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It might seem strange to have Mt. Franklin as a hiking destination but it makes in fact a lot of sense, particular in this COVID-19 summer with so many people crowding the mountains. Bob Fischer and I went up the very well graded Edmands Trail to reach treeline in a little less than 2 hours (left). It has been very dry in the White Mountains and the pond at the base of Mt. Eisenhower didn't have much water (right). At that point, the logical destination is up to Eisenhower, but looking up we saw quite a few people at the summit.
Our main point in being above treeline was to enjoy the beautiful views without the crowds (left, toward Bretton Woods) and we could do this better by going up Mt. Franklin (right). There aren't many people on the Eisenhower-Franklin stretch because it's not an obvious thing to do unless you're on a long-haul trek across the southern Presidentials.
So off we went up the Crawford Path, hardly seeing anyone, with great views toward the Dry River valley (left) and down to Eisenhower (right). The area above treeline in the southern Presidentials is very green and mellow, as opposed to the northern Presidentials which are very rocky. It's a pleasure to hike through.
Eventually we got to the unmarked side trail that loops over Mt. Franklin. There was nobody there - Mt. Franklin is not an official 4,000 footer and it's just as well. We stopped for lunch before heading down. From the top of Mt. Franklin we could look out to Mt. Monroe (left) and again down the Dry River valley (right).