Mount Lincoln

Mount Lincoln rises to 5,089 feet on Franconia Ridge in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, the middle summit of the exposed alpine crest that runs from Little Haystack north to Mount Lafayette. The ridge walk across it, part of the Franconia Ridge loop, is one of the most travelled above-treeline routes in the eastern United States, with the floor of Franconia Notch more than 3,000 feet below on one side and the Pemigewasset Wilderness on the other.

This map traces the knife-edge geometry of the ridge. The contour lines pinch to a narrow crest between Lincoln and Lafayette, whose summit anchors the northern edge of the frame, and fall away sharply on both sides: west into Franconia Notch and east into the deep valley of Lincoln Brook. The east face is the steeper of the two, drawn as tight parallel bands with the slide scars that give the mountain its texture. Within this frame the terrain covers about 3,000 feet, compressed into a very small horizontal distance.