My friends and I decided to spend Thanksgiving weekend hiking in New Hampshire. On Saturday, we did the Franconia Ridge Loop, from Little Haystack Mountain through Mt Liberty and finally over Mt Lafayette.

Though the temperature was mild, everywhere we looked was a reminder that winter (and winter hiking!) is definitely on its way, from ice patches to frozen water droplets.

The trail we took up Little Haystack was called Falling Waters trail, and it certainly lived up to its name! We passed two or three waterfalls and a large number of springs – so beautiful!

Franconia Ridge as we summitted Little Haystack (this is looking towards Lincoln.)  The sky was wonderful!

The fog was rolling over the mountains – the weather was uncertain, so we had to build lots of checkpoints into our hike, but I think we lucked into the last hikable day of the fall season.

The view from Lincoln, looking onto Owl’s Head Mountain and the Bonds, I believe.  (It was too cold to spend much time with a map!)

Off the southwestern edge of Lafayette – the most difficult mountain I’ve summitted to date but well worth every sore joint, stiff muscle, and bruised toe.

Every time I turned around, the fog was changing the view.  It was like an ocean flowing over the mountains.

And, finally, the sky to the north, which was clear of the fog.  I’ve never seen the sky layered like that – it was absolutely magical!

My fellow adventurers, Hans and Anna, at the summit!  The fog was coming in waves and we didn’t stay long – we wanted to get below treeline quickly in case the weather changed.

This was my definitely most challenging, and most rewarding, hike to date.  Every time I think I’ve seen the mountains at their most beautiful, they find a way to amaze me all over again.