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I continued climbing steadily but
somewhat slowly up the trail, taking frequent stops, both to enjoy
and views and to take photographs. As it nears the upper part of the
summit cone, the trail meanders around to the north side,
switchbacking up the steeper sections, and then finally turning
south to make its final approach to the top.
The slopes of the summit cone, as on
many of the higher peaks in the White Mountains, are strewn with
all sizes of weatherworn boulders and rocks, often separated by
hidden nooks and crannies. Sometimes, huge boulders are
haphazardly tumbled into fantastic shapes or inviting overhangs.
Sometimes, the larger boulders make good windbreaks, but many
are well off the trail, and off-trail hiking is frowned upon
because it may disturb fragile mountain vegetation, which is
capable of withstanding the harsh mountains winds and winters,
but not the trample of hiker's boots.
Just to the north, the rounded rocky
summit of North Lafayette dominates the ridge.. Also known as Mt
Lafayette, North Peak, it is not a 4000-footer, but looks like it
might afford some interesting views from the Garfield Ridge Trail,
which crosses over it. Just
beyond, where the Garfield Ridge Trail makes a turn to the east, the
Skookumchuck Trail branches off north, following Skookumchuck Brook
down to the extreme northern end of the notch.
Also to the north, an interesting
narrow flat-bottomed band of clouds stretched from somewhere way off
in the west to the distanct east. I'm not an expert on clouds, but I
would think that there has to be a name for this sort of formation,
which probably has something to do with mountain air currents.
Finally, after many photos, I reached
the summit of Mt Lafayette. It was still just late morning, but I
was sharing the top with several other hikers. In another hour or
so, there was bound to be a larger crowd. I grabbed a fairly
comfortable spot on top of a flat rock and took off my pack. While
having a bit of lunch (a Power Bar and some Pringles), I admired the
views in all directions. Owl's Head, the Pemigewasset Wilderness,
the Twins, and the Bond range lie to the east, with the Presidential
range in the distance. To the west, there was still the familiar
summit of Cannon, as well as the more distant Kinsmans and Mt
Moosilauke. My path, over Franconia Ridge, lie to the south over Mts
Lincoln and Little Haystack.
It was a little windy, but the weather
was sunny and not threatening, and as I was tired after my long
climb, I did not rush my rest stop/lunch break, but continued to
linger for the better part of an hour, enjoying the sun and the
views. |
Looking up the
Greenleaf Trail. As you can see by the other hikers in the
distance, the trail angles up the side of the summit cone before
making its final approach to the top. |
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