McRat
New member
The Fool Scouts conquer Zealand 7-16-05
The weather was looking iffy, but with the Presidentials planned for next week, and a clear schedule - it seemed time to bag Zealand.
I had originally planned on tagging Zealand and N. Twin during my Pemi Loop, but was unfortunately reduced to a physical and emotional mess by the time I made it up from the Garfield Ridge trail to S. Twin. I just wanted to get to the Guyot shelter and was not interested in taking any steps that led further away from where my car was parked. Zealand was the easier one to scratch off that list, but I had lost resolve and even N. Twin seemed too far to go. I informed it that would be #48, and trudged on.
This left Zealand as a white pin amid a sea of green push pins on the map. After reading Hikerfast's Zealnd/Guyot hike last week I figured this trip had several advantages. A good warm up for the legs with decent milage and modest elevation, a peak bag, and a chance to fufill a Fool Scout mission of providing ice-cream sandwiches to thru-hikers.
I called up my bud Dennis up and suggested it as a practice hike before we hut-hop the presis. He had just purchased a new pair of boots. The last time I invited him out for a hike, he couldn't go, a ferret ate his boots. Seriously. Shredded Salomons.
So with three dozen ice cream sandwiches, some dry ice, and overcast skies - the Fool Scouts drove north to the fogged-in hills to work towards their trail magic merit badges.
Fate always seems to smile on the fool, much to the consternation of the wise. The fog began to lift around Franconia Notch. By the time we were on 302, we were blessed with clearing blue skies. While there was still some haze, I could make out N.Twin clearly. I gave it the finger and drove on to Zealand road.
We hit the trailhead at 9:30. The trip up the Zealand trail was a rather pleasant walk. I suspected that like Owl's Head, the trail was going to be better than the summit. The first few miles are gently graded, and pass some nice woods, rivers, and beaver ponds. We made pretty good time, and were only slowed down by the brief elevation gain up to the Zealand Hut.
This was Den's first introduction to the huts and he was curious to check it out. After a few minutes staring off into the notch, we left a few ice-cream sandwiches for the croo, and headed up the Twinway.
Up 'til then, we'd pretty much been moving at book time. The temperatures were getting pretty warm at this point and the ascent up towards Zeacliff seemed to really slow us down. The trail was slightly muddy and the footing was tricky in places. By the time we arrived at the gorgeous Zeacliff outlook it was almost 1:00. We shared a few ice cream sandwiches. Rather than detail every exchange, they mostly went like this.
"Hi! Want an ice scream sandwich?"
"Oh man! Would I!"
When we reach in the pack and the dry ice steams out, it dawns on them.
"You're Serious?!?"
"The Fool Scouts are always serious when it comes to ice cream".
It was here that we met our first Thru-hiker of the day - Snowdog from St. Louis. Snowdog seemed like a really nice guy and was overjoyed by our offer. Most people ate with enthusiasm, while the thru-hikers practically venerated the cold tasty surprise in their hand. It was exactly what we hoped to accomplish. He took a picture of us for his trailjournal, and declared us 'trail angels'.
We walked along to the summit of Zealand and arrived before our turnback time of 3:00. We ran into a large family group heading out the spur path.
"How was it?", I asked.
"Prepare to be underwhelmed", came the reply.
"Care to be overwhelmed?", and we opened the cooler again.
We walked up to the Zealand sign and I took a picture of Den, when another couple of hikers showed up. That's right. Zealand summit was CROWDED. We asked them to take a pciture of the two fools under the sign, and walked out. Turns out the people accidently took a video clip of the ground instead. I think Den would have killed me if I asked to go back.
We made it back to Zealand falls and took a dip around 4:10. I know because that is the time my watch hands stopped at. Water resistant to 50m? I'd like to disagree.
When we made it back to the hut, I played a quick game of chess with one of the thru-hikers we had met earlier, and got down to our last ice cream. I had figured we would eat it when we got back to the trailhead, but as we were heading out a south bounder was sitting on the porch when someone said, "THOSE are the guys with the ice cream." We did the right thing. Poor guy had gone over 360 miles since his last ice cream sandwich.
The total cost of the ice cream and dry ice came out to $30. Accounting for product shrinkage caused by the delivery people, it works out to a dollar a sandwich. If I stood on the summit handing out dollar bills, people might grin, but move on. On a hot day on the trail, we were able to buy someone a moment of unexpected joy, and we got to be there to see it. Very gratifying. This could become a habit.
We got back to the trailhead and drove out. We were flagged down by a man from Pennsylvania who needed a jump start. Fortunately I had cables, and soon he was running again. He offered me a beer, and seeing the PA plates, I asked if he by any chance had Yeungling. He said "I wish I knew, because I left an entire case at my brothers place. I only have two."
I got a beautiful day out in the woods with a friend, peak #18, and helped out a few hikers and a stranded motorist... and here I was drinking my favorite lager (not available in New England) quite unexpectedly. I was very, very happy.
Trail magic, it can happen to you.
The weather was looking iffy, but with the Presidentials planned for next week, and a clear schedule - it seemed time to bag Zealand.
I had originally planned on tagging Zealand and N. Twin during my Pemi Loop, but was unfortunately reduced to a physical and emotional mess by the time I made it up from the Garfield Ridge trail to S. Twin. I just wanted to get to the Guyot shelter and was not interested in taking any steps that led further away from where my car was parked. Zealand was the easier one to scratch off that list, but I had lost resolve and even N. Twin seemed too far to go. I informed it that would be #48, and trudged on.
This left Zealand as a white pin amid a sea of green push pins on the map. After reading Hikerfast's Zealnd/Guyot hike last week I figured this trip had several advantages. A good warm up for the legs with decent milage and modest elevation, a peak bag, and a chance to fufill a Fool Scout mission of providing ice-cream sandwiches to thru-hikers.
I called up my bud Dennis up and suggested it as a practice hike before we hut-hop the presis. He had just purchased a new pair of boots. The last time I invited him out for a hike, he couldn't go, a ferret ate his boots. Seriously. Shredded Salomons.
So with three dozen ice cream sandwiches, some dry ice, and overcast skies - the Fool Scouts drove north to the fogged-in hills to work towards their trail magic merit badges.
Fate always seems to smile on the fool, much to the consternation of the wise. The fog began to lift around Franconia Notch. By the time we were on 302, we were blessed with clearing blue skies. While there was still some haze, I could make out N.Twin clearly. I gave it the finger and drove on to Zealand road.
We hit the trailhead at 9:30. The trip up the Zealand trail was a rather pleasant walk. I suspected that like Owl's Head, the trail was going to be better than the summit. The first few miles are gently graded, and pass some nice woods, rivers, and beaver ponds. We made pretty good time, and were only slowed down by the brief elevation gain up to the Zealand Hut.
This was Den's first introduction to the huts and he was curious to check it out. After a few minutes staring off into the notch, we left a few ice-cream sandwiches for the croo, and headed up the Twinway.
Up 'til then, we'd pretty much been moving at book time. The temperatures were getting pretty warm at this point and the ascent up towards Zeacliff seemed to really slow us down. The trail was slightly muddy and the footing was tricky in places. By the time we arrived at the gorgeous Zeacliff outlook it was almost 1:00. We shared a few ice cream sandwiches. Rather than detail every exchange, they mostly went like this.
"Hi! Want an ice scream sandwich?"
"Oh man! Would I!"
When we reach in the pack and the dry ice steams out, it dawns on them.
"You're Serious?!?"
"The Fool Scouts are always serious when it comes to ice cream".
It was here that we met our first Thru-hiker of the day - Snowdog from St. Louis. Snowdog seemed like a really nice guy and was overjoyed by our offer. Most people ate with enthusiasm, while the thru-hikers practically venerated the cold tasty surprise in their hand. It was exactly what we hoped to accomplish. He took a picture of us for his trailjournal, and declared us 'trail angels'.
We walked along to the summit of Zealand and arrived before our turnback time of 3:00. We ran into a large family group heading out the spur path.
"How was it?", I asked.
"Prepare to be underwhelmed", came the reply.
"Care to be overwhelmed?", and we opened the cooler again.
We walked up to the Zealand sign and I took a picture of Den, when another couple of hikers showed up. That's right. Zealand summit was CROWDED. We asked them to take a pciture of the two fools under the sign, and walked out. Turns out the people accidently took a video clip of the ground instead. I think Den would have killed me if I asked to go back.
We made it back to Zealand falls and took a dip around 4:10. I know because that is the time my watch hands stopped at. Water resistant to 50m? I'd like to disagree.
When we made it back to the hut, I played a quick game of chess with one of the thru-hikers we had met earlier, and got down to our last ice cream. I had figured we would eat it when we got back to the trailhead, but as we were heading out a south bounder was sitting on the porch when someone said, "THOSE are the guys with the ice cream." We did the right thing. Poor guy had gone over 360 miles since his last ice cream sandwich.
The total cost of the ice cream and dry ice came out to $30. Accounting for product shrinkage caused by the delivery people, it works out to a dollar a sandwich. If I stood on the summit handing out dollar bills, people might grin, but move on. On a hot day on the trail, we were able to buy someone a moment of unexpected joy, and we got to be there to see it. Very gratifying. This could become a habit.
We got back to the trailhead and drove out. We were flagged down by a man from Pennsylvania who needed a jump start. Fortunately I had cables, and soon he was running again. He offered me a beer, and seeing the PA plates, I asked if he by any chance had Yeungling. He said "I wish I knew, because I left an entire case at my brothers place. I only have two."
I got a beautiful day out in the woods with a friend, peak #18, and helped out a few hikers and a stranded motorist... and here I was drinking my favorite lager (not available in New England) quite unexpectedly. I was very, very happy.
Trail magic, it can happen to you.
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I can imagine the pleasure those people had in savoring the ice cream!!
