January 26, 2008
This is it, the Death March! Today, we will cover a 23.7 mile traverse through the heart of the White Mountains. We will summit all 3 Bonds Peaks as well as Mount Guyot and Zealand Mountain. I've gone on longer hikes before, but this will be my longest winter hike yet. I carpooled with Dave, Audrey, and Sarah. We met the rest of the group at the Lincoln Woods Trailhead. There was Ed, Lars, Joni, Bruce, and Ron. Hikers I hadn't hiked with before included Andy, Paul, Mark, and Millie. I had crossed paths with Millie once before, but hadn't hiked with her yet. I want to take a quick moment and say to Ron's daughter Catherine and Joni's husband Mark who were not able to come today, that we missed you and hope to see you on another hike soon.
Before we left, Audrey said something and then added "That's off the record." She has quickly learned that 'whatever you say can and will be used against you' on my website.
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We headed off about 6:40 in the dark. First we crossed the 160' suspension bridge. I'm not sure what that is in the upper left. Did I capture a ghost ???
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Ed let us go off at our own pace down Lincoln Woods Trail. We regrouped just before the bridge.
Left to right: Ed, Paul, Ron, Millie, Mark, Joni.
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"This is a new bridge," said Ed referring to the bridge that was washed out and recently rebuilt. He then added, "It is my first time across it."
"It's got to be a new bridge if Ed hasn't been across it," joked Bruce.
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We continued on the Wilderness Trail at our own pace until we reached the Bondcliff Trail.
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Well the easy part was over. The trail over the previous 4.7 miles was so packed that most of us bare booted it. Now it was time to put our snowshoes on.
"Eric, could you take point?" asked Ed.
"Sure."
"Looks like you earned a promotion," said Dave.
Hopefully, I'll do a good job. I need to go slow enough to keep the group together, but fast enough to get us out at a halfway decent time. We hadn't had any snow recently, so the trail was already broken. We made the long climb up toward Bondcliff. Next, my favorite part of any New England hike, entering the Alpine Zone.
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Breaking through treeline
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Nearing the summit
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Almost there.
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Being on the point, I reached the 4265' summit of Bondcliff first. This makes winter #16. Once the group reached the top, Mark walked over to one of the most famous spots in the Whites. I took his picture, but the picture Joni took came out better so I used hers. In Joni's words, "Wow - location, location, location!"
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With mostly cloudy skies, the views weren't as good as they could have been, but the weather will improve throughout the day. Dave shared his 'group gear' (cookies) that Sarah carried up the mountain. Why did Dave have Sarah carry the cookies? He's LAZY. Just kidding. If there is anyone who is NOT lazy, it is Dave. Once I hiked with just him, and I couldn't keep up. He asked Sarah to carry the cookies since he was already carrying other group gear such as an emergency stove.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ On to Mount Bond
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Descending into the col.
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While we were on Bondcliff, we had noticed someone standing on West Bond. Here comes that hiker now. It was Becca Munroe.
Becca hikes with us a lot, but not today. This was an important hike for her. She just completed the White Mountain Winter 4000 footers all SOLO. Congratulations Becca!!! We were hoping to run into her today. Audrey joked with me earlier in an e-mail, "How can we see her, take her picture, and still call it a solo hike." It is fun to be with someone when they complete a list. I also joked with Becca once, "I'd love to come on your hike when you finish your winter solos." It's nearly impossible to go on a hike in the Whites and not see anyone, so her objective was to hike alone, but of course she would cross paths with people.
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We briefly went back into the woods . . .
before reaching the 4698' summit of Mount Bond. That's winter #17.
Left to right: Mark, Ron, Joni, Audrey, and Millie.
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The weather was again showing signs of improving.
"It will probably be clear by the time we reach the viewless summit of Zealand," I joked.
Then I overheard Ed say, "It will probably be clear by the time we reach West Bond."
"Sound like Ed is a little more optimistic," said Joni.
After I shared some Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies, we headed on our way.
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Now the weather is getting better.
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We dropped in elevation and came to the West Bond spur trail.
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Since it was just a half mile to the top, and we would be coming back this way, Ed said, "You can leave your packs here to rest."
"But what if we want our packs to complete all the 4000 footers?" someone asked.
"Then you've got to take it," he added.
I looked at Ed's pants (bibbs) that are held together with safety pins and patched numerous times with duct tape.
"I bet Ed's pants have done all the 4's."
Being on point, I had been the first to reach Bondcliff and Bond. As we neared the top of the 4540' summit of West Bond, I let Sarah tag the summit first.
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At the summit, Joni and I took pictures of each other. This was winter #18 for me.
Bondcliff is in the background.
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Joni, however, has nearly completed her winter 4's. I think she said she has 3 peaks left. She plans to finish on Lafayette. Beautiful choice. Joni, if you want more company on that hike, I'd love to join you.
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We retraced our steps down the spur trail, where our packs were patiently waiting for us. Unfortunately, they didn't get any lighter while we were gone. Now we were off to Mount Guyot.
"There's two bumps to Guyot," said Ed. Then he added, "They are Guyot 1 and Guyot 2."
"Which is which?" I asked.
"It depends which way you are going," Ed replied
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Nearing "Guyot 1" with West Bond in the background.
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Looking back to Bond . . . Mount Bond.
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It has sure turned into an awesome day!!!!
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Junction of the Bondcliff Trail with Twinway.
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We turned and headed up to the 4580' summit of Mount Guyot or "Guyot 2" since it is the second Guyot bump of the day. Mark reached the summit first.
"If you are a purist, you have to step slighlty off the trail to hit the summit," said Mark.
I hit a couple spots. Then Ed pointed to what he believes is the true summit. It's hard to tell with a couple feet of snow on the top. Guyot is not an offical 4000 footer, but does make the trailwrights list.
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Looking back to the first bump of Guyot.
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Congratulations to Dave and Audrey who got married at the beginning of the week. This was their first hike together as a married couple. The picture that I took off them didn't come out very good. The sun was behind them and they came out under exposed in the picture which forced me to try to 'lighten' them. I'm not a professional photography by any means, but I should know better than this by now. Sorry guys. If anyone has a better picture of Audrey and Dave from this hike, could I have a digital copy to add to today's entry?
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What was Ed pointing too? I can't remember . . . possibly Mount Carrigain.
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Here's our first view of Mount Washington today. The very tip of the mountain was rising above the clouds.
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Next up, Mount Zealand
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Back into the winter wonderland.
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Time for another spur trail. This one is just a tenth of a mile.
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I think Sarah reached the 4260' summit of Zealand Mountain first. Followed by Millie in the picture below.
Millie completed a thru hike of the Appalachian Trail in '05, the same year I started section hiking the AT. Her trail name was/is 'Early Bird'.
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This was winter #19 for me. Ed gave his customary handshakes like he did on all the previous peaks. This was not a new peak for me and obviously not a new peak for Ed, but this was the first time we did the peak together. I've now received an Ed Hawkins' handshake on 27 of the 48 White Mountain 4000 footers.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ There was not enough room on this wooded summit for all of us to take a break, so we retraced our steps down the short spur trail. This time Lars shared some 'group gear', more Little Debbie's. His box had the word Valentine on it. Seeing that Valentine's Day was a couple weeks in the future and not a couple weeks in the past, Dave said, "This shows evidence of freshness."
Then I joked and added, "They are from last year."
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Back onto Twinway which is also the Appalchian Trail. (Note the white blaze)
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Not too far from the summit of Zealand is an awesome view of Carrigain Notch. I only hiked this mountain once before. It was in the fog, so I had no idea this view was here.
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There were two very short, but very steep sections which required glissading, otherwise know as 'butt sliding'. Here's Ed on the first one . . .
. . . and Sarah on the second one.
I didn't catch a picture of it, but Ron is a skier and made it down on his feet.
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We briefly stepped off Twinway to enjoy one last scenic spot for the day. This tiny side trip was the only time we had to break trail all day. We had great views of Mount Carrigain . . .
. . . Whitewall Mountain . . .
. . . and Mount Washington way in the back.
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Now the trail dropped down, down, down. We passed the Lend-A-Hand Trail which leads to Mount Hale. Someone in the group asked about it, but it would add another 2 miles to an already long day. Sarah, the ultramarathon runner in the group, wouldn't have minded. She's been looking for a way to add another 2.5 miles to this hike to make it a marathon. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Just passed the junction, we reached Zealand Hut.
This is one of the huts that stays open year around. I peaked inside but it was packed. After taking a break, we found our headlamps and kept moving. This section of trail was well packed so we didn't need our snowshoes. We headed down the easy Zealand Trail. We regrouped at the summer trailhead. While waiting, I mentioned my website to Joni and Millie.
"I'll probably have the pictures and story up by Monday night or Tuesday," I said.
"You mean your not going to do it as soon as you get home," joked Joni.
Once everyone was there, Ed gave the OK to proceed down the road at our own pace. We made the 3.5 miles down the snow covered road, finishing at different times. I finished a few minutes after 8:00 making this a 13.5 hour hike. The hike was over, but I was far from home. First I threw my pack and myself into Ron's vehicle. After driving back to Lincoln woods, I threw my pack and myself into Dave's jeep. After driving back to Bridgton, I threw my pack and myself into my vehicle. Upon reaching my house, I threw my pack and myself into my house.
Many might say a winter hike of this magnitude is impossible or insane, but in the words of Dave Langley, "It was too easy."
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