19.5 miles with 3700 feet of elevation gain.
Our first one-day Zealand-Bonds traverse!
On August 27, we finished hiking the John Muir Trail. We did the trail in 18 hiking days with 4 days of rest. Since we're still in JMT-hiking shape (14 - 18 miles per day), we figured we may as well go for a single day Bonds traverse sooner rather than later. A month from now, after we're back to normal life and no longer cranking out the daily miles, we might not be able to do 20-mile days all that easily.
Many thanks to our friend John for joining us on this one -- we had a fantastic day. We met at 5:30am at Lincoln Woods, spotted a car, and drove to to Zealand Road in Crawford Notch. We had boots on the Zealand Trail around 6:30am.
The 2.8 mile walk to Zealand Hut is flat and scenic. I always enjoy this bit of trail -- it's a nice warm-up, and the ponds are lovely.
We reached the final, steep bit to the hut within an hour of leaving the car.
The guests were eating breakfast when we arrived.
We used the bathroom facilities, filled our water bottles, and tackled the steep 1.2 miles to the viewpoint by Zeacliff.
Onward, 1.6 additional miles to Zealand.
The best part of Zealand is the wooden sign.
Guyot was next. The 1.3 miles between Zealand and Guyot felt long and overly rocky.
It's all worth it, however, when one considers the glorious views at the end of the green tunnel.
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| Looking toward Guyot |
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| Southwest Twin is directly in front of us. |
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| In the little wooded section just before the final push up Guyot. |
Guyot! We took a quick snack-and-water break and admired the scenery.
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| Bond and West Bond |
From the spur, it's an easy half mile to the summit.
Congratulations, Alex -- only two more Trailwrights peaks to go!
Views!
I broke out the Werther's butterscotches and my homemade White Butterscotch cookies. Both desserts fit the bill for West Bond's Dessert (on the 48).
We lounged for half an hour or so in spite of the swarms of Unidentified Flying Things buzzing about our heads. The winged critters didn't bite, but they did continually run into our bodies. We were able to hang about and enjoy the gorgeous day nonetheless.
Eventually, we moved on...to Bond, where we ate store-bought Brownie Bites and enjoyed even more gorgeous views.
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| Bondcliff |
Bondcliff was next --
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| West Bond |
Fifth summit of the day -- Bondcliff!
Views galore...
Butter Cookies on Bondcliff!
We ate a while, tried to ignore the weird flying things, and enjoyed each other's company. Life was good.
Our descent was routine, though the girls are now far too quick for me. They had to stop and wait more times than I care to admit. They showed no signs of tiring or slowing down, and I worry we have reached the point where I'm holding them back. I'd like them to reach their full potential in fast, long-distance hiking, and I fear they will not be able to do that with their mom in tow. The tables have turned -- the weak link of our team is now me. The girls are growing into tweens and teens and they're stronger and faster by the day, while I'm growing into my mid-to-late-40s and slowly-but-surely deteriorating. Ah well, such is life. This is the natural order of things, I suppose.
Usually, the walk out via Lincoln Woods is monotonous and boring; it's five-ish flat miles of straight and unchanging trail. On this day, however, the path passed quickly beneath our feet. John was excellent company -- the presence of friends makes everything easier!
As we neared the final tenth of a mile, Alex and Sage broke into a run. Their legs were strong and they showed zero signs of fatigue. We finished our hike 11 hours after leaving my car.
Alex and Sage ended their hike happy and proud of themselves. Both now want to attempt a Presidential traverse. We won't have time for that this fall, but it's definitely a possibility for next summer.
Two more Trailwrights peaks to go! Only three more 52WAV hikes left! Woo-hoo! Hope to finish both lists by the end of October.
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