Mt. Flume and Mt. Liberty (1319/1359 m), Franconia Notch State Park

Due to a thunderstorm warning for the afternoon, there was only limited time for a hike. The relatively short, but interesting loop via Mt. Flume and Mt. Liberty seemed like a good option.

Apart from the easy access via the Appalachian Trail, Mt. Flume can be reached via the Flume Slide trail, which starts out as an easy hike in the woods with some river crossings, but culminates in a fairly challenging ravine scramble. Combining both yields a nice half-day hike. Using the Flume Slide trail for descent is not recommended!

The Flume Slide trail branches off the Liberty Springs Trail, which is easily accessible from the parking lot. In the first part, there are no difficulties except stream crossings which can be tricky in high water conditions. 

The crux of the Flume Slide trail (difficulty T4-) is a roughly 50m, steep climb up solid granite plates. One has to rely mostly on friction to overcome them. After rainfalls, this can be quite tricky. Due to the dense vegetation it is not always possible to bypass them. Since there are next to no trailmarkers in this passage, one has to find the best route by oneself. 

After the crux, the remainder is a great workout but not nearly as challenging. Soon one reaches the Franconia Ridge, and after a few minutes the rocky top of Mt. Flume is reached.

The traverse from Mt. Flume to Mt. Liberty looks very far but can be done in roughly 45 minutes. The difficulty is T2. The summit of Mt. Liberty is quite rugged on the north side and offers a great view of the Franconia Notch valley and the White Mountains.

The descent from Mt. Liberty via the Liberty Springs Trail (part of the Appalachian Trail) is easy (mostly T1). After 2.3 miles one reaches the turnoff of the Flume Slide Trail and returns to the parking lot on the ascent route.