September 20, 2008
We had a good size group today: Ed, Becca, Denise, Tom, Rick, Bruce, Steve, Jeff, Lars, Drew, and myself. I have hiked with everyone before except for Rick. We met on Zealand Road to spot cars. Steve gave me a ride to Lincoln Woods.
"Steve," I said, "I know I've hiked with you before, but I can't remember where."
"It was on this same crazy hike back in April," he replied.
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We left Lincoln Woods in the dark about 6:00 am. We took our first break by Franconia Brook.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ By the time we reached the Bondcliff Trail we were joined by Tom Davis. Tom is really close to completing the Grid. He only needs 11 more peaks, all of which are in April. Other than April he has actually been done for a couple years now. He skis a lot in April which is why that month has been holding him back.
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Since this was my 4th time hiking the Bonds this year, I decided to take it easy on the picture taking. It was an absolutely gorgeous day. After a cold start with frost on the cars that were left overnight in the parking lot, it has warmed up and there is no wind today. Here's part of the group nearing the summit of Bondcliff: Tom, Becca, and Bruce.
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Ed decided to head over to Bondcliff to have his picture taken.
"I can't believe with all the times Ed has been up here, that he hasn't been over there," said Jeff.
"Oh, he's been over there," I said. "He just wasn't sure he ever had his picture taken while he was over there."
"OK, that makes more sense," said Jeff.
The stockmarket has been up in turmoil this past week.
"If anyone lost a lot of money in the stock market this last week, you can end all your problems here," joked Ed.
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Tom and Denise on Bondcliff.
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On to Bond --- Mount Bond.
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Looking back to Bondcliff from Bond
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Our group on the summit of Bond
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ On the move again, we headed over to West Bond. On the way we saw Gary and Alberta who I know from my last two Baxter trips. These were new peaks for Alberta. Once upon a time, there was a really nice cairn on the top of West Bond. It has since been taken down since this is a wilderness area. I agree with the rules of wilderness areas, but in my opinion the rules are taken a bit too far. I don't see why they can't have a cairn marking the summit of this mountain.
"I'm going to build a small cairn out of spite," said Tom.
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South Twin from West Bond
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Garfield from West Bond
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Next we went over the two bumps of Mount Guyot. We were now on the Appalachian Trail.
"I don't particularly care for this section of the trail," said Jeff.
"Neither do I," I added.
The section from Guyot to Zealand is filled with rocks and the going is slow. I imagine there aren't too many thru hikers who care for it either. Next we bagged the viewless summit of Zealand. Most of the group was still up for Mount Hale, but there were still several miles ahead before they had to make their final decision. I did this exact same hike in June.
"Hey, they aren't dropping out like they did in June," said Bruce. Back in June most of the group wanted to hike Hale but by the time we reached the hut only Bruce and I continued on to Hale.
Next we headed over to Zeacliff at our own pace. I had to run to keep up with the pace that Drew was setting. Zeacliff is one of my favorite spots in the Whites. (I know, I have a lot of favorite spots).
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Whitewall Mountain from Zeacliff
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Carrigain Notch from Zeacliff
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We regrouped at the Lend-A-Hand trail to decide who was still 'in' for Mount Hale. Ed, Becca, Tom #1, and Tom #2 decided to head out. I received a battle field promotion by Ed and was put in charge of the rest of the group as we headed up to Hale. Hale is one of the easiest 4000 footers, but having hiked all the way from Lincoln woods definitely adds to the difficulty. After climbing to the top of the false summit we briefly regrouped before our final push to the last peak of the day.
"This was a very long 2.7 miles," Denise commented on the top.
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Bruce, Drew, and Rick on the summit of Hale
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Denise had gone ahead just a little bit to change clothes.
"I'm ready," she yelled up the mountain.
"You have to come back up to the top before we leave," I joked.
"Nope."
"OK everyone, let's get going," I said.
"What! no one to two minute warning like Ed gives. You're not a good leader," they joked (at least I hoped they were joking).
"I know. And I didn't shake everyone's hand and say 'Well Done' like Ed does either."
I started out on point (first in line) so that the group wouldn't get to spread out. About half way down I stopped so the group could regroup. Lars decided to make a cell phone call. We didn't mean to eavesdrop, but we got a good laugh when we heard him say, "I forgot to tell you this was going to be a long hike." Just one little forgotten detail. From here I switched to sweeper (last in line) and let everyone hike out at their own pace. We came out of the woods a little after 7:00 and just before needing our headlamps.
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