Zealand and Bonds for Gryffin's 48 - 2015-Jan-24

[bikehikeskifish]

Gryffin started his NH 48 at just over 1-year old, on Mount Tecumseh, in March of 2014. My goal was for him to complete the 48 in 2014, and for me to do two full rounds. Once Zealand Road closed, I decided to wait for calendar winter to make the 23+ mile trip with him. The first 5 weeks of winter were difficult to get a nice enough day to be out for 11 hours that I was also free. Yesterday turned out to be that day. 48/48 in any season, and already 10/48 for winter.

We were joined this day by Ian + Marlie, Brent and Lucy, Steve, Holly and Kibo, Mark, Chris, Matt, Teresa, and Jason (with us in spirit were Heather and Kali who went Presidential.) The OBS forecast was spot-on - high clouds, but summits in the clear. It started snowing lightly on West Bond, and we finished on Bondcliff under a beautiful light snowfall. Temps in the 20s and winds in the low teens.

#45 - Zealand (with Kibo and Lucy)

#46 - West Bond

#47 - Bond

#48 - Bondcliff


48 summit photos

Tim

 

[sierra]

Tim that is awesome!! Gryffin is really doing well. That picture of you two on Bondcliff is fantastic and should go on a wall somewhere in your house!

 

[SteveR]

Photobombed!!!

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Photobombed!!!

And yet he won't sit still for me.

Tim

 

[summitseeker]

Great Job!,

I am glad to see some familiar faces made the trek along with their canine counterparts.

Congratulations to all of you for finally finding a weather window and opportunity to do that traverse.


Z

 

[IQuest]

Sweet Success!!!

 

[Ed'n Lauky]

Congratulations to Gryffin. Great pictures also.

 

[1SlowHiker]

Congratulations Gryffin.
Great peak pics Tim. My favorite is on Monroe where he is looking off to his next challenge; Washington.

 

[dug]

Ha, I know the feeling. I took hundreds of pictures of my lab who did the 48. It was before digital, so I'd get the developed film back and I took my pictures of just my dog's rear end than I could count. Rare was she still for photo...

Congrats on the accomplishment. That was fast!

 

[winnie]

Congratulations, Gryffin, from Ella and Eva.

 

[alexmtn]

Congratulations to Gryffin and his List Coordinator!

It was a pretty nice day to be out on a Zealand-Bonds traverse, and it was a pleasure to meet some fellow vftt-ers on the trail. Gryffin was a bundle of energy, who if not for Tim's attentive supervision would have deftly augmented his already massive glycogen stores with the sandwich he'd noticed in my hand. My friend and I were training with big packs, so I was especially grateful to have retained that food source!

Apart from the beautiful environs, I was amazed by the sheer number of very qualified folks who'd opted to do pretty much the same hike on the same day at pretty much the same time! I counted no fewer than 26 folks [2-legged] in 6 groups. Yes it's a classic route with an appealing peak yield, but still, this was a random winter Saturday.

I hope all are weathering the storm successfully, and perhaps even getting some fun out of it!

Alex

 

[bikehikeskifish]

It wasn't really a random Saturday--It was the first Saturday (weekend day, actually) this winter where the wind speed was below the temperature. I have been trying to get him out there since December 22nd...

He does like food. There aren't too many training opportunities where people are walking around holding food. And, like it or not, a lot of people are more than willing to share.

Kudos to Kibo (almost 10), Lucy (almost 1) and Marlie (age unknown) as well--All 4 dogs did great.

Tim

 

[Raven]

Congrats Gryffin!

 

[IQuest]

Kudos to Kibo (almost 10), Lucy (almost 1) and Marlie (age unknown) as well--All 4 dogs did great.

Tim

She's 6.

 

[alexmtn]

It wasn't really a random Saturday--It was the first Saturday (weekend day, actually) this winter where the wind speed was below the temperature. I have been trying to get him out there since December 22nd...
Tim

Good point, and I like that wind vs. temp standard! I'd been out on various days prior with not much wind, but yeah, the temps on those days were indeed frosty.

You just made it, though -- the snow and winds picked up and crossed the temp line on Bondcliff minutes after you crested. We enjoyed the rimed-up right-hand faces of each of our heads, arms, legs and chests prior to being able to dust off in the woods below the step!

Alex

 

[dailey7779]

Nice to meet you Alex and thanks for stopping and introducing yourself. Hope you guys had a great training hike

-Chris

 

[Jimmy Legs and Little D]

Congratulations to you and Gryffin.

 

[Espy]

Congrats to you and Gryffin, Tim! What a great day to be out! Love the pictures!