This is my first big hike since coming back from my two week Appalachian Trail hike in southern Virginia and northern Tennessee. Considering the mountains were covered with snow when I left, I'm sure they have changed considerably. There is still some snow at the higher elevations so I'm bringing my snowshoes and crampons. I pulled into the Lincoln Woods parking lot about 6:45. I spotted Ed Hawkins' pickup right away. He came over to welcome me back.
"Welcome back!"
"Thanks! It's great to be back."
"I just got the report," he said, "we won't need snowshoes or crampons today."
"Great, that much less to carry," I said.
Our group of 7 met over by Ed's truck.
"Hey everyone," said Becca, "Look at Ed's license plate."
We knew what it meant. Ed has climbed each of the 48 four thousand footers of the White Mountains in each of the 12 calendar months, not just once but twice. That's 12x48x2 or 1,152 four thousand footers. Sounds like a lot, and it is, but that's not half of the 4,000 footers he has climbed. Last I knew he was somewhere around 2,600. Now you know why I refer to him as Mr. 4000.
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I've been to the summits of Bondcliff, Mount Bond, and West Bond only once, and it was in the fog. Today looks like a beautiful day so we should be getting lots of views. Having climbed them before, I don't get to cross off any additional peaks. I'm hiking them during the same month as last year so I don't get to check anything off my grid either. Completing a peakbagging list or finishing a long trail is not the primary reason I'm out here. I'm out here to get some exercise, enjoy nature, and spend the day with a great group of hikers.
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We started today's hike on Lincoln Woods Trail at 6:59, one minute ahead of schedule.
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We crossed the 160' foot suspension bridge and got a view of the East Branch Pemigewasset River.
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Given the fact that all the arrows in the picture below go to the right, I guess we'll go that way.
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Today would be a rugged, long day, but at least the first few miles and last few miles would be a breeze.
Ed and Becca cruise along on the former railroad bed.
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We took our first break near Franconia Brook. Here's most of the group. From left to right: Lars, Al, Becca, Ed, and Jeff.
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Next we entered the Pemigewasset Wilderness.
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At the next trail junction Ed and Becca told me there was an old railroad trussel a little further up on the Wilderness Trail so Becca, Jeff, and I went to check it out. This is one of the last remaining signs that the mountains were once filled with logging camps.
"There it is," said Becca. "Slowly rotting away. It can't be restored, and it can't be torn down."
"Why can't they restore it?" I asked.
"Because this is a wilderness area, and you aren't allowed to build anything," Becca replied.
"So why can't it be torn down?" I asked.
"Because it is historic."
I am all for conservation and preservation, but rather than allowing this piece of history to just rot away, I think an exception should be made.
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We walked back to the trail junction when a forest ranger named Kevin showed up. He was carrying an ax and had been doing some trail maintenance. Because it is a wilderness area, he has to use an ax rather than a chainsaw. (FYI - Nothing mechanical is allowed in a wilderness area).
"Have you been doing some trail maintenance?" asked Ed.
"Yes, on the other side of the river. People have been camping over there, and we are trying to revegetate that area." said Kevin.
"Oh, so it is an illegal campsite," said Ed.
"Well, it's no such much that it is illegal. We just try to educate people and encourage them to find another spot."
"I bet that is easy to do when you are carrying an ax," added Al.
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I got to talk with Lars for a few minutes. He is originally from Sweden, but has lived in Maine since 1985. He lives in Gilead which is only about 30-40 minutes from me. Hopefully we will be able to do some hikes together and with gas prices over $3 a gallon, maybe some carpooling.
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Heading up a long, steep stone staircase.
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After crisscrossing Black Brook several times, we took another break. After the brook Ed had me take the lead for a while.
"Have you noticed those rocks with the cracks that look like a star pattern?" asked Becca.
"No, I haven't," I said.
"I'll try to find one," she said.
After several more minutes of hiking she added, "They were all over the place until I wanted to show you one."
We finally found one.
I had seen these on other hikes and thought it was odd that a rock would deteriorate in that way. Becca educated me. When the trail was built, the workers often had to blast the top of a rock off resulting in that star shaped pattern with the cracks in it. As the saying goes: You learn something new every day. I do my best to learn something new every day, unfortunately, I forget things at a much faster rate.
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While hiking the taller mountains in the Whites, I love reaching the alpine zone.
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The trickiest part of today's hike was this short but steep scramble. Lars made it ok.
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Our group has worked hard to get this far today. Now we will be rewarded with a few miles of hiking above treeline. Here's a look over to Franconia Ridge.
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I moved to the rear of our group so that I could get a picture of everyone approaching the summit. I believe Becca got to the 4265' summit first, but I'm not positive.
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View of Bondcliff
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I ran around and stood on the cliff to give it some scale.
Jeff was kind enough to take this picture for me.
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Ed relaxes on the summit with Mount Carrigain in the background.
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Don't get too comfortable for too long. We have two more peaks to bag. We headed off to Mount Bond.
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As we made our ascent toward Mount Bond, Becca took some mental notes. She had trouble following the trail here last winter. Following some of these trails can be very difficult in winter when there is very little to follow. Next winter she'll do the Bonds again, completing her winter 4,000 footer solo list.
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I was in the rear again taking pictures. I think Ed reached the 4698' summit first. As customary on an Ed Hawkins' hike, he congratulated each of us on reaching the summit and gave us a handshake. That is when I realized that this hike did count toward something. I hadn't gotten an Ed Hawkins' handshake on any of these summits before. Has anyone ever completed a peakbagging list of the New England 67 4,000 footers AND gotten an Ed Hawkins' handshake on each of the summits? The man is a hiking legend, and this would be quite an honor. It has probably been done once or twice, but I'm going to start keeping track. This was Ed Hawkins' 4,000 footer handshake #5. Then I realized because I reached Bondcliff a couple minutes behind everyone, I missed my handshake on that peak. We are returning over the same route, so I'll get my handshake then.
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Looks like there is still some patches of snow over on the Presidential Range.
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Ed loves to take short naps on these open summits.
Climbing as many 4,000 footers as he has, he has earned the right.
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Looking across to our next objective: West Bond
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We ran into several feet of snow on the other side of Mount Bond. As you can see from Becca standing on it, the snow was hard packed and easy to walk on.
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Ed wasn't really telling a story of walking to school as a kid, but he was describing how deep the snow gets along this ridge. If anyone would know, it would be him. After today, he has completed Bondcliff and West Bond 42 times while tagging the top of Mount Bond one extra time for a total of 43 on that summit.
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Next we reached the spur trail for West Bond.
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Once down in the col, Ed let me take the lead. Since my only prior trip to the summit was in the fog, he gave me the pleasure of reaching the 4,540 foot summit first.
Jeff on the summit of West Bond
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After making sure I got my 6th Ed Hawkins' handshake. I enjoyed the view.
Looking over to the ridge between Mount Bond and Bondcliff
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Looking over to South Twin
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There must be something to these short summit naps that Ed takes. I figured I would give one a try. I got way too comfortable and didn't want to get up, but it was time to get going.
Al was next to me and said, "I think I just discovered a law that can be added to Newton's Laws of Motion: A body that is not moving, doesn't want to start moving."
I completely agree although I guess that would be a law of non-motion rather than a law of motion. No one in our group wanted to spend the night, so we began the long hike back.
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We took another break when we reached the top of Mount Bond for the 2nd time where I got a chance to talk with Al. Come to find out, he is section hiking the Appalachian Trail as well. We both have completed about the same amount of miles, somewhere between 1200-1300.
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One last look over to West Bond
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Time to walk the ridge back to Bondcliff
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Nearing the summit of Bondcliff (again).
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After getting to the top I went over to Ed and extended my hand for the handshake that I missed earlier.
"You already did this summit today so this summit doesn't count," he said.
"But I missed my handshake earlier. This counts, it's my earlier ascent to the summit that doesn't count," I said.
"Oh, I didn't realize I missed you," he said while shaking my hand. That's Ed Hawkins' 4000 footer handshake #7.
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One last look back to Bondcliff and Mount Bound before dropping below treeline.
As we descended the mountain we passed hiker after hiker, most of which were headed to the Guyot Campsite. That is going to be one busy place tonight.
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"I didn't bookmark your website, Eric. What was the name of it again?" Becca asked me.
"WWW.EricExplores.com," I replied. "I should have pictures of this hike up by Tuesday or Wednesday."
"What's this about a website?" Al asked.
"I put pictures from my hikes on my website," I said.
"And he tells a story," added Ed.
"Really," said Al.
"So be careful what you say," said Ed. "Eric is recorded everything you say."
"Al, if you are in the Witness Protection Program, you'd better tell me now," I added.
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Once we made it back to the old railroad bed Ed said that we could go at our own pace before meeting up one last time by Franconia Brook.
Once at the bridge by Franconia Brook we waited for everyone to catch up. Since the last 3 miles were straight and flat with a lot of other people on it, Ed gave the green light. I wasn't in a hurry to leave my hiking companions, but was eager to get home to Lynn so I jogged the rest of the way out, reaching the suspension bridge a couple minutes before 7:30.
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Special thanks to Ed for organizing another great hike. Take care everyone!
