Creaky Knees
New member
Not having been in the Whites since helping RoyBoy finish his 48 on Owls Head in March, I figured I might as well stop cyberhiking and really get out there. When one turns 55, their bucket list seems to grow and a 2 day Pemi loop got put on my list when I finally figured out that it was Larisa Dannis that blew past me on Bond last September setting a personal best of 7:40 which inspired me to think about doing the loop in something under 4 days - I settled on 2 days.
I left the trailhead at 5:30AM and was on Flume by 7:45, and over to Liberty at 8:35. Despite it being mostly clear, the air was heavy with moisture from the ground so I needed to take the spur down to Liberty Springs for water and a "pit stop". A couple of teenage something groups were just leaving the campsite. After watering up, I was back on my way and hit Little Haystack at 10:30 and Lincoln at 11:15. Had Lunch at Lafayette at noon and then started the long descent to Garfield which I reached at 2:45PM. Refilled water at the campsite and finally got to Galehead at 5PM. Took a quick in and out to Galehead after dinner to catch the alpenglow on South Twin - 6 4K peaks in a day.
After a restless night and breakfast, I broke for South Twin at 7:35 and summited at 8:15. Got to Bond at 10:30 where I languished and reclined on the rock since is it my most favorite place in the Whites. Headed off to Bondcliff after about 20 minutes and reached it at about 11:35. Had some lunch and then set off for the slog out. Reached Lincoln Woods trail about 2:25, pumped some water, had a snack and talked with 3 twenty somethings coming off of Garfield that had attempted to do the loop in two days, but decided to duck out and down through the Pemi. Then grunted out the last and longest 3.3 miles in the Whites (and the bonus flats on Wilderness just make it that much worse!) reaching the car at 3:30PM. Total GPS time (without Galehead) was 19.5 hours. Great weather. The trails are mostly in good condition, but a little boggy in the low lying areas. The heavy rains this year have washed away much of the soil and sand from rocks on inclines, so the trails just seemed more rocky than usual - no wonder I like hiking in the Winter that much better.
On Little Haystack
On Lafayette
Alpenglow on South Twin from Galehead Outlook
On South Twin looking at Franconia Ridge
And on Bond looking at the final 4K target and the road to home
I left the trailhead at 5:30AM and was on Flume by 7:45, and over to Liberty at 8:35. Despite it being mostly clear, the air was heavy with moisture from the ground so I needed to take the spur down to Liberty Springs for water and a "pit stop". A couple of teenage something groups were just leaving the campsite. After watering up, I was back on my way and hit Little Haystack at 10:30 and Lincoln at 11:15. Had Lunch at Lafayette at noon and then started the long descent to Garfield which I reached at 2:45PM. Refilled water at the campsite and finally got to Galehead at 5PM. Took a quick in and out to Galehead after dinner to catch the alpenglow on South Twin - 6 4K peaks in a day.
After a restless night and breakfast, I broke for South Twin at 7:35 and summited at 8:15. Got to Bond at 10:30 where I languished and reclined on the rock since is it my most favorite place in the Whites. Headed off to Bondcliff after about 20 minutes and reached it at about 11:35. Had some lunch and then set off for the slog out. Reached Lincoln Woods trail about 2:25, pumped some water, had a snack and talked with 3 twenty somethings coming off of Garfield that had attempted to do the loop in two days, but decided to duck out and down through the Pemi. Then grunted out the last and longest 3.3 miles in the Whites (and the bonus flats on Wilderness just make it that much worse!) reaching the car at 3:30PM. Total GPS time (without Galehead) was 19.5 hours. Great weather. The trails are mostly in good condition, but a little boggy in the low lying areas. The heavy rains this year have washed away much of the soil and sand from rocks on inclines, so the trails just seemed more rocky than usual - no wonder I like hiking in the Winter that much better.
On Little Haystack
On Lafayette
Alpenglow on South Twin from Galehead Outlook
On South Twin looking at Franconia Ridge
And on Bond looking at the final 4K target and the road to home
