Pac-man
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Four of us (my fiance and two close friends) had planned on doing a Pemi-traverse this past weekend for a few weeks now, so the impending rain/storms in the forecast were unwelcome, but definitely were not going to stop us from at least giving it a try. We camped out in Lincoln the night before and spotted a car at Lincoln Woods. We woke up fairly early (for us) and drove up to the North Twin trailhead because I had heard good things about the FWT up to Hale and it was a 10 min closer drive than going to Zealand Rd.
On the trail at 7:30am, I walked right by the entrance to the FWT, but realized I was too far and found it on the way back. After apologies to the group, we started to hike up the birch forest to Hale and, before we knew it, were at the Hale summit (NH48 #33).
A quick photo-op on the big cairn before we started on Lend-a-Hand to the Zealand Falls Hut. Topped off the water and took a few pics of the Falls before we started the climb to Zeacliff and Mt. Zealand. This was our first time on Zeacliff, which did not disappoint - just open wilderness for miles in every direction, it really gives you perspective on how vast the Whites are.
Before we knew it, Twinway led us to the anti-climactic summit of Zealand (NH48 #34) at 11:45am...it's got a cool sign though! I had done the Bonds before, so the next stretch of trail I was looking forward to the most - the Twinway up to Guyot - and it didn't disappoint. While West Bond is probably my favorite peak, Guyot is certainly up there.
The skies were grey but the clouds were high enough to get 360 views. I will definitely be back to Guyot and, hopefully, get more time there. Unfortunately, a little bit of rain started during a quick water refill at the Guyot campsite, but only lasted for a short time.
We took the quick spur over to West Bond (my favorite, you can see why!) and rain subsided before we reached Bond at 2:30pm. It was actually nice weather, so we spent a few extra minutes getting some much needed refueling and made the quick trip to Bondcliff.
After the usual photo-op on the cliff, we left for our cars. The rain started to pick up towards the bottom of Bondcliff trail, and proceeded to open up once we hit the water-logged Wilderness trail, and it didn't stop until we got back to the car at 8:00pm. Those last 5 miles killed my feet (once again!...not sure if it's wet feet or my stride on flat ground), but it was a great hike with friends and the skies held off until we were well below treeline!
On the trail at 7:30am, I walked right by the entrance to the FWT, but realized I was too far and found it on the way back. After apologies to the group, we started to hike up the birch forest to Hale and, before we knew it, were at the Hale summit (NH48 #33).
A quick photo-op on the big cairn before we started on Lend-a-Hand to the Zealand Falls Hut. Topped off the water and took a few pics of the Falls before we started the climb to Zeacliff and Mt. Zealand. This was our first time on Zeacliff, which did not disappoint - just open wilderness for miles in every direction, it really gives you perspective on how vast the Whites are.
Before we knew it, Twinway led us to the anti-climactic summit of Zealand (NH48 #34) at 11:45am...it's got a cool sign though! I had done the Bonds before, so the next stretch of trail I was looking forward to the most - the Twinway up to Guyot - and it didn't disappoint. While West Bond is probably my favorite peak, Guyot is certainly up there.
The skies were grey but the clouds were high enough to get 360 views. I will definitely be back to Guyot and, hopefully, get more time there. Unfortunately, a little bit of rain started during a quick water refill at the Guyot campsite, but only lasted for a short time.
We took the quick spur over to West Bond (my favorite, you can see why!) and rain subsided before we reached Bond at 2:30pm. It was actually nice weather, so we spent a few extra minutes getting some much needed refueling and made the quick trip to Bondcliff.
After the usual photo-op on the cliff, we left for our cars. The rain started to pick up towards the bottom of Bondcliff trail, and proceeded to open up once we hit the water-logged Wilderness trail, and it didn't stop until we got back to the car at 8:00pm. Those last 5 miles killed my feet (once again!...not sure if it's wet feet or my stride on flat ground), but it was a great hike with friends and the skies held off until we were well below treeline!
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