Lincoln - Lafayette Trip Report

Trip Report: This hike was a geographic adventure. Falling Waters was spectacular, and the climb over the big boulders was fun. I felt like Gulliver in the land of giants. The trail above the falls was anticlimactic. (BTW, I did not see what the guide book described as two falls facing each other.) Despite the previous day’s rain the water was not high. The ridge was awesome – it was tough to comprehend distance because of the size of peaks distorted the perspective (Lincoln blocks Lafayette from Li’l Haystack). Other features – a knife’s edge, big hump and slide in the L-L col) were a fantastic sight. Lafayette felt massive. I didn’t want to leave, but Deb made me. The clouds were blowing around the summit and it was cold. The walk down was interesting for its variability in terrain – starting in alpine and descending into fir and the open woods. The overlook on Agony Ridge peering across a chasm and to Lafayette was spooky and dramatic. And it’s not called Agony Ridge for nothing. The climb down was awkward. The climb up must be killer.

Of note

• partly cloudy (after a day of hard, hard, hard rain) and warm with a touch of humidity.
• 8 hrs, 8 mi or hard work
• worth every step
• an awesome experience to be repeated many, many times
• the trail until Lafayette was quiet; it was crowded from Lafayette to the car

The trip was so beautiful, it was worth putting up with the Hutterati skulking on Lafayette and in Greenleaf Hut.