MT Zealand 12/24/11

With only 3 peaks left on my winter list, I wanted to get 1 crossed off. I thought that I would take advantage of the minimal snow and get Mt Zealand done. I left the the parking area on Rt 302 right abut 8:00am. It felt a little colder than what I expected but there was no sense in checking the thermometer that was in the car with me. Not many cars on 302 for the short walk to the end of Zealand rd. I was not loolking forward to the road walk but I settled into a nice pace and just kept chuking along. The sky was overcast but the summit Mt Washington was open. There was about an inch of loose snow on the road. A set of tire tracks ran down the middle of the road. 3.5 mile road walk done, now ready for the 2.8 to the hut. The beginning of the trail was a bit rough since there wasn't enough snow to fill in between the rocks. Th remainder of the trail was wide and flat with all but 2 of the water crossings having bridges. The two witthout a bridge were narrow enough to just jump across. I was glad to get ot the small platform at the spur to the view of the falls and start some real hiking. It didn't last long since I decided to sit on the porch of the hut, enjoy the view down the vally, eat and drink a little. Temperature at the hut was 20F. I made my up to Zeacliff in short time. It was my first trip up this trail without a full overnight pack. I met a couple of hikers on their way down form the cliff.

I was able to bareboot the entire hike up to just below the wodden stairs. Crampons needed at this point to get up the frozen waterfall. I forgot how much of a hike it was from Zeacliff to the Mt Zealand summit. I even started looking for the spur trail on one of the bumps along the way. My heart really sank when I started to head downhill again. About 10 steps later that changed when I saw the "Mt Zealand 0.1" sign. I knew I wanted to get back to the road before dark so I brushed of the summit sign, tagged the cairn and turned around to start the journey back. Along the way I met another hiker on his way to Mt Guyot. The deepest snow I ran into was about 2 inches except for a couple of drifts on Zeacliff. I thought I would do the view loop before heading down to the hut, but when my crampons pieced the ice leaving my boots 6 inches under water and my calfs craming up as I tried keep from getting too wet, I decided to just head down. I stopped at the hut to eat and drink a little more. Temps now 12F. Swapped the microspikes for the crampons and started the long walk out. I made it to the road just before dark. I was surprised to see a car parked at the end of the road but no signs of the driver. I pulled off the spikes and began the walk in the dark.

The hike out is where you really start to hate that road. It was a long grind with sore feet. Back in my car at 5:40pm. I'm glad that one is done!

I think Zealand as a dayhike in winter is one of the toughest mentally. Doing that road-walk on the way in and out is so boring. Good job and good luck finishing the winter 48.

Thanks Jim. It is a mentally tough one. The walk out on the road takes it toll.