Lincoln, Lafayette and Franconia Ridge Loop

Did the Franconia Ridge Speed Loop w/ Spanky. 
Date:  3/7/2012
Route:  Ascend Falling Waters Trail, Descend Old Bridle Path
Conditions:  Very well packed trail everywhere.  In the warm temperatures there was a lot of slush and soft snow.  When this freezes up expect a lot of ice and crust.  Sections of the OBP were packed very tight and those will be quite slick when frozen.  I recommend traction of some kind.
Team:  me & Spanky The Wonder Dog
Pictures:  Here

Trip Report:
3:20 total time.  this included:
    - snack on Mt. Lincoln (5min)
    - lunch on Mt. Lafayette (10 min)
    - climbing down to retrieve the dog's water bowl that blew off
        the summit (+10 minutes round trip)
    - changing out of my crampons and final food/water (5 min).
    - 50+ photos
    - one 40sec video

Amazing blue-bird day, but a little warm.  Wore sleeveless shirt for the entire ascent and descent.  Put on a longsleeve shirt on the ridge.  Only wore a sweat-rag and no gloves.  I put on my light liner gloves on Lincoln when things got pretty windy, although it was nothing like on the Bad Boy (which cranked in the 60 mph range).  The wind probably got to around 25mph in sections.  My hands weren't actually cold - just seemed the prudent thing to do.  Gloves came off before I even got to the hut.

Traction was necessary.  Wore crampons until the final descent from treeline on down.  Probably could've been done w/ microspikes but at the higher trotting speeds that would've been dangerous on the descent of Lafayette.

Light climbing pants, gaiters, mid-weight summer hiking boots, wool socks.  gaiters were unnecessary.