hockeycrew
New member
So I had in mind to bag 7 summits on my New Hampshire four thousand footer list (#30-36) with minimal backtracking and views of a couple good waterfalls. So I planned out a very ambitious route, Ethan Pond Trail to Willey Range Trail up and down Mt Tom Spur, across A-Z trail, to Zealand Trail, up Twinway, to Bondcliff Trail with a stay for the night at Guyot. The second day we would continue up Bondcliff up and back to West Bond, over Bond and Bondcliff to Wilderness Trail, up Thoreau Falls trail to Ethan Pond Trail and back to the car. We wanted to see a variety of different sceneries and two lovely waterfalls (Zealand and Thoreau). What we saw was fog (and the waterfalls).
Three of my friends and I started off at around 9am on Saturday morning, it was a little foggy at the top of the mountains but we didn’t think much of it. We enjoyed our hike up Ethan Pond. I was quite impressed by the rapid elevation gain of Willey. The long sets of ladders (quite like the luxury of stairs) were probably amongst my favorite parts of the whole hike. The traverse of the Willey range was quite uneventful. Our views I could see all the way to New Hampshire… right under our feet. We encountered some other hikers along the way, and stopped to chat a little. At the spur for Mt. Tom we encountered gray jays, who were shy enough not to eat directly from people’s hands. One member of our party (Tom) was very excited to be on Mount Tom.
A-Z was a little discouraging because of the amount of elevation lost. In addition the rocks were quite wet, slowing us down a little. A lot of the bog boards were in rough shape. I thought Zealand Falls were nice, but I’m sure they are much nicer in spring when there’s more water going through. We took a break at Zealand hut and the clouds opened up for a couple minutes to see some peaks across the way. That was the most we got for a view the first day. We continued our hike on wet rocks as it had been drizzling on and off all day. I was very unimpressed with Zealand, although I did get a picture with the sign. One of our group members hadn’t really realized what she was getting into when he embarked in the journey and had been delaying us most of the trip. So I started panicking a little as darkness was starting to set in as we hit Guyot. Between the fog, darkness, LED lights, and tough terrain, the .6 miles to Guyot campsite was amongst the longest I’ve seen in a while.
We made it to Guyot, which still had plenty of room on the platforms, set up our tents and hammocks and went to bed. That’s when it started pouring. The tent was best off. Both hammocks were miserable and all our bags and boots got soaked. Packing up was a bit heavier for water weight. It took a lot of motivation in the morning to set off in the miserable drizzle. We bagged the three bonds, all of them had great views…. Of FOG. I really want to return when I’ve finished the list because it must simply be amazing out there!!!
The sky cleared little pockets as we started heading down Bondcliff. By the time we were half way down it was sunny. As we planned our late lunch, on our way down Bondcliff, the sky opened up again. We saw an old railroad bridge of Wilderness trail and decided to eat lunch under it. We wasted forty minutes eating lunch and filtering water, but the sky cleared up again, the next 6 miles are a blur of fast hiking on the flat railroad grade and waiting for the one slow member of our party. Thoreau falls is a very nice trail after a day of walking on all kinds of rocks. We were all AMAZED by Thoreau falls. It’s this steep cascade that swings around a corner. I recommend everyone makes the side trip to see it. Most of the clouds had cleared away and we could see the Bonds in the distance. We could have stayed there forever, but three of us had work in the morning.
We hiked out on Ethan Pond, losing one to the campsite along the way. She didn’t have co-op in the morning so she wasn’t in a rush to get back to Boston. We were of course all jealous, but being good sports donated all our left over food to her. The last 2.6 miles were very long and painful. Exercises in stubbornness. It was dark by the time we reached the car, and a headlamp had burned out (the spare batteries were with our fourth) so it was interesting finishing the hike being lit by someone else. But we all made it back to Boston in one piece.
I think my friends now understand what I mean when I say hard 33 mile hike. But they will all be happier for having accomplished it and having done it in only 2 days.
Three of my friends and I started off at around 9am on Saturday morning, it was a little foggy at the top of the mountains but we didn’t think much of it. We enjoyed our hike up Ethan Pond. I was quite impressed by the rapid elevation gain of Willey. The long sets of ladders (quite like the luxury of stairs) were probably amongst my favorite parts of the whole hike. The traverse of the Willey range was quite uneventful. Our views I could see all the way to New Hampshire… right under our feet. We encountered some other hikers along the way, and stopped to chat a little. At the spur for Mt. Tom we encountered gray jays, who were shy enough not to eat directly from people’s hands. One member of our party (Tom) was very excited to be on Mount Tom.
A-Z was a little discouraging because of the amount of elevation lost. In addition the rocks were quite wet, slowing us down a little. A lot of the bog boards were in rough shape. I thought Zealand Falls were nice, but I’m sure they are much nicer in spring when there’s more water going through. We took a break at Zealand hut and the clouds opened up for a couple minutes to see some peaks across the way. That was the most we got for a view the first day. We continued our hike on wet rocks as it had been drizzling on and off all day. I was very unimpressed with Zealand, although I did get a picture with the sign. One of our group members hadn’t really realized what she was getting into when he embarked in the journey and had been delaying us most of the trip. So I started panicking a little as darkness was starting to set in as we hit Guyot. Between the fog, darkness, LED lights, and tough terrain, the .6 miles to Guyot campsite was amongst the longest I’ve seen in a while.
We made it to Guyot, which still had plenty of room on the platforms, set up our tents and hammocks and went to bed. That’s when it started pouring. The tent was best off. Both hammocks were miserable and all our bags and boots got soaked. Packing up was a bit heavier for water weight. It took a lot of motivation in the morning to set off in the miserable drizzle. We bagged the three bonds, all of them had great views…. Of FOG. I really want to return when I’ve finished the list because it must simply be amazing out there!!!
The sky cleared little pockets as we started heading down Bondcliff. By the time we were half way down it was sunny. As we planned our late lunch, on our way down Bondcliff, the sky opened up again. We saw an old railroad bridge of Wilderness trail and decided to eat lunch under it. We wasted forty minutes eating lunch and filtering water, but the sky cleared up again, the next 6 miles are a blur of fast hiking on the flat railroad grade and waiting for the one slow member of our party. Thoreau falls is a very nice trail after a day of walking on all kinds of rocks. We were all AMAZED by Thoreau falls. It’s this steep cascade that swings around a corner. I recommend everyone makes the side trip to see it. Most of the clouds had cleared away and we could see the Bonds in the distance. We could have stayed there forever, but three of us had work in the morning.
We hiked out on Ethan Pond, losing one to the campsite along the way. She didn’t have co-op in the morning so she wasn’t in a rush to get back to Boston. We were of course all jealous, but being good sports donated all our left over food to her. The last 2.6 miles were very long and painful. Exercises in stubbornness. It was dark by the time we reached the car, and a headlamp had burned out (the spare batteries were with our fourth) so it was interesting finishing the hike being lit by someone else. But we all made it back to Boston in one piece.
I think my friends now understand what I mean when I say hard 33 mile hike. But they will all be happier for having accomplished it and having done it in only 2 days.
