The Great North Woods (New Hampshire)

We only had 2 available days for this trip (July 4th & 5th), and our destination was 9 hours away. We were set on this particular hike, so getting there would be a challenge- we had to drive through the night. As soon as I got out of work at 11 pm we left to pick up Adam and head north. We had decided to hike a loop trail that Backpacker magazine had recommended. It was in the White Mountains of New Hampshire; a place I had heard many good things about. Suprisingly the drive up there went smoothly. We split up driving duties so we could each get some sleep, and we got there a little earlier than planned. Everyone was in good spirits as we were unloading the car. We took some time to explore the park office near the trailhead then got started.
The first destination was lonesome lake. It was about 1.5 miles from the parking lot, but with about 1500 feet of elevation. It felt good to break a sweat and be out of the car. It was a solid climb, like much to follow. Rocky, stair-stepper action with hardly any switch backs or relief. No worries though, we made it to the lake and loved what we saw. It's strange to see a large body of water at this high and elevation. Much of the land surrounding the lake was marshy, but the local hikers club had installed simple wooden walkways around its perimeter. We decided to try and wade into the water and cool off a bit. There were schools of fish (large trout and many others I didn't recognize) swimming right around our legs. I also spotted a frog nearby. I felt an urge to do something I had recently seen on TV...eat frog legs. In hindsight maybe it wasn't the best idea, but anyhow I snagged it and we whipped out the stove and cooked him up right there. It was pretty good, really. After reflecting on our suprise lunch and drying off we headed on to Cannon mountain. The peak of the mountain towers over the lake. It would take a several more hours of tough climbing to reach its peak.
Cannon Mountain is somewhat of a tourist trap due to a cable car that runs to an observation tower near its summit. It seems wealthy New Englanders love this sort of thing. We took the hiking trail up the opposite side of the mountain and gained an appreciation for its height after a few hours of hand over hand rock scrambling. All we could do was laugh when we reached the observation area and overheard some of these people talking about the difficulties of millionaire living (seriously). We took some obligatory photos and headed out of there.
We were ready to set up camp earlier than usual, likely from the sub-par sleeping the night before. We were unaware until we arrived in New Hampshire that much of the White mountains are off limits to tent camping. We were frustrated when we heard the news, but we ended up finding an ideal campsite anyway. It was a few feet from a huge rock outcropping directly across the canyon from the peak we would hike the next day. By the time we finished setting up camp and resting on the vista it was still light out. We decided we were tired enough that we would pack it in early, even if the sun was still shining. We were beat. The next morning we all agreed that was the best night of sleep we ever had in a tent. No chance of rain and cool temperatures meant we could take the rainflys off the tents and enjoy the breeze and view of the scenery as we fell asleep.
It seemed like we woke up early, but after checking the time realized we had slept almost 11 hours. We rushed to eat a quick breakfast and pack up. We headed down the ridge of Cannon Mountain and visited the another welcome center. I wanted to get some clarification on the next trailhead. The lady at the desk was right on with her directions and we were soon looking at the sign for the Green Leaf Trail. This trail was similar to what we saw the day before, only much longer. We took occasional stops for food and rest and saw some awesome scenery. At one point we were walking beneath an enormous granite rock face. It would have made for an incredible trad climb. We hiked another couple hours and made it to an Appalachian Lodge on a mountaintop near Mt. Lafayette, our destination. We poked around the lodge for a few minutes and were impressed with the place. It would be an ideal place to spend the night if one was doing a long distance trek on the Appalachian Trail. A bunk bed and a hot dinner would be welcome, I'm sure. It does cost though, about 70 bucks. I prefer a tent anyway. We met some cool people there that we plan to keep in contact with- A guy (trailname: "Piece of Work") and his wife (trailname: "TLC"). These two were over 60 years old and coming to the close of an end to end hike of the A.T. They told us some awesome stories of hiking in Alaska and cross country sight seeing. They were some really inspiring people. Me and Britt had plans to do much of what they had done and they gave us some pointers. We exchanged information and photos and went on our way.
We left the lodge and proceeded up the face of Mt. Lafayette. It was definitely a unique experience. We were far above timberline. All that surrounded us were large boulders and clouds. We passed a group of guys from a seminary in Connecticut and reached the top a little later than we had planned, but meeting P.O.W. and T.L.C. was worth it. Britt cooked up a hot meal and we ate while we enjoyed a 360 degree view of the "Great North Woods". It was beyond words. I won't even try. We took a quick nap and enjoyed the cool, gusting winds on the summit before heading back. We made a slight change of plans and took the Old Bridle Path back to our car instead of a portion of the A.T. It took from lunchtime till dusk to reach the car. We were hiking fast (going downhill) but didn't realize how high up we really were. If anyone is interested in a hike in this area let me know! I'll give you some information that would have been helpful for us.