This past week I completed my first Pemi Loop, as a 3-night / 4-day solo backpack. Have previously summited all the 4000 footers but mostly from the various side trails up from the roads. My only prior backpacking experience in the area was a 2-day backpack over Bonds and Twins, with my hiking partner and mentor B the Hiker from this site, in winter conditions in early April a couple years ago. My backpack was a bit lighter this time around.
Met many wonderful folks along the way: Hut Cru on their days off, day hikers, Pemi Loopers doing it in everything from one to four days in either direction, and many AT section and thru hikers. One older couple from Illinois was doing the AT as out-and-back's, and had section hiked all but 250 miles so far as such. I said, you could hire a shuttle, and he replied, we want to do it this way, and will have hiked the trail twice when we are done. Neat! My overall moderate pace meant I had time for many trail and camp conversations each day, and never felt the need to hurry on to something else.
It was quite wonderful to connect all of the trails and summits along this classic route. I travelled the loop clockwise, beginning and ending at Lincoln Woods TH. Stayed at the official sites, Liberty Springs Tentsite, Garfield Ridge Shelter, and Guyot Shelter. Kudos to the Liberty Springs caretaker Mac, to Peter at Garfield Shelter, and to Becky at Guyot—all did a great job keeping things fun and organized, with full sites mid-week. It was a difficult yet epic and rewarding journey, from the first step to the last. Strava clocked it (slightly over-estimated in my opinion) as ~40 miles and ~11,000 ft elevation gain. In any event, this hike was for me an extraordinary experience of nature, views, hard climbs, and hard descents.
Took all the usual trails on the loop, and summited Flume and Liberty on day 1, Lincoln, Lafayette and Garfield on day 2, Garfield Ridge East Peak (NH 100 Highest #86 at 3589'), Galehead, South Twin, Guyot, and West Bond on day 3, and then Bond and Bondcliff on day 4. I considered going to North Twin and Zealand but didn't, and appreciated have a relaxed pace on the trail the whole way. I lingered for as long as I wished at each and every summit and viewpoint along the entire route. One highlight was my first sunset from a summit: after setting up camp at Guyot, I ran up to West Bond just as the sun was going behind the Franconia Ridge. Two other hikers there made for a nice summit gathering, and we descended together with headlamps to camp. The next day, I had Bondcliff all to myself for nearly a half-hour on the final morning, under perfectly clear and calm skies—pretty amazing.
I only drank unfiltered water from the three tent sites, plus Galehead Hut. Carried my filter as always, but it stayed in the bag; will post here if a stomach bug develops. I felt ok as all three are springs where one can see the water emerge from the ground. Long stretches of trail were pretty dry, but I cameled up each evening and morning at the water sources. I managed for once to not overpack food and snacks, subsisting on some freeze-dried meals, protein bars, and a pepperoni roll and amazing brownie from a local bakery here in Connecticut. Back at the car at the end, I was down to a couple of fruit roll-ups and some packets of Gu I've been carrying around for a while in case of a bonk emergency. I regretted leaving my smartwool fleece half-zip in the car at the last minute, as it was a tad colder than expected on nights 1 and 2, with sites exposed to wind rushing up. I had to sleep in my windbreaker jacket. One revelation for me: I can actually wear the same t-shirt for 4 days continuously while hiking, and not smell too bad at all. Is the sweat different when you're climbing or something? Wore Hoka Speedgoats; if you'd have asked me a year ago, I would have said I need big leather boots for this kind of hike. The trail runners were perfect, comfy and incredibly grippy the whole way.
Caught a perfect weather window last week, with rain just before and a forecast of hurricane-strength winds the day after for Washington. I saw one threatening cloud, coming over Lincoln from the north, just obscuring the top in mist—but it was gone by the time I reached the summit. The Franconia Ridge had some wind as it often does. I wore a bit of sunblock one afternoon. No bug spray needed, though I managed to develop a leak in my lemon eucalyptus oil repellent, catching it quickly and triple-bagging the thing. Found two quarters on the Twinway, right in the middle of the trail! Also found and returned to owners just ahead of me a Nalgene and a pair of glasses. Found another Nalgene bottle and carried it most of the way around and then home. Let me know the description if you're missing one.
It was nice to revisit all of these peaks with the full loop as the route, as it was all very familiar yet so different. I try to take different routes as I climb things again, but the weather, the light, the people, and yourself are all different each time. It was like a pilgrimage in some ways, a setting forth, settling in, struggling, getting somewhere, transforming oneself in the process. Learning you can do something hard. Then ending up right where you started—still yourself, but a little different now.
- Joseph Getter
Met many wonderful folks along the way: Hut Cru on their days off, day hikers, Pemi Loopers doing it in everything from one to four days in either direction, and many AT section and thru hikers. One older couple from Illinois was doing the AT as out-and-back's, and had section hiked all but 250 miles so far as such. I said, you could hire a shuttle, and he replied, we want to do it this way, and will have hiked the trail twice when we are done. Neat! My overall moderate pace meant I had time for many trail and camp conversations each day, and never felt the need to hurry on to something else.
It was quite wonderful to connect all of the trails and summits along this classic route. I travelled the loop clockwise, beginning and ending at Lincoln Woods TH. Stayed at the official sites, Liberty Springs Tentsite, Garfield Ridge Shelter, and Guyot Shelter. Kudos to the Liberty Springs caretaker Mac, to Peter at Garfield Shelter, and to Becky at Guyot—all did a great job keeping things fun and organized, with full sites mid-week. It was a difficult yet epic and rewarding journey, from the first step to the last. Strava clocked it (slightly over-estimated in my opinion) as ~40 miles and ~11,000 ft elevation gain. In any event, this hike was for me an extraordinary experience of nature, views, hard climbs, and hard descents.
Took all the usual trails on the loop, and summited Flume and Liberty on day 1, Lincoln, Lafayette and Garfield on day 2, Garfield Ridge East Peak (NH 100 Highest #86 at 3589'), Galehead, South Twin, Guyot, and West Bond on day 3, and then Bond and Bondcliff on day 4. I considered going to North Twin and Zealand but didn't, and appreciated have a relaxed pace on the trail the whole way. I lingered for as long as I wished at each and every summit and viewpoint along the entire route. One highlight was my first sunset from a summit: after setting up camp at Guyot, I ran up to West Bond just as the sun was going behind the Franconia Ridge. Two other hikers there made for a nice summit gathering, and we descended together with headlamps to camp. The next day, I had Bondcliff all to myself for nearly a half-hour on the final morning, under perfectly clear and calm skies—pretty amazing.
I only drank unfiltered water from the three tent sites, plus Galehead Hut. Carried my filter as always, but it stayed in the bag; will post here if a stomach bug develops. I felt ok as all three are springs where one can see the water emerge from the ground. Long stretches of trail were pretty dry, but I cameled up each evening and morning at the water sources. I managed for once to not overpack food and snacks, subsisting on some freeze-dried meals, protein bars, and a pepperoni roll and amazing brownie from a local bakery here in Connecticut. Back at the car at the end, I was down to a couple of fruit roll-ups and some packets of Gu I've been carrying around for a while in case of a bonk emergency. I regretted leaving my smartwool fleece half-zip in the car at the last minute, as it was a tad colder than expected on nights 1 and 2, with sites exposed to wind rushing up. I had to sleep in my windbreaker jacket. One revelation for me: I can actually wear the same t-shirt for 4 days continuously while hiking, and not smell too bad at all. Is the sweat different when you're climbing or something? Wore Hoka Speedgoats; if you'd have asked me a year ago, I would have said I need big leather boots for this kind of hike. The trail runners were perfect, comfy and incredibly grippy the whole way.
Caught a perfect weather window last week, with rain just before and a forecast of hurricane-strength winds the day after for Washington. I saw one threatening cloud, coming over Lincoln from the north, just obscuring the top in mist—but it was gone by the time I reached the summit. The Franconia Ridge had some wind as it often does. I wore a bit of sunblock one afternoon. No bug spray needed, though I managed to develop a leak in my lemon eucalyptus oil repellent, catching it quickly and triple-bagging the thing. Found two quarters on the Twinway, right in the middle of the trail! Also found and returned to owners just ahead of me a Nalgene and a pair of glasses. Found another Nalgene bottle and carried it most of the way around and then home. Let me know the description if you're missing one.
It was nice to revisit all of these peaks with the full loop as the route, as it was all very familiar yet so different. I try to take different routes as I climb things again, but the weather, the light, the people, and yourself are all different each time. It was like a pilgrimage in some ways, a setting forth, settling in, struggling, getting somewhere, transforming oneself in the process. Learning you can do something hard. Then ending up right where you started—still yourself, but a little different now.
- Joseph Getter
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