Roxi
Active member
Twins, Galehead, & Bonds, Oh My! (continued...)
Day 2
Tuesday’s breakfast of oatmeal, dried fruit, eggs, cranberry juice, and coffeecake was filling and the naturalist gave the weather report: sunny to start, followed by clouds, and severe thunderstorms arriving in the afternoon, estimated time unknown. She cautioned me to check the sky at Mt. Bond and head back if it looked bad. I assured her I would....knowing full well I was going to bust my butt to get out there to Bondcliff and back before the storms arrived. I was hoping they’d hold off until late afternoon as they had yesterday. So I left at about 8, ascended South Twin for the third time, and headed toward Guyot.
The 2 miles of the Twinway trail from South Twin to Mt. Guyot is dark. It has a Little Red Riding Hood, Big Bad Wolf feel to it and feels much longer than 2 miles. It opens up to exposed boulders as it intersects with the Bondcliff Trail before Mt. Guyot, whose summit is also exposed. Then the Bondcliff Trail enters woods again as it continues past the Guyot campsite area and begins its ascent up Mt. Bond. Now I have read several people suggest bagging West Bond before going onto Mt. Bond and Bondcliff as the ascent back from Bondcliff up to Mt. Bond is taxing. But racing ahead of thunderstorms, I decided I was better off making a beeline for Bondcliff and getting off the exposed ridge between Bondcliff and Mt. bond earlier in the day rather than later. The half mile trail out to West Bond is mostly treecovered until the summit, and I could deal with the rain. I just didn’t want to become a human lightening rod. So I passed the West Bond spur trail and kept going up until I reached the summit of Mt. Bond. I met a group of about 10 hikers who were also headed to Bondcliff. The views were even better than those on South Twin! I took a few moments to shoot some pics and then passed the group on my way to Bondcliff. I had seen photos of Bondcliff which I thought were amazing, but seeing it in person literally took my breath away! I couldn’t get over how incredibly beautiful that summit is and the views it offers. Now I understand why everyone raves about it and is willing to do the distance necessary to see it. It is well worth it! I had brought my camera, but had it not been for the group hiking behind me, I would have been out of luck. They were kind enough to take my pic standing on THE SPOT (see Bob & Gerry’s winter trip to Bondcliff) so I too could have a photo of that moment. I reciprocated the favor with their cameras, and headed out. I couldn’t afford to linger given the forecast.
Now at this point I had hiked 5.5 miles, not quite the day’s halfway mark yet. And for reasons I still can’t explain, my right knee started hurting a lot, not so much on level, but more so going up, and a lot more so going down. I acknowledged the hurt, decided that other than popping some ibuprofen (which didn’t seem to help much), I couldn’t do a lot about it and I NEEDED to get back. So I became the Queen of DeNial and kept hiking. Hiking up is challenging, but I recover well, and felt ok enough when I reached the spur to West Bond to go for it. A half mile later I stood on its summit and admired the view of Bondcliff from the other side. It was still breathtaking! And again I had that feeling of being so incredibly lucky to be able to do this and see these beautiful places. I also saw dark clouds coming from the other direction, so as fast I could with a painful right knee, I made my way down the spur trail and then down the Bondcliff Trail, back past the Guyot campsite. I was a little worried about crossing the exposed summit of Guyot, but sunshine appeared again during the duration of my traverse. Plunged back into the darkness of the Twinway, I plugged along until I reached the steep section that ascended South Twin. This was now the fourth time (and the third side) I was ascending South Twin and it seemed almost as steep and as long as the first side. At the summit I felt rain drops and did not linger. As I SLOWLY and painstakingly descended toward the hut, my knee was screaming while thunder rumbled in the dwindling distance. The ibuprofen wasn’t helping and I couldn’t go any faster without sharp pains. I told my knee to suck it up; I didn’t want to be caught in a thunderstorm and the only way to get back was to keep moving!
I arrived back at the hut a little before 3 o’clock, just a few minutes before the first of three waves of storms rolled through. Storms are a lot of fun to watch from the inside of a dry warm hut, and I was grateful to have made it back in less than 7 hours from when I started. I popped more ibuprofen, propped my feet up, opened a book, and waited for dinner. Tonight’s group size was around 20, and I enjoyed meeting and talking with many of them, some from TN, GA, NC, and NJ. I think I may have been one of the few there from NH.
The next morning my knee felt better, and after breakfast I ventured a stroll up to the summit of Mt. Galehead with only a water bottle to reduce any weight on my knee. The summit had a flag stuck in the cairn, and I *think* I was on the summit at around the same time as the summer solstice at 8:26 am, but I’m not positive due to lack of a handy time piece. The lookout area halfway down the half mile trail offered some nice views. My knee still hurt, but not as much. I returned to the hut, packed up, and left, making my way down the 0.6 mile of the Garfield Ridge Trail and then slowly dowm the 4.0 mile Gale River Trail to the car. The Gale River trail was wet, muddy, and slippery. My feet got soaked on the last large stream crossing as I couldn’t jump and land on my right leg, but honestly the cold water felt so good on my feet! I discovered on my way down that when I walked on fairly flat/level ground, I was ok; it’s only going up and down that hurt. I’ll give the knee a rest for a few days and see how it recovers.
I reached my goal. I saw the Bonds in 12 miles instead of 20. I had a great time! For some people going from 0 to 60 in a few seconds gives them a thrill. For me, it’s going from 27 to 33 in less than 48 hours.
Day 2
Tuesday’s breakfast of oatmeal, dried fruit, eggs, cranberry juice, and coffeecake was filling and the naturalist gave the weather report: sunny to start, followed by clouds, and severe thunderstorms arriving in the afternoon, estimated time unknown. She cautioned me to check the sky at Mt. Bond and head back if it looked bad. I assured her I would....knowing full well I was going to bust my butt to get out there to Bondcliff and back before the storms arrived. I was hoping they’d hold off until late afternoon as they had yesterday. So I left at about 8, ascended South Twin for the third time, and headed toward Guyot.
The 2 miles of the Twinway trail from South Twin to Mt. Guyot is dark. It has a Little Red Riding Hood, Big Bad Wolf feel to it and feels much longer than 2 miles. It opens up to exposed boulders as it intersects with the Bondcliff Trail before Mt. Guyot, whose summit is also exposed. Then the Bondcliff Trail enters woods again as it continues past the Guyot campsite area and begins its ascent up Mt. Bond. Now I have read several people suggest bagging West Bond before going onto Mt. Bond and Bondcliff as the ascent back from Bondcliff up to Mt. Bond is taxing. But racing ahead of thunderstorms, I decided I was better off making a beeline for Bondcliff and getting off the exposed ridge between Bondcliff and Mt. bond earlier in the day rather than later. The half mile trail out to West Bond is mostly treecovered until the summit, and I could deal with the rain. I just didn’t want to become a human lightening rod. So I passed the West Bond spur trail and kept going up until I reached the summit of Mt. Bond. I met a group of about 10 hikers who were also headed to Bondcliff. The views were even better than those on South Twin! I took a few moments to shoot some pics and then passed the group on my way to Bondcliff. I had seen photos of Bondcliff which I thought were amazing, but seeing it in person literally took my breath away! I couldn’t get over how incredibly beautiful that summit is and the views it offers. Now I understand why everyone raves about it and is willing to do the distance necessary to see it. It is well worth it! I had brought my camera, but had it not been for the group hiking behind me, I would have been out of luck. They were kind enough to take my pic standing on THE SPOT (see Bob & Gerry’s winter trip to Bondcliff) so I too could have a photo of that moment. I reciprocated the favor with their cameras, and headed out. I couldn’t afford to linger given the forecast.
Now at this point I had hiked 5.5 miles, not quite the day’s halfway mark yet. And for reasons I still can’t explain, my right knee started hurting a lot, not so much on level, but more so going up, and a lot more so going down. I acknowledged the hurt, decided that other than popping some ibuprofen (which didn’t seem to help much), I couldn’t do a lot about it and I NEEDED to get back. So I became the Queen of DeNial and kept hiking. Hiking up is challenging, but I recover well, and felt ok enough when I reached the spur to West Bond to go for it. A half mile later I stood on its summit and admired the view of Bondcliff from the other side. It was still breathtaking! And again I had that feeling of being so incredibly lucky to be able to do this and see these beautiful places. I also saw dark clouds coming from the other direction, so as fast I could with a painful right knee, I made my way down the spur trail and then down the Bondcliff Trail, back past the Guyot campsite. I was a little worried about crossing the exposed summit of Guyot, but sunshine appeared again during the duration of my traverse. Plunged back into the darkness of the Twinway, I plugged along until I reached the steep section that ascended South Twin. This was now the fourth time (and the third side) I was ascending South Twin and it seemed almost as steep and as long as the first side. At the summit I felt rain drops and did not linger. As I SLOWLY and painstakingly descended toward the hut, my knee was screaming while thunder rumbled in the dwindling distance. The ibuprofen wasn’t helping and I couldn’t go any faster without sharp pains. I told my knee to suck it up; I didn’t want to be caught in a thunderstorm and the only way to get back was to keep moving!
I arrived back at the hut a little before 3 o’clock, just a few minutes before the first of three waves of storms rolled through. Storms are a lot of fun to watch from the inside of a dry warm hut, and I was grateful to have made it back in less than 7 hours from when I started. I popped more ibuprofen, propped my feet up, opened a book, and waited for dinner. Tonight’s group size was around 20, and I enjoyed meeting and talking with many of them, some from TN, GA, NC, and NJ. I think I may have been one of the few there from NH.
The next morning my knee felt better, and after breakfast I ventured a stroll up to the summit of Mt. Galehead with only a water bottle to reduce any weight on my knee. The summit had a flag stuck in the cairn, and I *think* I was on the summit at around the same time as the summer solstice at 8:26 am, but I’m not positive due to lack of a handy time piece. The lookout area halfway down the half mile trail offered some nice views. My knee still hurt, but not as much. I returned to the hut, packed up, and left, making my way down the 0.6 mile of the Garfield Ridge Trail and then slowly dowm the 4.0 mile Gale River Trail to the car. The Gale River trail was wet, muddy, and slippery. My feet got soaked on the last large stream crossing as I couldn’t jump and land on my right leg, but honestly the cold water felt so good on my feet! I discovered on my way down that when I walked on fairly flat/level ground, I was ok; it’s only going up and down that hurt. I’ll give the knee a rest for a few days and see how it recovers.
I reached my goal. I saw the Bonds in 12 miles instead of 20. I had a great time! For some people going from 0 to 60 in a few seconds gives them a thrill. For me, it’s going from 27 to 33 in less than 48 hours.
