I hike a little ahead of the others in order to get nice shots of hikers against the dramatic northern outcrops of Mt Liberty's summit. We then rejoin, and head north, back down into the trees. We stop at the junction with the Liberty Springs trail for a lunch break.
After our lunch break, it's time to motor downhill. The Liberty Spring trail is well-broken out and padded down, and it's soon obvious that switching from snowshoes back to boots is the best option. We make a rapid descent, and in 45 minutes we're back at the junction with the lower end of the Flume Slide Trail. We're almost done now!
On the way back, I decided to try a shortcut mentioned in several online reports and hinted at in the trail guide. It's an old logging road that leads from the first big hairpin on the Liberty Spring Trail more-or-less directly to the recreational path south of the Basin Parking area. I didn't try it on the way up because it was too dark, and apparently the lower end is very tough to locate. Anyway, it was straightforward from the hairpin to stay on the old road -- a lack of trees and a faint bed made this possible. The lower end was slightly brushier, and next to the Recreational Path, the vegetation became just thick enough to obscure hints of it to anyone trying to come up that way.
The shortcut saved us a fair bit of distance, and, now that a proper tracklog exists, it should be no problem for others (with GPSes) to find the lower end.
We finished our loop in just over seven hours, very happy to have had good views and good trail conditions. This was a very scenic hike -- especially the area around Flume's summit!
Interactive Trackmap & Photo Points - Flume & Liberty Loop - Click link below to expand
Hike Data - Loop Hike of Flume and Liberty
Start Time:
5:32a.m.
End Time:
1:09p.m.
Duration:
7h37m
Distance:
13.5 km
(8.39 mi)
Average Speed:
1.8 km/hr
(1.1 mph)
Start Elevation:
1595ft
(486m)
*
Max Elevation:
4514ft
(1376m)
*
Min Elevation:
1432ft
(437m)
*
End Elevation:
1573ft
(479m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Total Elevation Gain:
3585ft
(1093m)
*
Total Elevation Loss:
3600ft
(1097m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Elevation Graph
Elevation profile over distance
Elevation profile over time
