Ayumi and Dan's Old House: Franconia Ridge day hike

Our goal this summer (besides finishing our house, HAH) is to explore New Hampshire more than we've been doing, which is not very much at all.
Although... I guess last year we explored a bit on our trips to flea markets and auctions and such. But this state is known for some beautiful mountains and hikes and one such hike that was strongly recommended is the Franconia Ridge day hike. Our hiking history is strongly rooted in the New Zealand tradition of overnight hikes, but there is definitely something to be said for the ease and comfort of the day hike. Not to imply that they're easy or anything - because this hike was HARD - but you don't have to plan or shop much, pack much, and at the end of the day, you can go out to eat a delicious, hearty meal (instead of cheap-o ramen and summer sausage over a fire, which is always unbelievably yummy; wait, what's my point again?!) and then come home, shower, and sleep in a bed.

So we woke up at 7am a few Saturdays ago (I was still jet-lagged from Japan, otherwise we might've slept in a little more), drove an hour and a half, grabbed a huge, caloric breakfast, and followed these directions to the trail head parking lot. We packed two sandwiches, some chocolate, some senbei (Japanese rice crackers) and some water -- see, so easy!

The hike itself in a nutshell is 3 miles of straight, strenuous uphill (you pass some pretty waterfalls), then you come out to the top and walk a few miles along the ridge with breathtaking panoramic views, and then 3.5 miles of straight downhill. I definitely grumbled a bunch on the way up -- "I thought there were supposed to be views", "when does this end", "where are the motherf***ing views" -- and my thighs were majorly cramping (I don't remember that ever happening before. Either I'm getting old, or this hike was really long and hard) but the views...oh, the views. They are so so so worth it.