grouseking
Well-known member
This was an absolutely fantastic day and an amazing hike that tested me physically and mentally to the fullest extent. In the end I give myself an A even though I slowed down in the end. To explain...
Me and Brian arrived and set off hiking from the Ethan Pond trailhead at 6:30am Sat morning and decided to summit Willey, Field, Tom, descend via the A-Z trail, then onto Zealand Hut and finally out via the entire length of the Ethan Pond trail with a short side trip to Ethan Pond. If I remember correctly, the total mileage was about 17.7 miles including the mini side trips so it was easily the longest and most strenuous trip of my life. I was worried at first, especially since I have been getting over a nasty cold, but us making it to the Willey Range trail in less than 45 minutes made me feel much better.
Soon therafter, the serious climbing began. The trail sure doesn't waste any time climbing, which is good I suppose as it was a 1.1 trip to the summit. My favorite section was climbing the ladders. Thankfully I'm not scared of ladders, but I can see how these would be dangerous if they are very wet or icy. But on this day, the ladders were an immense help to an otherwise steep, rough and pain in the butt trail. Anyways, I struggled up to the top, starting to lose my breath near the summit, that is until the view from the outlook took my breath away! Crawford Notch, the Presis and so much more! We hung out there till we fully felt better and then I tagged number 13/48 for me and Brian bagged 17/48. Around the corner was a fantastic view of the Pemi wilderness which I couldn't get enough pics of. You could see the foliage beginning to roll down there and I was looking forward to walking out thru that area. But first, onto Field and Tom.
The walk from Willey was nice and green, and not too demanding on the legs. The biggest difference in hiking today than all hikes since June was, it was chilly! I saw my breath almost all day and that was more than evident in the shady cols between the mountains. Anyways we summited Field less than an hour later and were treated to a few limited views and stiff breeze that chilled me to the bone. ( I sweat a lot, so it doesn't take a lot for me to cool off.) That was # 18 for Brian, but just a repeater for me, as I summited Field and Tom last year. After a few min, it was off to Tom.
We saw our first people of the day halfway between Field and Tom. But that would be it until Zealand Hut (simply amazing). Views from Tom were great, but there is already a huge difference from last year(the firs are growing back real fast when looking at Carrigain). It was number 19 for Brian, and we spent a bit on the summit eating and being entertained by about 4 or 5 Gray Jays (actually they were quite annoying but cool at the same time). Soon therafter we were off to the A-Z trail.
I loved the A-Z trail! It was narrow, remote and had some nice foliage down low. It was prety much easy to follow and it felt like a moose could pop out at any time! My kind of trail. After a long trudge we popped out at the Zealand Trail and then struggled up to the hut. By then, we were pretty tired, and there was still over 7 miles to go.
After a long hour rest at the hut, and some fantastic cookies, off we went down the length of the Ethan Pond Trail. We made to time to Zeacliff junction, but by now were needing to take breaks more frequently. So we stopped to admire the wild Zealand Notch for a while and then cruised up past Thoreau Falls, and then stopped again at the Shoal Pond trail junction. I was so close to taking the .7 detour, but decided that I was tired enough to begin with. Next time...
Well, by now I was dragging but we still made fairly descent time, but I was really lagging behinf Brian. Little uphills were killing me, but we still made it to Ethan Pond in a little over an hour. After a 10-15 min break at this gem of a pond, it was time to go and head to the car...still 2.6 miles. By now my legs were beginning to cramp, and just five min before the bottom i slipped on some dirt and that sent my left calf into a serious spasm for a good 10 min. It was ridiculous and I nearly passed out, I was in bad shape. But when that drama passed, we walked out 5 min later satisfied and sore. I know now my limits...no more than 15 miles! But soon I will work up to it.
It was an amazing day, and I took nearly 200...yes 200 pictures from the day. Here are the pics if anyone is interested.
Willeys etc 1
Willeys etc 2
grouseking
Me and Brian arrived and set off hiking from the Ethan Pond trailhead at 6:30am Sat morning and decided to summit Willey, Field, Tom, descend via the A-Z trail, then onto Zealand Hut and finally out via the entire length of the Ethan Pond trail with a short side trip to Ethan Pond. If I remember correctly, the total mileage was about 17.7 miles including the mini side trips so it was easily the longest and most strenuous trip of my life. I was worried at first, especially since I have been getting over a nasty cold, but us making it to the Willey Range trail in less than 45 minutes made me feel much better.
Soon therafter, the serious climbing began. The trail sure doesn't waste any time climbing, which is good I suppose as it was a 1.1 trip to the summit. My favorite section was climbing the ladders. Thankfully I'm not scared of ladders, but I can see how these would be dangerous if they are very wet or icy. But on this day, the ladders were an immense help to an otherwise steep, rough and pain in the butt trail. Anyways, I struggled up to the top, starting to lose my breath near the summit, that is until the view from the outlook took my breath away! Crawford Notch, the Presis and so much more! We hung out there till we fully felt better and then I tagged number 13/48 for me and Brian bagged 17/48. Around the corner was a fantastic view of the Pemi wilderness which I couldn't get enough pics of. You could see the foliage beginning to roll down there and I was looking forward to walking out thru that area. But first, onto Field and Tom.
The walk from Willey was nice and green, and not too demanding on the legs. The biggest difference in hiking today than all hikes since June was, it was chilly! I saw my breath almost all day and that was more than evident in the shady cols between the mountains. Anyways we summited Field less than an hour later and were treated to a few limited views and stiff breeze that chilled me to the bone. ( I sweat a lot, so it doesn't take a lot for me to cool off.) That was # 18 for Brian, but just a repeater for me, as I summited Field and Tom last year. After a few min, it was off to Tom.
We saw our first people of the day halfway between Field and Tom. But that would be it until Zealand Hut (simply amazing). Views from Tom were great, but there is already a huge difference from last year(the firs are growing back real fast when looking at Carrigain). It was number 19 for Brian, and we spent a bit on the summit eating and being entertained by about 4 or 5 Gray Jays (actually they were quite annoying but cool at the same time). Soon therafter we were off to the A-Z trail.
I loved the A-Z trail! It was narrow, remote and had some nice foliage down low. It was prety much easy to follow and it felt like a moose could pop out at any time! My kind of trail. After a long trudge we popped out at the Zealand Trail and then struggled up to the hut. By then, we were pretty tired, and there was still over 7 miles to go.
After a long hour rest at the hut, and some fantastic cookies, off we went down the length of the Ethan Pond Trail. We made to time to Zeacliff junction, but by now were needing to take breaks more frequently. So we stopped to admire the wild Zealand Notch for a while and then cruised up past Thoreau Falls, and then stopped again at the Shoal Pond trail junction. I was so close to taking the .7 detour, but decided that I was tired enough to begin with. Next time...
Well, by now I was dragging but we still made fairly descent time, but I was really lagging behinf Brian. Little uphills were killing me, but we still made it to Ethan Pond in a little over an hour. After a 10-15 min break at this gem of a pond, it was time to go and head to the car...still 2.6 miles. By now my legs were beginning to cramp, and just five min before the bottom i slipped on some dirt and that sent my left calf into a serious spasm for a good 10 min. It was ridiculous and I nearly passed out, I was in bad shape. But when that drama passed, we walked out 5 min later satisfied and sore. I know now my limits...no more than 15 miles! But soon I will work up to it.
It was an amazing day, and I took nearly 200...yes 200 pictures from the day. Here are the pics if anyone is interested.
Willeys etc 1
Willeys etc 2
grouseking
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