towards Franconia Ridge and the ridge line known as the Agonies.

The Lonesome Lake Trailhead sign, which is a nice winter walk to get here just by itself.  The AMC maintains a hut here in the winter, on a caretaker basis

So this is how beer is made!

Views up towards Cannon Mountain.

We decided to add a a few feet on to the day and take the Around-Lonesome-Lake Trail to the Lonesome Lake hut.

View up to Northeast Cannonball from the Around-Lonesome-Lake Trail.

Views back towards a cloudy Franconia Ridge and Lonesome Lake.

Eventually we made it to the Lonesome Lake Hut.  Some of the folks inside of the hut.

Joe giving himself a jello shot (I think it goes in your mouth, Joe) with Brian and Jim, the super Montreal Canadians fan, looking on.

The path across frozen Lonesome Lake, which beats having to walk around the lake.

We even happened upon the rarest of winter creatures: a Bob Cusolito.  This fearsome creature is pretty harmless though as snow is his kryptonite. An interesting sight to end the day, indeed!

While we fell short of our overall weekly goal for mileage, it was still fun to hike with Joe again and to see some of the "Fool Scouts" enjoying themselves.  The snow is still out in force, so it will be a month or more before it goes down to manageable levels (sadly).  We await the day the snow the snow goes bye-bye until next year.