Swensons' Adventures: Why Would You Take an Old Bride on this Path?

Our vacation adventures continue with us spending some time at the Cottage and simply enjoying time away. As I shot the photo below I thought, “why would I take another picture of the same thing?” and then I said to myself, “…it’s because I never get tired of this view…and every time it is a little different.”

We have enjoyed some time by the quiet lake, having some beach fires and enjoying each other’s company.

Every year we say we should take the time to hike in the White Mountains and this year we made a point of setting a day…of course it rained on that day so we moved our plans to the next day—as if the weather forecasters really knew what they talked about.

Our mini-adventure meant heading out from the cottage at 9 am and heading north to Franconia Notch. We parked at the Lafayette Trailhead site and bundled up into our long sleeved shirts and sweatshirts.

As a teenager I hiked this area and this trail many times. In those days we often found that by the time we reached the summit, the conditions we experienced at the base had cleared out completely. Our thoughts were along those lines…if only the same were true now.

I did take the opportunity—or actually the result of my not packing my boots—to get a new pair of hiking “shoes”. These are really more like very sturdy running shoes with a vibram sole, waterproofing partially up the sides and very light. They are very comfortable and ended up being a great investment for future adventures.

In the photo you can see that some water was on the trail. Actually, when hiking in a cloud, what is often not considered is the simple physics of being in an environment of fully saturated air…100% relative humidity. All that is needed to create rain is a temperature difference that super-saturates the air (the temperature drops) or particles and objects that are at a slightly lower temperature than the cloud…for example trees and leaves that were out all night and have not had sunlight to warm them.

In effect, we were hiking in very cool but humid air—that is sweating from the humidity while leaving a base camp that is only 51 degrees—and being dripped on by the trees…and the random passing rain shower. Within 30 minutes I had the sweatshirt off and sweat was running down my back under the backpack.

We were damp…somewhat warm (except for Cheri’s hands)…and actually having a good time…even if we had no scenic vistas.

The trail we were taking from the base to Greenleaf Hut is called the Old Bridle Path. It was around this time that I asked Cheri, “Why would you bring an old bride up this type of path.”

“That’s not what they mean,” was all she said. So, being rather glib—as I am told I can be—I came back with, “if you can have bridal parties and bridal showers for brides, then why not a bridle path for brides?”

"It’s not that kind of bride!”…accompanied by some rolling eyes.

I should have stopped there, but instead said, “maybe it’s the same thing…only they haven’t taken to the bit yet…”. This is when the stern look was shot my way…along with, I’m sure, a few comments from others regarding this post.

Either way, we were still talking and in good spirits when we arrived at Greenleaf Hut—an hour and a half after we started…not too bad for 2.9 miles on a wet trail.

The hut was still in the clouds when we arrived and their weather station indicated it was 38 degrees with the wind at about 15 – 20 knots. This was a good chance to get in out of the clouds and wind, and put on some of the dry clothes we’d carried in the backpack.

We also brought a lunch of fruit, peanut butter crackers and sugary things along to enjoy at this point. Cheri’s hands were so cold that she had trouble opening the zip-lock bag for the crackers. The dry clothes, a little snack, some warm cocoa and coffee…it was all enough to tell us that we shouldn’t attempt the 1.1 mile trek to the top of Lafayette—the hut is at 4,200 feet and the summit is just over 5,200. It wouldn’t be a tough climb, but we’d see nothing but the trail, we’d get our dry clothes wet with nothing else to change into, and looping around the ridge to go down the Falling Waters Trail in this kind of weather didn’t make sense.

Once we felt warm and rested enough, we donned our sweatshirts (did I mention it was 38 degrees) and headed back down the Old Bridle Path. The trip down looks about the same as the trip heading up…only it was slippery enough that Cheri took one spill (you can see her shorts are a little muddy).

It took us almost two hours to get down…although it takes less energy, you have to concentrate more on almost every step. We made it back to the cottage a little tired but warm and ready for another day.

Saturday my dad joined us for a few days at the cottage and he brought with him the best weather we have had so far on this vacation. We were able to sit in the sun for quite awhile, do some sailing and then as the sun went down we started a beach fire to keep any late summer chill away.