14ers.com

Also, be aware that some areas might still be a little affected by Irene. NH-wise, most of the trails are back to normal, if a little wet. They just reopened the Kanc (NH 112) this past Sunday, but as far as I know US-302 is still closed between Crawford Notch and Jackson/North Conway

Agree with tlerunner, Franconia Notch is where it's at. Mt Liberty and Mt Lafayette are worthwhile walk-ups, with outstanding views down a steep area. It's probably the most dramatic valley there.

Mt Washington is a really fun hike, and Tuckerman's ravine is a nice area, but having a road on top is less than optimal.

Yeah, stick with peaks and trails in Franconia Notch.

I appreciate all everyone has put up here so far

Our hiking day in the Whites will be Thursday; forecast is currently rain, so that may put a damper (pun intended) on our plans. All these sound great and I researched some things.

Franconia ridge does sound great, but the rain scares me. The Flume looks awesome - but maybe i'm missing something here - do you have to pay admission to do this or are there alternate ways around that? We don't have a problem with paying, don't get me wrong, but the way some of you described the Flume it seems more of a hike than a state park. either way, the pictures look great!

I have printed off this thread so far and will bring it with me, sounds like the weather will be the deciding factor on what we do... of course Thursday being our open day, it has to be the sole day rain is in the forecast, sheesh

Heading out bright and early tomorrow morning...

The Flume is part of Franconia Notch State Park. Most of the rest of the park is free. I've never done the Flume hike myself, but stopped at the visitor center this past weekend to take a leak en route to Mt. Washington, and noticed that the adult admission ticket, if I can remember, is 14 bucks.

The good thing about a lot of the peaks in NH is that you're below treeline and sheltered from the rain for most of the hike, before popping up over a (sometimes) open summit. Obviously that doesn't apply for Franconia Ridge and the Presidentials (although Pierce, Flume, and Liberty in those 2 ranges to a slightly lesser extent are all mostly wooded til the top). Depending how low the clouds are as well as general visibility you can still see the surrounding ranges and valleys during cloudy/rainy weather, so don't let the weather deter you from a hike.

If the weather is iffy I would take the Valley Way trail to Madison Hut, which is about 4 miles and 3500' vertical gain, and all in the woods except the last couple hundred yards. The bottom 3rd of the trail passes several cascades. If the weather is decent summit Mt Madison, and if really nice descend the airline trail, which is in the open for a stretch near its upper portions. You said you only had a couple of hours though originally. There is a plethora of trails in this section you could make many smaller loops to various cascades & falls, using the appalachia trail head as your base.