Mt. Flume and Mt. Liberty Loop
It had been almost two years since my last 4,000 footer (Moosilauke), so I had been itching to get back to the White Mountains for quite a while. The grueling hike up Mt. Flume and Mt. Liberty was the perfect way to get back into the game and continue the (very slow) quest to hike the 48. These aren’t the tallest peaks around, but this is a challenging hike, plain and simple. The ascent via the Flume Slide is extremely steep and there are long stretches where you’re climbing on all fours, scrambling over steep flat rocky surfaces and grabbing onto nearby trees and roots for support. Not to mention it was wet when we hiked, which further heightened the degree of difficulty. I would highly recommend this hike, but anyone attempting the Flume Slide should know what they’re getting themselves into. That said, if you take it slow, it’s a very doable hike and the views at the top are rewarding.
Trail Summary
Distance:Â 9.35 miles (mileage varies depending on the source you’re looking at, but we clocked it at 9.35)
Elevation Gain:Â 3,576 feet
Max Elevation:Â 4,459 feet (Liberty), 4,328 (Flume)
Difficulty:Â Strenuous
Map:Â 4,000 Footers, AllTrails
Peakbagging Checklists:Â NH 4,000 Footers (x2), Terrifying 25 (Flume Slide)
Parking
Navigate to the “Liberty Springs Trailhead Parking Lot” which is located directly off of route 3 and I-93. The parking lot is decent size with room for probably 50+ cars. We arrived at the lot at 7:50 AM on a Sunday morning in early September and there were plenty of spaces available and the lot was probably 3/4 full when we returned to our car in the early afternoon. In the event that the lot is full, the Flume Gorge Visitor Center has a much larger parking lot just to the south, which would make for a suitable Plan B. There’s a restroom at the trailhead which is always convenient.
The Hike
The first 0.9 miles runs parallel to the highway and is completely flat (some of this section of the trail is on a bike path). At 0.9 miles you’ll come to a junction with the Liberty Springs Trail (also the Appalachian Trail) which you will follow for 0.6 miles before reaching a junction with the Flume Slide Trail. If you’re doing the loop, it is very important that you stay to the right on the Flume Slide Trail, as the Flume Slide is not suitable for descent. It really needs to the a counterclockwise loop.
For the next ~2.5 miles, the trail climbs gradually and is actually quite pleasant and not at all difficult. It’s not until around mile ~3.8 that it starts to get steeper and the slide begins. The climb starts off as your garden variety steep trail with some loose rocks but quickly transitions into an all out scramble. To give you a sense for how abruptly the grade changes, we were averaging roughly 25 minute miles for the first 4 miles…mile 5 took us over an hour. In most areas, you can locate a root or tree to grab onto, but there were definitely a few tricky sections where we were effectively scaling rock faces and looking for notches in the rock to hold onto. Â There were multiple instances where we stopped to not only catch our breath, but to really analyze the best path to navigate up the rocks. The steepest section of the climb only lasts for about 0.7 miles before reaching the summit of Mt. Flume, but you gain about 1,600 feet over that short distance (that is a lot).
When we finally reached the summit of Mt. Flume, we were completely engulfed in fog. This was a little bit disappointing because it was a perfectly clear day when we started, but there’s something to be said about a foggy summit. There are obviously no sweeping views of Franconia Notch and the Pemigewassett Wilderness, but the experience of being on top of a foggy summit is memorable in its own way. I actually think I’d be disappointed if I submitted all 48 4,000 footers on bluebird days. Variety is nice.
After a quick lunch break just below the summit of Flume, we ventured on to our second peak of the day. The trail descends about 440 feet before it begins to climb again towards the summit of Mt. Liberty. This 1.2 mile section of the hike along the Franconia Ridge Trail (also part of the Pemi Loop) was mostly below the tree line and was lined with strikingly green moss that made for a tranquil stroll that was a welcome respite after our climb up the Flume Slide.
The summit of Liberty was much more crowded than Flume since more people (many with dogs) had ascended via Liberty Springs which is a less challenging but still strenuous hike than the Flume Slide. We didn’t have any views from the summit itself, but the fog started to roll away as we began the first leg of our descent before dipping below the tree line for the remainder of the hike. We caught fleeting glimpses of Franconia Notch, the Pemigewassett Wilderness, Franconia Ridge, and even Mt. Garfield to the north before the fog rolled back in.
The first 0.3 miles of the descent is along the Franconia Ridge Trail before turning left onto the Liberty Springs Trail. The first section of the descent on Liberty Springs is very steep so it’s a real knee-buster. Nothing like the Flume Slide, but definitely not an enjoyable descent. It eventually levels off a bit before the end of the Liberty Springs Trail. Needless to say, sitting down in the car after an exhausting 9+ mile hike was a glorious feeling.