August 16, 2009
Today I grabbed my pal Madison who still needed the Bonds. We were on the trail at 7:50. I had thought of doing something a little different and wanted to come back the last few miles by way of the East Side Trail, but when I got to the start of the trail by the ranger station, this sign just jumped out at me.
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I decided to take the trail on my way to the Bonds rather than the way back, although the first three miles can hardly be called a trail. It was a nice smooth dirt and gravel road.
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I went by the Pine Island Trail. I'll have to get that another time. The name is deceptive since there is no island there. I then passed Franconia Brook East Campsite. After this, I passed a gate and the trail was more of a traditional trail. I passed a nice little spot where you could sit on a rock ledge and wade in the water. I'll definitely keep this in mind for a day when I'm returning and want to cool off.
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I continued, passing the junction for Cedar Brook Trail. I went up a fairly good size hill where I found some railroad ties on the trail. Other than this little section, this route to the Bonds was railroad tie free unlike the Lincoln Woods and Wilderness Trails. Very nice! I dropped down to the junction with the Wilderness Trail where I found a really nice suspension bridge.
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Attention: This bridge was taken down in October 2009 |
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I headed across.
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By taking this route, the trail overshots the Bondcliff junction, so I headed west on the Wilderness Trail.
I went over a small bridge. . .
. . . where there was a view of an old railroad trussel . . .
. . . just before coming out at the Bondcliff Junction.
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Going this route was a nice change of pace. It is about 1.5 miles longer though, but I certainly didn't mind the extra miles.
Up Madison and I headed. Madison took a cool bath every chance she had.
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I got to the rocky scramble before breaking through treeline. Madison whinned. I knew she would need some help here. I lifted her, placed her half way up, and she jumped up the rest of the way.
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Almost to Bondcliff.
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Madison on Bondcliff. This was #39 for her.
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We stayed on the move. On to Mount Bond
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Bond made #40 for Maddie. Another hiker took a picture of us.
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It was a nice day, but as you can see from the pictures it was hazy. Let's go get West Bond.
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Madison on West Bond for #41. Way to go Madison! Just 7 more.
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Looking over to South Twin
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Looking across to Bondcliff.
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We returned to Bond and then to Bondcliff.
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Once on Bondcliff for the second time, I took my only real break of the day. I enjoyed an organic Cliff Nectar Bar and a coconut water. I met a hiker named Tom who was from Bethel, Maine. I asked him if he knew anything about the train derailment on Route 2 that detoured me last night. He said it was cleared off the road, but that there was still a big mess of derailed cars.
I then descended back down the Bondcliff Trail. With an ultramarathon coming up in a little more than a month and seeing the trail was flat, I decided to run the last 5 miles back to Lincoln Woods finishing at 5:30.
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