MEB
New member
Last year when I started working on my winter 48 list I thought it would take me about two or three seasons to complete. Last winter I had hiked 17 and I figured this year I would do about the same and finish the rest up the following year. But that all changed when I hiked N&S Twin with Skimon and Dr Wu. Both Skimom and I were about at the same number and we talked about how it would be cool to finish them all this winter. So, that night I got home and looked at what I had done and what was left and I was surprised to see that I had repeated quite a few that I had done the previous winter so I figured sure, I can do this….. and then a couple days later I then decided why not try and get all 48 in one winter season.
So after a lot of weekends hiking and a few vacation days here and there it all boiled down to these last four days in which I had 7 peaks left, Waumbek, Jefferson, Adams and a Bonds Traverse. I decided this could be done in three hikes but wanted to give myself a buffer in the event I needed some more time.
Arriving at the camp Wednesday night and hearing the forecast for Thursday I decided to hike Waumbek. I met up with Steven at the trailhead around 10 a.m. and we had a nice leisurely hike. We fed some gray jays near the summit of Starr King and I got a taste of what kind of weather I would be looking at over the next few days….cold, windy and snowy. One down and six to go.
Friday I got up at 5, took the dogs for a walk and then made my way over to Appalachia where I met up with Kmac and dRitter. Our plan for the day was to hike Madison, Adams and possibly Jefferson. Arriving at the hut I decided to stay there and wait as I had already done Madison back in January. The conditions were not so great…the summit forecast for that morning was 0 degrees with strong winds and wicked cold wind chills…..and of course blowing snow, flurries and occasional white out conditions. We decided to continue anyway and we soon found ourselves on Adams…. and then we were off to Jefferson despite the miserable conditions. Arriving at Edmonds Col the winds had picked up and the visibility was poor but we started up anyway. About two hundred feet up I turned around and looked back down and everything was just a white out and, well, it was scary so I suggested we turn around and give it a shot again tomorrow. So we did and Saturday I headed out again but this time we approached via the Jewell Trail….If you have read Giggy’s trip report we had another successful day!
The last day….Sunday…a Bonds Traverse! After three long days of hiking Kmac, Satori and I wanted to get an early start so we set our alarms for 5 a.m. and were on the trail by 6:22…not bad considering all the hiking we had been doing the past few days. When we arrived at Zealand parking area it was snowing but there were breaks here and there…but that did not matter. We were just too excited for this hike. The road walk in to the trailhead was not too bad and it went by quickly and the way up to the hut was just as nice. The trail was well packed out and the going was easy. At the hut we took a break, checked the weather and talked with the hut master for while about the conditions. Things were looking good…she had mentioned a group had been up that way earlier in the week so the trail should be broken out. We had all brought our snowshoes though just in case.
Leaving the hut we put on our crampons and made our way up the Twinway to Zeacliff. I’ve never really been fond of this section of trail but in winter things are always different…no rocks to climb over! It was not too bad and upon arriving at the top we took another short break where we ran into two other hikers and their dog Denali. They had come up the day before and had spent the night at Guyout and were on their way out.
Continuing on our way we encountered one gray jay just before Zealand and Satori was kind enough to take the time to give it a little nibble of food. At the spur to Zealand we dropped our packs and made the quick jaunt to the summit….uneventful summit but nice to finally arrive after traveling for so long. The weather was kind of a mix of clouds and furies and occasional blue sky and I was happy to get a few good views here and there. This was Kmacs and Satoris first time out this way so I was crossing my fingers that things would clear up just a bit more.
Just before reaching the alpine zone on Guyout we bundled up and readied ourselves for the wind and cold. Burrr…it was chilly but that was ok because this is just one of the most beautiful spots in the Whites! The weather gods were on our side and the sky cleared just enough to make out the Twins, Bond and West Bond. Next, we arrived at the spur to West Bond and once again we dropped our packs here for the quick out and back. On the summit of West Bond we took a few pictures and tried our best to see if the person we saw on Bondcliff was HikerBob. We had talked the day before and we were hoping to meet up with him on Bondcliff around 2 or so but we were a few our behind schedule.
Back at the spur we grabbed our packs and then headed up to Bond where we met up with three young hikers who were on their way to Zealand Hut. I hope they made it there ok. They were kind enough to take a snapshot of us and then we parted ways and made our way down to the final peak of the day. The going was tedious as there was a lot of rock and ice and the wind was blowing pretty hard. We also got knocked around by a few gusts so we took our time getting there.
Finally, at about 3:30 we arrived at Bondcliff! We made it!!! If it had not been so cold and late in the day we would have stayed longer…so we took our pictures and then started on our way down. Just after the steep rocky section I heard Satori yell out to me…hey Mary Ellen, come check this out. HikerBob had left a message in the snow for me! Thank you HikeBob! He actually left a few other messages along the way out too.
I won’t waste too much time about the Wilderness Trail except that it was long and icy and we were all pretty tired. Under the light of our headlamps we finally arrived at Lincoln Woods at about 7:30.
I’d just like to say thank you to everyone who I hiked with along the way. Special thanks to Karen and Marsha for being such troopers and sticking it out with me for these last few hikes…you guys are the BEST! Karen, thank you for dinner Saturday night and thank you Marsha for the gifts. Little Sister I wish you could have been there too…I missed you! Last but not least Paul gets the biggest thanks of all for being so patient and supportive of helping me attain my goal.
-MEB
ps...I did not bring my camera so Kmac will be posting hers.
So after a lot of weekends hiking and a few vacation days here and there it all boiled down to these last four days in which I had 7 peaks left, Waumbek, Jefferson, Adams and a Bonds Traverse. I decided this could be done in three hikes but wanted to give myself a buffer in the event I needed some more time.
Arriving at the camp Wednesday night and hearing the forecast for Thursday I decided to hike Waumbek. I met up with Steven at the trailhead around 10 a.m. and we had a nice leisurely hike. We fed some gray jays near the summit of Starr King and I got a taste of what kind of weather I would be looking at over the next few days….cold, windy and snowy. One down and six to go.
Friday I got up at 5, took the dogs for a walk and then made my way over to Appalachia where I met up with Kmac and dRitter. Our plan for the day was to hike Madison, Adams and possibly Jefferson. Arriving at the hut I decided to stay there and wait as I had already done Madison back in January. The conditions were not so great…the summit forecast for that morning was 0 degrees with strong winds and wicked cold wind chills…..and of course blowing snow, flurries and occasional white out conditions. We decided to continue anyway and we soon found ourselves on Adams…. and then we were off to Jefferson despite the miserable conditions. Arriving at Edmonds Col the winds had picked up and the visibility was poor but we started up anyway. About two hundred feet up I turned around and looked back down and everything was just a white out and, well, it was scary so I suggested we turn around and give it a shot again tomorrow. So we did and Saturday I headed out again but this time we approached via the Jewell Trail….If you have read Giggy’s trip report we had another successful day!
The last day….Sunday…a Bonds Traverse! After three long days of hiking Kmac, Satori and I wanted to get an early start so we set our alarms for 5 a.m. and were on the trail by 6:22…not bad considering all the hiking we had been doing the past few days. When we arrived at Zealand parking area it was snowing but there were breaks here and there…but that did not matter. We were just too excited for this hike. The road walk in to the trailhead was not too bad and it went by quickly and the way up to the hut was just as nice. The trail was well packed out and the going was easy. At the hut we took a break, checked the weather and talked with the hut master for while about the conditions. Things were looking good…she had mentioned a group had been up that way earlier in the week so the trail should be broken out. We had all brought our snowshoes though just in case.
Leaving the hut we put on our crampons and made our way up the Twinway to Zeacliff. I’ve never really been fond of this section of trail but in winter things are always different…no rocks to climb over! It was not too bad and upon arriving at the top we took another short break where we ran into two other hikers and their dog Denali. They had come up the day before and had spent the night at Guyout and were on their way out.
Continuing on our way we encountered one gray jay just before Zealand and Satori was kind enough to take the time to give it a little nibble of food. At the spur to Zealand we dropped our packs and made the quick jaunt to the summit….uneventful summit but nice to finally arrive after traveling for so long. The weather was kind of a mix of clouds and furies and occasional blue sky and I was happy to get a few good views here and there. This was Kmacs and Satoris first time out this way so I was crossing my fingers that things would clear up just a bit more.
Just before reaching the alpine zone on Guyout we bundled up and readied ourselves for the wind and cold. Burrr…it was chilly but that was ok because this is just one of the most beautiful spots in the Whites! The weather gods were on our side and the sky cleared just enough to make out the Twins, Bond and West Bond. Next, we arrived at the spur to West Bond and once again we dropped our packs here for the quick out and back. On the summit of West Bond we took a few pictures and tried our best to see if the person we saw on Bondcliff was HikerBob. We had talked the day before and we were hoping to meet up with him on Bondcliff around 2 or so but we were a few our behind schedule.
Back at the spur we grabbed our packs and then headed up to Bond where we met up with three young hikers who were on their way to Zealand Hut. I hope they made it there ok. They were kind enough to take a snapshot of us and then we parted ways and made our way down to the final peak of the day. The going was tedious as there was a lot of rock and ice and the wind was blowing pretty hard. We also got knocked around by a few gusts so we took our time getting there.
Finally, at about 3:30 we arrived at Bondcliff! We made it!!! If it had not been so cold and late in the day we would have stayed longer…so we took our pictures and then started on our way down. Just after the steep rocky section I heard Satori yell out to me…hey Mary Ellen, come check this out. HikerBob had left a message in the snow for me! Thank you HikeBob! He actually left a few other messages along the way out too.
I won’t waste too much time about the Wilderness Trail except that it was long and icy and we were all pretty tired. Under the light of our headlamps we finally arrived at Lincoln Woods at about 7:30.
I’d just like to say thank you to everyone who I hiked with along the way. Special thanks to Karen and Marsha for being such troopers and sticking it out with me for these last few hikes…you guys are the BEST! Karen, thank you for dinner Saturday night and thank you Marsha for the gifts. Little Sister I wish you could have been there too…I missed you! Last but not least Paul gets the biggest thanks of all for being so patient and supportive of helping me attain my goal.
-MEB
ps...I did not bring my camera so Kmac will be posting hers.
