This was a Boston AMC trip.
We stayed at Subsig Friday night after having placed a car at the base of North Twin trail.
Our group of four hit the Zealand trail relatively late, which turned out to be for the better, as there was some very nasty weather on the ridge early on. At Zealand we met a bunch of VFTT folks (Dr. Wu, and a few others who, alas, I cannot remember--nothing personal!).
Trail conditions were actually not bad on the way up. I thought they were going to be muddier than they were, especially on the Zealand trail, but things were fine. Even the stream crossing just above Zealand Falls Hut was not a problem--although in fairness the rocks on both sides were dry at that point. Someone had strung some twine, but we kept away from that.
There were actually some fairly good views from Zeacliff, and we enjoyed lunch there around noonish, until it started raining. We heard a number of booms on the way up, and once the rain started, the thunder came with it. We quickly got back on the trail to get warmed up, and met a number of hikers coming down who looked quite shaken. Some reported getting caught in a hale storm coming down from South Twin. None looked happy to have been up there.
Encountered even more VFTT folks at the spur to Zealand, which had a small pond below the sign. Shortly afterwards it stopped raining. Trails we muddy in spots, but we were able to walk right through them.
Encountered a group from Mountain Leadership School coming down, with my old friend Michele Adams as once of the instructors. They looked no worse for the wear, and I had to laugh because I did that exact same route one year ago and we encountered the same lousy weather. No lightning, thunder or hale, but heavy winds and rain. I think they schedule it as part of the program.
Our group had lunch at the intersection on the Twinway and the Zeacliff trail. By this point the weather was turning. We strung out our rain gear and pack covers to dry in the wind and sun. We were in short sleeves again, and it was quite nice looking out over the Pemi.
Our group managed to get the last two spots for tent in Guyot tentsite, and with lighter packs, we were off to Bond and Bondcliff. Bond always feels like a snoozer to me, but we were lucky to see a stunning two sided rainbow from the summit. Bondcliff was wonderful, as always. Made it back to the tentsite just as the sun set.
On Sunday, we left the tentsite at 8:30 and were off to West Bond. It was bright and sunny in the morning, and everyone in Guyot was in high spirits. Mt. Guyot was windy as always, and the trip up South Twin was made interesting by the large piles of melting hale from the day before! It was over an inch thick in spots, even a day later when it never came remotely close to freezing. The storm was clearly extremely local, as the small spot where the patches of hale were located also had tons of small leaves on the trail, but only in less than a quarter mile patch on the trail.
Disappointingly, as we reached South Twin, a new set of clouds rolled in, and we feared rain for the hike down North Twin. More folks with VFTT patches on their backpacks(!), and the hike down North Twin was not problematic, and indeed the North Twin Spur was the only spot we hit truly mucky mud.
Rain started again almost at the time we reached the car at Zealand (around 5:30 I would guess).
Great weekend of backpacking! it was fun meeting the VFTT people, and it was a relief to see the trails were in such good condition.
Am doing the Franconia-Pemi loop next weekend, and am praying for nothing but sun!
We stayed at Subsig Friday night after having placed a car at the base of North Twin trail.
Our group of four hit the Zealand trail relatively late, which turned out to be for the better, as there was some very nasty weather on the ridge early on. At Zealand we met a bunch of VFTT folks (Dr. Wu, and a few others who, alas, I cannot remember--nothing personal!).
Trail conditions were actually not bad on the way up. I thought they were going to be muddier than they were, especially on the Zealand trail, but things were fine. Even the stream crossing just above Zealand Falls Hut was not a problem--although in fairness the rocks on both sides were dry at that point. Someone had strung some twine, but we kept away from that.
There were actually some fairly good views from Zeacliff, and we enjoyed lunch there around noonish, until it started raining. We heard a number of booms on the way up, and once the rain started, the thunder came with it. We quickly got back on the trail to get warmed up, and met a number of hikers coming down who looked quite shaken. Some reported getting caught in a hale storm coming down from South Twin. None looked happy to have been up there.
Encountered even more VFTT folks at the spur to Zealand, which had a small pond below the sign. Shortly afterwards it stopped raining. Trails we muddy in spots, but we were able to walk right through them.
Encountered a group from Mountain Leadership School coming down, with my old friend Michele Adams as once of the instructors. They looked no worse for the wear, and I had to laugh because I did that exact same route one year ago and we encountered the same lousy weather. No lightning, thunder or hale, but heavy winds and rain. I think they schedule it as part of the program.
Our group had lunch at the intersection on the Twinway and the Zeacliff trail. By this point the weather was turning. We strung out our rain gear and pack covers to dry in the wind and sun. We were in short sleeves again, and it was quite nice looking out over the Pemi.
Our group managed to get the last two spots for tent in Guyot tentsite, and with lighter packs, we were off to Bond and Bondcliff. Bond always feels like a snoozer to me, but we were lucky to see a stunning two sided rainbow from the summit. Bondcliff was wonderful, as always. Made it back to the tentsite just as the sun set.
On Sunday, we left the tentsite at 8:30 and were off to West Bond. It was bright and sunny in the morning, and everyone in Guyot was in high spirits. Mt. Guyot was windy as always, and the trip up South Twin was made interesting by the large piles of melting hale from the day before! It was over an inch thick in spots, even a day later when it never came remotely close to freezing. The storm was clearly extremely local, as the small spot where the patches of hale were located also had tons of small leaves on the trail, but only in less than a quarter mile patch on the trail.
Disappointingly, as we reached South Twin, a new set of clouds rolled in, and we feared rain for the hike down North Twin. More folks with VFTT patches on their backpacks(!), and the hike down North Twin was not problematic, and indeed the North Twin Spur was the only spot we hit truly mucky mud.
Rain started again almost at the time we reached the car at Zealand (around 5:30 I would guess).
Great weekend of backpacking! it was fun meeting the VFTT people, and it was a relief to see the trails were in such good condition.
Am doing the Franconia-Pemi loop next weekend, and am praying for nothing but sun!
