Saturday, August 17, 2013

Lonesome Lake Hike & The Basin, Franconia Notch State Park, New Hampshire


Lonesome Lake Hike
The three of us  took another hike today, again about three miles to Lonesome Lake in Franconia Notch State Park. As we’re learning about many of the trails here in the White Mountain’s, it’s mostly straight up and over large rocks/boulders. Whereas in the west there is space for switchbacks, not here in the east, so it’s up, up, up. :-)




When we arrived at Lonesome Lake, we were surprised to see so many people – dozens! Well we soon learned that there is an Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) hut there. What’s that? Well, the AMC built “huts” (think hostels) throughout the White Mountains as stopping points for people on the trail who don’t’ want to sleep in tents. They are not everywhere, but are a nice change of pace for those wanting to hike hut-to-hut. We’ve heard of hut-to-hut hiking before – it’s quite popular in Europe and there are a few places in the states that do this, such as Yosemite National Park and the Sierras.
 
Inside, not only were we able to get fresh water, but also cookies for one dollar – yum!  Gotta love a hike with a bakery in the middle of the trail!  This was a fun hike, alebit a bit strenuous going up and a bit tough on our knees and ankles going down.
 


The Basin
We then took a quick walk through The Basin- this is a large granite pothole created by a glacier more than 15,000 years ago. There were some cool water views and waterfalls to enjoy. A few photos.................
   
 
 
 
Easy and affordable - no matter where you are! 

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