p2piper
New member
A Wonderful 9-Hour Bonds Hike and the Death March Back
Nancy and I had been thinking about doing the Presi Traverse, but I was cautioned by several people to try a long hike with moderate elevation gain as a trial, so we did. After an aborted attempt to hike on Friday, the 21st, we landed on Monday, July 24. Weather was predicted as partly cloudy, light breeze, low 70's. For our trial hike we chose four peaks - Mts. Zealand, West Bond, Bond and Bondcliff - out and back - Zealand Trail to Twinway to the Bondcliff Trail and back - 19.8 miles and 4,850 elevation gain according to Mohammed Ellozy's web site. We thought we could do it, although we both said that if either of us was having a bad day we could always turn around. So we drove up the night before and spent the night at the Highland Center so we could get an early start.
4am is not a nice time of day, especially when we didn't sleep well the night before. But we threw on our clothes and gathered our gear and drove down to the Zealand Trailhead. Despite thinking I was organized, I had a hard time getting ready. What with repacking and trying to eat something, putting my boots on, and making sure I had everything, I felt like I was in hyper-drive with Nancy standing calmly by waiting for me. A couple of pictures in the dark parking lot and we were off at 5:11am, temps in the low 50's, and enough light that we didn't need our headlamps.
The trail itself started out full of mud and roots but widened and flattened for the next two miles. It was bliss. When we came to a marsh on our left, we were awed by the mist rising from the water, the calm of the day, every leaf dripping with dew. Around 6am I kept hearing sounds farther up the trail and in the marsh. It sounded like someone trying to start a small motorboat and thought that maybe park personnel used it to patrol the pond or something. A few minutes later as we rounded a small bend, I stopped dead when I heard a grunt and the sound of a young bull moose standing up from where he had been lying in the reed by the bank of the pond. We were no more than 12-15 feet from him as he stood there and looked at us, shaking the reeds off his antlers and munching on something. At first we stood completely still, waiting to see if he was aggressive and might charge. But he just stood there and looked at us. Slowly we took out our cameras and crept closer. He just looked at us with his soft brown eyes. He was gorgeous, young, strong, fearless, and healthy. At one point, Nancy tried to get closer and tripped, making a little noise which caused him to turn around and start walking away, paralleling the trail. More pictures - the mist rising off his hide into the sun. Was this really happening? We were so excited, filled with awe and feeling really lucky to have had such an opportunity. For much of the rest of the hike - at least for the first 10 hours when our spirits and wonder were still intact - we flashed back to that instant of connection when the moose was looking at us looking at him, and knew something truly awesome had happened in that moment.
After a few more pictures, we quietly walked away and let him continue eating his breakfast. We arrived at the Zealand Hut at around 6:40am, used the facilities, and moved on quickly. The folks who had stayed the night in the hut were just sipping their first cup of coffee and didn't seem to register our appearance. Back on the trail at 6:56am. The trail rises steeply behind the hut and we were pretty wet from bushing against wet branches and leaves that were hanging over the trail.
Lesson learned: If you keep your map in your pocket, you better put it in plastic to keep it dry.
We topped out on the ridge around 8am and took a short detour to check out the view. Absolutely breathtaking. At 8:35am we passed the trail spur toward Zealand Pond - 58.7 degrees.
At 9:12am we bagged Zealand at 4,260 elevation, no views, but there was a sign so we took a quick picture and headed back to the Twinway. Long walk on the Twinway, mostly up on the ridge, not a lot of climbing. We reached the junction of the Twinway and Bondcliff Trail at 10:23am, turned left and headed toward Mt Guyot. It was great to be above the tree line, but the weather had turned a bit and the temperatures had dipped - lots of clouds scudding over the mountain tops. I thought our beautiful day was ruined. We were cold by the time we hit the tree line and I had not brought more than a short sleeve and a long sleeve Techwick shirt, a windbreaker and my rain jacket. I put it all on and zipped the leggings back onto my pants. The wind was whipping as we started across the ridge, bagging Guyot at 10:35am.
Lesson learned: Always bring more clothes than you think you are going to need. At the best, you'll be warmer and at the worst, your pack will weigh a bit more.
At 10:54 we stopped at the junction of the Guyot Campsite and ate lunch. We changed into our second pair of socks and drank some Gatorade. This was to be our longest stop of the day. We were back on the trail by 11:15am. We bagged West Bond at 11:46am. I loved the last climbing up to the top - worth the effort. The views were astounding. Bondcliff ridge was spectacular. At this point we realized were weren't going to make it to Bondcliff in 7 hours, our original hope-to-get-there time. We pushed on to Bond at 12:38 and met a woman and her Aussie who was on her way to West Bond, her last 4,000 foot peak. Whooo hooo!
The climb down to the ridge from Bond was very steep and the thought of having to climb back up gave me a queasy feeling in my stomach. We pushed onward and arrived at Bondcliff at 1:55pm. After a glorious 9-hour hike, we were done and the thought of having to walk back to the car... Well, I couldn't comprehend how we could do it. I kept fantasizing about a helicopter sensing our need and flying over to pick us up. No such luck. After a bit of calculating on our fingers and realizing that it had taken us 9 hours to bag all 4 peaks, we started back toward Bond with a sense of urgency - no cell service and almost no charge and loved ones to call who expected us down by 7 or so. I thought we were looking at more like 10pm. Oh my.
Nancy hit the wall as we walked back toward Bond. She needed to tighten her boot and couldn't untie the laces, which were in a hell of a knot. She was laughing at herself as I leaned down to help. Although she was still smiling, she was also in that little space of hiking hell where the body starts to break down because the reality of what we were asking it to do was not ok. We made it and we stood atop Bond one more time at 3:12pm. But let me tell you in no uncertain terms: From Bond to Bondcliff and Back was a Bitch.
I still felt pretty good - my knees were holding out, and other than general tiredness and sore feet, I felt optimistic and strong. From Mt. Bond to Mt. Guyot, we encountered lots of mud on the trail. Often there were log bridges, some new, some old and disintegrating, to help us stay out of the goo. On the way out to the peaks, happy, stoked for the challenge and full of moose memories, we deftly avoided the mud, stepping around, over, on stones and branches, not letting the muck suck us under and keeping our boots pristine. But now, we were on the way back folks, and we didn't give a shit about mud on our boots. There was no extra energy to negotiate our way around the thick black, boot-sucking sludge - right through it we went.
We passed Zealand Mountain and arrived at the view area on the Twinway, which is where the trail starts to descend steeply. I hit my wall and joined Nancy in the hurting category. The trail was made up of large rock and boulders, and was very rough. Every single step took total focus, placing feet in exactly in the right place, lowering our bodies down with as little momentum as possible. The muscles in our bodies were screaming, begging to rest, and we forced them on... carefully...ever so carefully.
And we listened, intently - knowing that when we heard rushing water we could finally let ourselves feel wildly hopeful. We knew that the Zealand Hut was 2.9 easy flat miles from our car. We also knew Zealand Falls was right next to the hut and we would hear rushing water when we got close. Finally... we heard the falls and soon afterward, the sound of voices, and then, thank God, we saw the hut.
We pounded through the last almost 3 miles on the Zealand Trail, holding our bodies together by sheer will and orneriness, and finally reached the parking lot at 8:32pm. We had our picture taken by some nice folks we had been leapfrogging on the trail all afternoon. My big toes were numb and sore, my hips were screaming, my hip bones bruised by the pack's waist belt, my triceps quivering from using the poles to guide me down the miles and miles of trail we covered (22 miles, 67,489 steps, 1,976 calories). I have never been so glad to sit down and open cold Diet Pepsi in my life. And we still had a three-hour drive ahead of us.
What we learned is that we are strong, able, courageous women. We can do this kind of hiking. BUT we really don't want to hike this way. We would rather do 9 hours like we did on the way out - taking pictures, stopping to sit on a hot rock for lunch, taking our boots off for half an hour, taking pictures, looking at every view, resting occasionally - rather than doing a death march. Just not as fun. Now we know we can do it and now we also know that we don't want to.
Four peaks, a moose and a major life lesson - Whooooooooooooo Hoooooooooooooooooooo!
Nancy and I had been thinking about doing the Presi Traverse, but I was cautioned by several people to try a long hike with moderate elevation gain as a trial, so we did. After an aborted attempt to hike on Friday, the 21st, we landed on Monday, July 24. Weather was predicted as partly cloudy, light breeze, low 70's. For our trial hike we chose four peaks - Mts. Zealand, West Bond, Bond and Bondcliff - out and back - Zealand Trail to Twinway to the Bondcliff Trail and back - 19.8 miles and 4,850 elevation gain according to Mohammed Ellozy's web site. We thought we could do it, although we both said that if either of us was having a bad day we could always turn around. So we drove up the night before and spent the night at the Highland Center so we could get an early start.
4am is not a nice time of day, especially when we didn't sleep well the night before. But we threw on our clothes and gathered our gear and drove down to the Zealand Trailhead. Despite thinking I was organized, I had a hard time getting ready. What with repacking and trying to eat something, putting my boots on, and making sure I had everything, I felt like I was in hyper-drive with Nancy standing calmly by waiting for me. A couple of pictures in the dark parking lot and we were off at 5:11am, temps in the low 50's, and enough light that we didn't need our headlamps.
The trail itself started out full of mud and roots but widened and flattened for the next two miles. It was bliss. When we came to a marsh on our left, we were awed by the mist rising from the water, the calm of the day, every leaf dripping with dew. Around 6am I kept hearing sounds farther up the trail and in the marsh. It sounded like someone trying to start a small motorboat and thought that maybe park personnel used it to patrol the pond or something. A few minutes later as we rounded a small bend, I stopped dead when I heard a grunt and the sound of a young bull moose standing up from where he had been lying in the reed by the bank of the pond. We were no more than 12-15 feet from him as he stood there and looked at us, shaking the reeds off his antlers and munching on something. At first we stood completely still, waiting to see if he was aggressive and might charge. But he just stood there and looked at us. Slowly we took out our cameras and crept closer. He just looked at us with his soft brown eyes. He was gorgeous, young, strong, fearless, and healthy. At one point, Nancy tried to get closer and tripped, making a little noise which caused him to turn around and start walking away, paralleling the trail. More pictures - the mist rising off his hide into the sun. Was this really happening? We were so excited, filled with awe and feeling really lucky to have had such an opportunity. For much of the rest of the hike - at least for the first 10 hours when our spirits and wonder were still intact - we flashed back to that instant of connection when the moose was looking at us looking at him, and knew something truly awesome had happened in that moment.
After a few more pictures, we quietly walked away and let him continue eating his breakfast. We arrived at the Zealand Hut at around 6:40am, used the facilities, and moved on quickly. The folks who had stayed the night in the hut were just sipping their first cup of coffee and didn't seem to register our appearance. Back on the trail at 6:56am. The trail rises steeply behind the hut and we were pretty wet from bushing against wet branches and leaves that were hanging over the trail.
Lesson learned: If you keep your map in your pocket, you better put it in plastic to keep it dry.
We topped out on the ridge around 8am and took a short detour to check out the view. Absolutely breathtaking. At 8:35am we passed the trail spur toward Zealand Pond - 58.7 degrees.
At 9:12am we bagged Zealand at 4,260 elevation, no views, but there was a sign so we took a quick picture and headed back to the Twinway. Long walk on the Twinway, mostly up on the ridge, not a lot of climbing. We reached the junction of the Twinway and Bondcliff Trail at 10:23am, turned left and headed toward Mt Guyot. It was great to be above the tree line, but the weather had turned a bit and the temperatures had dipped - lots of clouds scudding over the mountain tops. I thought our beautiful day was ruined. We were cold by the time we hit the tree line and I had not brought more than a short sleeve and a long sleeve Techwick shirt, a windbreaker and my rain jacket. I put it all on and zipped the leggings back onto my pants. The wind was whipping as we started across the ridge, bagging Guyot at 10:35am.
Lesson learned: Always bring more clothes than you think you are going to need. At the best, you'll be warmer and at the worst, your pack will weigh a bit more.
At 10:54 we stopped at the junction of the Guyot Campsite and ate lunch. We changed into our second pair of socks and drank some Gatorade. This was to be our longest stop of the day. We were back on the trail by 11:15am. We bagged West Bond at 11:46am. I loved the last climbing up to the top - worth the effort. The views were astounding. Bondcliff ridge was spectacular. At this point we realized were weren't going to make it to Bondcliff in 7 hours, our original hope-to-get-there time. We pushed on to Bond at 12:38 and met a woman and her Aussie who was on her way to West Bond, her last 4,000 foot peak. Whooo hooo!
The climb down to the ridge from Bond was very steep and the thought of having to climb back up gave me a queasy feeling in my stomach. We pushed onward and arrived at Bondcliff at 1:55pm. After a glorious 9-hour hike, we were done and the thought of having to walk back to the car... Well, I couldn't comprehend how we could do it. I kept fantasizing about a helicopter sensing our need and flying over to pick us up. No such luck. After a bit of calculating on our fingers and realizing that it had taken us 9 hours to bag all 4 peaks, we started back toward Bond with a sense of urgency - no cell service and almost no charge and loved ones to call who expected us down by 7 or so. I thought we were looking at more like 10pm. Oh my.
Nancy hit the wall as we walked back toward Bond. She needed to tighten her boot and couldn't untie the laces, which were in a hell of a knot. She was laughing at herself as I leaned down to help. Although she was still smiling, she was also in that little space of hiking hell where the body starts to break down because the reality of what we were asking it to do was not ok. We made it and we stood atop Bond one more time at 3:12pm. But let me tell you in no uncertain terms: From Bond to Bondcliff and Back was a Bitch.
I still felt pretty good - my knees were holding out, and other than general tiredness and sore feet, I felt optimistic and strong. From Mt. Bond to Mt. Guyot, we encountered lots of mud on the trail. Often there were log bridges, some new, some old and disintegrating, to help us stay out of the goo. On the way out to the peaks, happy, stoked for the challenge and full of moose memories, we deftly avoided the mud, stepping around, over, on stones and branches, not letting the muck suck us under and keeping our boots pristine. But now, we were on the way back folks, and we didn't give a shit about mud on our boots. There was no extra energy to negotiate our way around the thick black, boot-sucking sludge - right through it we went.
We passed Zealand Mountain and arrived at the view area on the Twinway, which is where the trail starts to descend steeply. I hit my wall and joined Nancy in the hurting category. The trail was made up of large rock and boulders, and was very rough. Every single step took total focus, placing feet in exactly in the right place, lowering our bodies down with as little momentum as possible. The muscles in our bodies were screaming, begging to rest, and we forced them on... carefully...ever so carefully.
And we listened, intently - knowing that when we heard rushing water we could finally let ourselves feel wildly hopeful. We knew that the Zealand Hut was 2.9 easy flat miles from our car. We also knew Zealand Falls was right next to the hut and we would hear rushing water when we got close. Finally... we heard the falls and soon afterward, the sound of voices, and then, thank God, we saw the hut.
We pounded through the last almost 3 miles on the Zealand Trail, holding our bodies together by sheer will and orneriness, and finally reached the parking lot at 8:32pm. We had our picture taken by some nice folks we had been leapfrogging on the trail all afternoon. My big toes were numb and sore, my hips were screaming, my hip bones bruised by the pack's waist belt, my triceps quivering from using the poles to guide me down the miles and miles of trail we covered (22 miles, 67,489 steps, 1,976 calories). I have never been so glad to sit down and open cold Diet Pepsi in my life. And we still had a three-hour drive ahead of us.
What we learned is that we are strong, able, courageous women. We can do this kind of hiking. BUT we really don't want to hike this way. We would rather do 9 hours like we did on the way out - taking pictures, stopping to sit on a hot rock for lunch, taking our boots off for half an hour, taking pictures, looking at every view, resting occasionally - rather than doing a death march. Just not as fun. Now we know we can do it and now we also know that we don't want to.
Four peaks, a moose and a major life lesson - Whooooooooooooo Hoooooooooooooooooooo!
