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October 6, 2014 / Comments (1)

Mount Flume via Osseo Trail

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Allison is the founder of trailtosummit.com which she began as a way to track and share her first round of the NH 4000 Footers. Now on round 5 (the first round for her dog Ruckus) she has been honored to have taken part of many people’s firsts. She is an experienced trail maintainer, speaker, and passionate member of the outdoor community. In New England, Allison enjoys trekking along the highest peaks, bushwhacking to less traveled areas, and has a fondness for sunrise and sunset trips. Outside of New England Allison has also thru hiked the John Muir Trail and explored mountains in the German and Austrian Alps, Israel, and the Azores. Her goal is to share her passion for hiking and backpacking with others, especially with women, to inspire them to experience the freedom of the trail!

Mount Flume is one of my favorite peaks in the Whites. The whole ridge is pretty spectacular! I decided I wanted to give back and adopt a trail and saw the upper half of Osseo was available. I applied and took the basic trail maintenance course. My first trail maintenance trip was a lot of fun! I brought along a pair of shears and took care of a lot of brush on my ascent and took notes on what projects I want to work on come Spring.

To take the Osseo trail up Mount Flume, you will park at the Lincoln Woods Visitor Center about .3 miles past the Hancock Trailhead. The parking area is very large so parking shouldn’t be an issue except for certain weekends. At 9:15, I was there before the leaf peepers showed up.

Lincoln Woods Trail is flat. Flat enough for strollers and bikes. You’ve been warned.

Peaks such as the Bonds and Owls Head can also be accessed by Lincoln Woods Trail, but you will spend such a long time on this flat trail. It can be hard to hike out of after many miles on the trail. Fortunately, it is only 1.4 miles to the start of the Osseo Trail. At a brisk pace, you can be off Lincoln Woods Trail in 30 minutes.

Sometimes it’s pretty enough to make you want to stay.

 

The Osseo Trail starts off very moderately. It’s one of the few trails that has switchbacks. There are also rock steps and a series of wooden steps on the upper portion.

 

The majority of the trail is below treeline with only one clear view before the summit. I love trails like this as the view is kept as a surprise until the summit.

 

 

Gossamer Gear Type 2 taking a break
The wooden steps are never too steep or difficult. They’re a lot of fun and make this a great trail for dogs as well as hikers newer to the NH 4000 footer list.
 
 
This ascent took quite a while for me as I spent a lot of time brushing and clearing sections of the trail. There are a few muddy spots and waterbars that need to be improved. These projects will be the first priority come Spring.
 

One a clear day atop Flume you can see the rest of the Franconia Range to the East (Little Haystack is blocked from view by Mt. Liberty), the ski trails of Loon Mountain to the south, Moosilauke and the Kinsmans to the West, and to the East: Pemigewasset Wilderness, Owl’s Head, the Bonds, and Washington.

Looking down the Flume Slide

 There are other ways of ascending Flume. A fun trail (but dangerous when wet/icy) is an ascent of the Flume Slide Trail. You can also hike the entire Franconia Ridge with multiple routes to choose from. You can also pair Flume with neighboring Mount Liberty using the Liberty Springs Trail and Flume Slide trail.

Hike Stats:
 
Total Distance: 11.16 miles
Book Time: 7:18
Elev Gain: 3415 feet
 

 

map created with WMG Online
 
Getting there:
 

Last modified: September 2, 2017

One Response to :
Mount Flume via Osseo Trail

  1. Beckie Jani says:
    October 7, 2014 at 1:03 am

    Allison – Thanks for your service taking on this trail! Your photos are beautiful.

    Reply

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