| Date: | 01-02-2023 |
| Location: | Franconia Notch, NH |
| Distance: | 3.6 mi |
| Elevation Gain: | 1,005′ |
| Total Time: | 4 hr 42 min |
| Parking: | 20+ cars |
| Difficultly Rating: | Easy/Moderate |
My first Winter hike in 2023 was up to Lonesome Lake in the White Mountains. I hiked up with a group of obnoxious hikers and friends. The plan was to meet at the Layfette Campground parking lot at 9am and we would start up from there. The parking lot holds 20+ cars but it does fill up due to a lot of hiking options from this trail head.
There were several people in our group and quite a few other hikers that planned to head up to the hut that morning. The weather was cold, snowy and windy in the notch and we were socked in the clouds most of the day.
As we started up the trail the group would spread out a bit and then regroup at various points along our routes. This trail is pretty short and not very difficult but still climbs up over a 1000 feet in elevation.
As we ascended we would stop often to take pictures and just take in the beauty of walking in a winter wonderland. The fallen snow seemed to outline every stick and twig on the trees and added a fresh smooth blanket over the ground.
After about an hour and a half we all regrouped when we reached the edge of Lonesome Lake. Temperatures have not been cold enough to go across the lake so most of the group took the route to the left and a small group of us when through the frozen marsh section to the right.
This section of trail is one of my favorite sections of trails in the White Mountains. It consists of a series of bog bridges that go through a series of marshes and cross over numourous streams. It is beautiful in every season.
We eventually meet up with the rest of our group at the AMC Hut along the lake. Inside we all took a seat at the many tables in the hut and took a break for lunch. I enjoyed some hot chocolate provided by the hut caretaker for a $1. After having some lunch, we packed up and headed back down to the lake.
The group split up again going around the lake. I decided to return the same way I came up. As we were hiking another hiker we saw at the hut came running down and asked us if we have seen a cell phone that she dropped. We had not so she kept running ahead to look for it.
We continued a little way along and one of the members of our group found the dropped cell phone. As we were discussing the find the woman’s husband showed up and said it was his wife’s phone, so we handed it over and he went ahead to find his wife.
We regrouped at the junction at the edge of the lake. The hikers who lost the phone were there too and we all took a break and hung out for a bit before heading back down the trail.
Once we started down, we stayed together a bit more than on the way up. By this time the trail was very well packed and there was still a lot of traffic coming up the trail. We made sure to let the hikers heading up pass us. But most of them decided they would take the break and let our group pass. We eventually reached the bottom around 2pm. This was a fun hike with great company. I really enjoy hiking with this group of people. What a great way to start the 2023 hiking season.
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