Hello All,

I posted back in May or June and got some helpful info but unfortunately my summer trip never happened. Being a mailman without your own route yet tends to do that, haha. However, My 9 year old daughter and I still want to bag an overnight trip sometime in September to anywhere up to first two weeks of October when she has some Mondays off from school so it would likely be a Sunday into Monday overnight but we would likely drive up Saturday night and stay somewhere so we can hit the trailhead early . I had a couple questions/concerns though:

We have all the proper equipment but it is 3 season gear. We prefer it crisp and colder anyways, "no bugs" my daughter says, lol. We have been tent camping in Crawford Notch last year when it got down to 30 degrees at night and we were fine. My question is should we be fine without winter gear if we were looking at doing either Mt. Liberty/Mt. Flume as an overnight staying at Liberty Springs or possibly even Doing Mt. Adams staying at the Perch tent site. We would ,of course bail if weather forecast is rough but generally speaking are the conditions still good thru beginning of October?

Does anyone here recommend either hike . My concern is if we will have trouble finding a tent site at Liberty Springs since it gets AT hiker traffic and we might go on a fall foliage weekend. If we got there by early afternoon, should we be fine at either destination?
Any other good recommendations for under 10 mile roundtrip hikes that hits at or above tree line and has good tenting options including designated and or stealth areas if needed. Something with a "wow" factor in terms of scenery and views for the little one.

Thanks everyone!

Kevin

My guess would be that you would be fine. With a Sunday night stay you will have better luck than with a Saturday night. Weather is unpredictable - anybody's guess. The obvious comment would be that late September would be a safer bet than early October but the Whites surprise us often.

I am not very familiar with the Perch, but if no room there I think you are kinda screwed as far as options. Liberty Springs would be as close to a sure bet, but some think that trail is a bear - or a bore. It certainly is not very exciting. The nice thing is that you have an easy hike to bag Liberty and easily Flume from there.

Did you consider Kinsman Shelter? Or Nauman tentsites? If you're not necessarily looking for a 4K you might consider Rocky Branch Shelter 1. Nothing there but the river, but the hike up to Stairs and Resolution is pretty cool.

Good luck

AT traffic won't be a problem in that time frame... there may still be a few stragglers out there but not too many. Fall foliage crowds might be problematic, especially in Franconia Notch. For weather, your best bet is to just keep an eye on the forecast, particularly overnight lows... keep in mind that the temperature drops as you gain elevation, I think 5 degrees per 1000 feet or something like that. Referencing MWOBS and using the NOAA point forecast should be able to tell you what you need.

Other options aside from those mentioned would be Garfield shelter/tentsite or possibly Beaver Brook shelter on Moosilauke. Beaver Brook is steep but short and Moosilauke has a cool alpine area. Percy Peaks would also be a good, shorter trip... I believe the loop is about 5 miles total and there is a tentsite on the shoulder of North Percy.

The summit of Liberty is spectacular. Liberty Springs trail as mentioned is very boring and steadily steep. Definitely be a workout with full packs. Other options to consider...

Valley Way trail isn't much more exciting but it's a tad easier to ascend. Valley Way campsite is just below treeline and then there's a lot of great stuff and spectacular scenery to see between the summits of Madison and Adams and Star Lake.

Another one with a big wow factor would be Chocorua with a stay at camp Pennacook.

http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/whitemountain/recreation/recarea/?recid=74811&actid=34

The Piper trail up to the summit is better for fun and scenery than at least half the 4ks. The camp site is small and you'd likely have it to yourself on a Sunday night. I've never once personally seen or heard of anyone using it. It's still a pretty good sized hike but might be a little more enjoyable for the little one compared to the northern Presi options and is more spectacular than the Liberty Springs route I think.