With a name like Flume, how can you not want to climb this mountain?! I did two 4000 footers today, Flume and Liberty are both on the list. They are a little over a mile apart, connected by a ridgeline. As soon as I saw the pics of the Flume slide trail, I knew I wanted to do it. It follows an avalanche/rock slide trail and there are some parts that are basically climbing. So fun! And, it kicked my butt.
I got a late start, which was stupid. I slept until 9 and left at about 9:30. By the time I started the hike it was noon. The entire lot at the Flume visitor center was full! I had to park on the side of the lot near a curb. But, I probably saw like a dozen people on the hike, only two on the slide trail, and they were going down. Anyhow, the hike starts and ends with .9 mile on a bike path. Once you turn into the woods you start going up, but just a little. In fact, the first couple of miles were pretty chill. Then you get to the start of the slide... At first it's just smallish boulders. But then it gets pretty rock climbing like. I think if I didn't climb I wouldn't have liked it at all. It was probably like a 5.2 rock climbing, but the rocks were frequently wet. It wasn't that exposed, which was good, though there were a few times when I look down and though "I better not slip here." It was also pretty relentless. The mile of the slide took me like an hour. I had to stop a few times to breathe. The view from up top was awesome! You could only see in one direction, but that was OK. It was super windy, and there where more avalanche scars; it made me feel a little wobbly legged. I had a peanut butter and banana sandwich and some very delicious cherries.
At the top I realized I was pretty low on water, I had packed a little less than two liters, and only had about a half liter left! Like I said, it was a tough hike. Fortunately, I had my water filter, but it was a little ways to the next water source (Liberty Spring). Also, I was a little worried about the time, because it was like 4 by the time I got to the top, and I still had over a mile to the top of Liberty and then 3 miles down, plus the mile on the bike path. The egg salad sandwich people would have been disappointed.
The hike from Flume to Liberty was pretty nice. There was a lot of down, and then a lot of up again. The view from Liberty was amazing! 360 viewing, and I had it pretty much to myself :) I've seen pics of it crowded up there, but I guess everyone had already left since it was after 5. I sat up top and admired the view for a while. Then I headed down. I stopped at Liberty spring and filled my water bladder. It was so nice there - it's a back country camp site, with a spring and tent platforms. The Liberty Spring Trail is also the AT, so I guess there may be through hikers there soon.
On the way down I worked on trusting my feet and picking up the pace. I think I'm improving, though I still have a ways to go. There was a long, intense part going down, with lots of rocks on the trail. Then there was about a mile that was more gradual and less rocky, and I felt like was flying down it. It's a good thing it was so easy in that part, because it was getting kind of dark by the time I got to the bike trail. The last .9 mile back on the path was easy and killer at the same time. My feet were killing me, and so it was hard. But, it was so easy to just walk on a path!
Total distance is 9.8 miles, total time was 8 1/2 hours. But I did stop some to eat and admire the view!
After note on this one - I forgot at the time, but as I was starting up this guy passed me and asked for directions to Lafayette. He pulled out a ROAD map and was like "I brought the wrong one." Yeah, you did buddy. He needs egg salad sandwiching!
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