April 9, 2008
Jim Towle needed 4 peaks to complete The Grid. Once completed he will have hiked each of the White Mountains 4000 Footers in each of the calendar months. We plan to knock them all off in one hike. We had a little trouble picking the day. This hike had to take place this month, or we would have to wait until next April. It would be too risky to wait until late April, the streams could be too high. We had to do it early. First we scheduled it for Saturday April 5th. It was cancelled because of rain and rescheduled for Saturday April 12th. By Tuesday the prediction was rain for the weekend. Jim decided he needed to get it done. Ed sent out a last minute Grid email that Jim would be finishing on Wednesday (tomorrow).
I just couldn't miss this hike. I was out of town when Guy finished last November. I didn't want to miss this one. Special thanks to my boss Don who let me take the day off at the last minute and for my co-worker Jason who covered my on-call shift.
It would be a very, very long day. Guy's wife Jo (short for Josephine) was a huge help. This hike was a traverse, and she helped us spot cars. She saved us well over an hour's worth of driving. Thanks Jo.
We were a group of eight, a geat turnout for a last minute, non-weekend hike. It was Jim, Ed, Guy, Steve, Al, Andrew ("Mountain Drew"), Meb (Mary Ellen B.), and myself.
Al, Guy, and Jim crossing the suspension bridge at Lincoln Woods.
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The bridge over Franconia Brook
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Into the Pemi
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I enjoy getting to know people I haven't hiked with before.
"So, your name is Mary Ellen," I asked Meb.
"Yes," she replied.
"It's a pretty name, but you must get a lot of jokes about the Waltons"
"Yes, I've heard them all, but at least it is one of my favorite shows."
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Ed at a stream crossing
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Now the climbing started. Up, up, up we went towards Bondcliff. Guy led the way for quite a long stretch. There wasn't a lot of fresh snow, but he was breaking trail through a few inches of very heavy, wet snow. He was definitely working harder than the rest of us.
"I need to stop for a minute," said Guy.
"Would you like me to lead for a while? You've gone a long way," I asked.
"Sure, the ledge shouldn't be far ahead."
He was right, a few minutes later we broke through treeline and pressed on toward the summit.
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This was Jim's day, so as I neared the summit I yelled back, "Jim, do you want to bag the summit first?" He waved me on, so I continued on to the top of the 4265' summit. He was right behind me. This was #573 for Jim.
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Looking over to Mount Hancock
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Time for a break
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For a 360° view from the summit click here.
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Ed gave a warning that it was almost time to go.
"About two and a half minutes everyone," said Ed.
"Why two and a half?" someone asked.
"Because I half a two and a half minute story."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Next stop, Mount Bond
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Don't forget to look back once and a while. Here's a look back to Bondcliff . . .
. . . and a look into the Pemigewassett Wilderness.
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With deep snow pack, it was extremely difficult to follow the trail up to Bond. At one point we lost the trail, but Ed got us back on track and led us to the 4698' summit. That's #574 for Jim.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Now it was time to head to West Bond. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ West Bond is in the foreground in the picture below.
That's Franconia ridge in the background.
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Jim and Meb at the junction for the spur trail to West Bond.
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We would be coming back this way, so we dropped our packs. Our packs aren't doing 'The Grid' anyway.
"Who wants to lead?" asked Ed.
No one volunteered. I waited a few seconds. There was no response from anyone, so I decided to jump in front.
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In the picture below, I'm not stuck in a spruce trap, that will happen later. I'm kneeling and pointing to a blue blaze to show how deep the snow was. This is the middle of April, right??
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As I neared the summit, I stopped.
"Jim, this is your next to last peak to complete The Grid. You may have the honor."
He continued ahead of me and reached the 4540' summit of West Bond for #575.
Not only did this peak mark Jim's next to last peak for the Grid, it marked the completion of his 15th loop of the White Mountains 48. You may be thinking, "I thought you only had to do it 12 times for The Grid?" Yes, but remember it also has to be in each month. Jim has doubled up or tripled up on some months. The Grid won't be complete until he reaches Zealand.
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Looking over to Bondcliff
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South Twin Mountain
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Steve nearing the summit of West Bond
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After a break, I waited for everyone to start down so that I could get a 360° video clip.
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We made our way back to our packs and then Meb led us up to a subpeak of Mount Guyot.
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View of Mount Garfield
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On to the true summit of Guyot
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View of the Presidential Range from the 4580' summit of Guyot, a non-official 4000 footer.
(FYI - It doesn't meet the required rise from the col.)
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For another 360° click here
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That's Zealand Mountain ahead, Jim's ultimate goal.
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After we dropped into the col, Meb led us up to the spur trail for Zealand. Jim's last peak was just a tenth of a mile away. We let him lead us to the top. A couple minutes later Jim was on top of #576. It was a special time. Although technical he wasn't done since he still needed to walk out under his own power, it's much more climatic to claim completion on the last summit. Ed awarded him with 'The Grid' patch. Ed just started giving out these patches, so Jim was the first to receive the patch on the last summit. Jim is the 8th person to complete The Grid. Below Jim and Ed celebrate with a Coke. The 576 sign was courtesy of Guy.
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Here's a picture of 3 of the 8 grid finishers.
Left to right: Jim Towle, Guy Jubinville, and Ed Hawkins.
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"I'm not much for speeches," said Jim, "but this is not just the accomplishment of an individual. It is the accomplishment of a large group. I couldn't have done it with out the help of everyone today and all those who have helped on prior hikes."
I have started a website for 'The Grid'. It's not quite ready so I can't give out the address. Stay tuned.
The day was far from over. We still had 9 miles to get out. It didn't go without incident. I was walking a long when I nearly dropped out of site. The dreaded spruce trap. Leave it to me to find it. This spruce trap nearly swollowed me whole.
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There is a spot or two when coming down Zealand where glissading or "butt sliding" is the way to go.
Jim, looks happy doesn't he.
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Zeacliff offers a great view of Mount Carrigain.
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For a 180° view click here.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Next we dropped down, down, down to the hut. "Mountain Drew" managed to escape the camera most of the day, but I caught him here in front of Zealand Falls Hut.
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There were no guests inside the hut. Just the caretaker and his girlfriend.
Come to find out, they were 2007 Appalachian Trail thru hikers. They went sobo and met shortly after starting the trail. He had to get off the trail for a day or so, because he was sick. When he got back on the trail, he was determined to catch her and got the trailname "Hot Pursuit". She was tagged with the trailname "Twix" when she carried four pounds of Twix candybars into the 100 Mile Wilderness. They have been together ever since.
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We still had six miles to go. We put our snowshoes back on and went on our way.
The snow was 3-4 feet deep when I went over this bridge.
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We had a long road walk to get out. Ed let us go at our own pace. Jim stayed with Ed. After thousands of hikes, Ed has to go easy on his knees. He is very disciplined in taking his time, so that he doesn't injure them further. About a mile from Route 302 we had a great surprised. We were met by Cath Goodwin, Grid finisher #4.
I've been busy the last couple weeks building The Grid Website. I've communicated with Cath via email during that time, so it was great to meet her. She wanted so much to be on this hike, but wasn't able to. But what a great friend, to come all the way the trailhead to meet Jim when he finished. Even though Ed and Jim were still a little behind us, we quickened our pace when Cath told us she had a pizza waiting for us. That pizza sure hit the spot. What a trail angel! Thanks Cath.
As typical with pizza, it was cut into 8 slices. Perfect, there were 8 hikers. Drew looked down at the two remaining slices reserved for Ed and Jim.
"Cath, I'll give you twenty bucks for the rest of the pizza," Drew jokingly offered.
"No," she replied.
I decided to head back down the road to see how Jim and Ed were doing. About 5 minutes later I saw their headlamps. Everyone needs encouragement as they near the end of a 23.5 mile winter hike.
"Cath Goodwin met us, and she has pizza and coke waiting," I said.
"Awesome," said Ed.
Then I joked, "At least I think she still has pizza. She turned down Drew's offer of 20 bucks for it, but maybe he raised his bid."
A few minutes later we reached the end. It was now official, Jim was now the 8th person to complete The Grid. Now that Cath was with us, we had 4 out of the 8 Grid finishers together. Unfortunately, it was now dark so we I couldn't get a picture of the four of them together.
Congratulations Jim!!!
So who will be the next Grid finisher. From today's group, we have some future Grid finishers. Meb has completed over 400. Steve and Drew each have over 300. I'm the slacker with just a little over 100, but in all fairness, I'm still new to the game and my first objective is to finish the Appalachian Trail.
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