Seen lots of reports, so why not give it a shot. Figured I wouldn't finish; had only been to the Whites three times so far in 2010, the longest of those hikes being 9 miles. But after lots of flat-land training and a good weather forecast for the weekend, time to try.
Decided counterclockwise. Bonds are awesome early morning. And needed some bailout options later in the hike if needed (Gale River, Garfield, OBP). Had a fixed time to meet my ride in Lincoln, so I had to be able to bail if necessary and thumb a lift to Lincoln. Not good to screw over someone who's nice enough to drop me off early and pick me up late so I can play in the woods, so I had to keep an eye on the clock.
Cached two bottles of water at Osseo junction. Bonds beautiful as always in the morning light. The great weather ended on Bondcliff. After that it was white clouds the rest of day, making for crappy contrasty photos (with dark mountains and/or washed out skies).
Lunch on the porch of Galehead Hut. Yes, the Franconia Ridge Trail is a sick joke from the trail gods. Just keep your head down and plow through it. Find a nice song to sing to yourself, get in a zone, and ride it out. The climb up to the Garfield tentsite kicked my butt. At this point I resigned myself to the reality that Lafayette would be the end of the road.
Got to Lafayette 15 minutes prior to my drop-dead "go / no go" pre-determined time. Decision to make. Ate, changed socks and shirt, put on a hat and fleece to get dry and warm. Decided f it, keep going.
Franconia Ridge was amazing as always; it never gets old. Going down Osseo is sweet. If there is a better trail to descend after a long hike, I've yet to find it. Very few rocks and roots, no PUDs, and the only steep sections are handled by ladders and good rock-work. By the way, half way down the ladder section, do NOT miss the 20 foot sput trail to an awesome lookout to the Bonds. When I got to LW Trail, my cached water was still cold.
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Water: I drank 1.5 liters before hitting the trail. I had to fill up at only two spots (Galehead Hut and Garfiled tentsite); drank like a fish at these fill-up sites too. The cloudy skies made for crappy photos but was a net benefit; kept me cooler, sweated less, required less water. Stayed well-hydrated the whole way.
Age: next time I do a Pemi Loop, I won't wait until I'm in my 40's. Next time I'll do it when I'm 30.
Food/Gear: I love my Canon Rebel, but trying to save weight, so I used my new Canon 1400. I was happy that I used just about everything in my pack (extra socks, shirts, fleece, food, water, first aid kit (bandaids for hot spots), hat, sun block).
Photos
P.S. To the woman who picked me up when I was walking from Lincoln Woods Trail back to the town of Lincoln.......thank you, but please be careful about picking up hitch-hikers when you're alone. Thank you again.
The End
Decided counterclockwise. Bonds are awesome early morning. And needed some bailout options later in the hike if needed (Gale River, Garfield, OBP). Had a fixed time to meet my ride in Lincoln, so I had to be able to bail if necessary and thumb a lift to Lincoln. Not good to screw over someone who's nice enough to drop me off early and pick me up late so I can play in the woods, so I had to keep an eye on the clock.
Cached two bottles of water at Osseo junction. Bonds beautiful as always in the morning light. The great weather ended on Bondcliff. After that it was white clouds the rest of day, making for crappy contrasty photos (with dark mountains and/or washed out skies).
Lunch on the porch of Galehead Hut. Yes, the Franconia Ridge Trail is a sick joke from the trail gods. Just keep your head down and plow through it. Find a nice song to sing to yourself, get in a zone, and ride it out. The climb up to the Garfield tentsite kicked my butt. At this point I resigned myself to the reality that Lafayette would be the end of the road.
Got to Lafayette 15 minutes prior to my drop-dead "go / no go" pre-determined time. Decision to make. Ate, changed socks and shirt, put on a hat and fleece to get dry and warm. Decided f it, keep going.
Franconia Ridge was amazing as always; it never gets old. Going down Osseo is sweet. If there is a better trail to descend after a long hike, I've yet to find it. Very few rocks and roots, no PUDs, and the only steep sections are handled by ladders and good rock-work. By the way, half way down the ladder section, do NOT miss the 20 foot sput trail to an awesome lookout to the Bonds. When I got to LW Trail, my cached water was still cold.
-----
Water: I drank 1.5 liters before hitting the trail. I had to fill up at only two spots (Galehead Hut and Garfiled tentsite); drank like a fish at these fill-up sites too. The cloudy skies made for crappy photos but was a net benefit; kept me cooler, sweated less, required less water. Stayed well-hydrated the whole way.
Age: next time I do a Pemi Loop, I won't wait until I'm in my 40's. Next time I'll do it when I'm 30.
Food/Gear: I love my Canon Rebel, but trying to save weight, so I used my new Canon 1400. I was happy that I used just about everything in my pack (extra socks, shirts, fleece, food, water, first aid kit (bandaids for hot spots), hat, sun block).
Photos
P.S. To the woman who picked me up when I was walking from Lincoln Woods Trail back to the town of Lincoln.......thank you, but please be careful about picking up hitch-hikers when you're alone. Thank you again.
The End
