BillG
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- Feb 13, 2013
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My friend Jay and I were scheduled to have our biannual New England hike last weekend. He is an old friend from Peace Corps who lives in MN, and we have been meeting every other year for a hike for the past ten years. We had decided to hike in to the Franconia Brook tentsite Firday night, hike over Bondcliff, and Mt. Bond on Saturday, go back to the tentsite, and hike back out to the car on Sunday morning. Well, like many best-laid plans, things do not quite work out the way we plan them.
We arrived at the tentsite without incident Friday evening, but the Pemigewasset River looked a little high. We figured we would be able to cross one way or another in the morning. There was rain on Friday night and the river was up at least 3 or 4 inches more than it was the night before. We could not cross. The option of hiking up to the Cedar Brook Trail and crossing the suspension bridge there no longer existed because that bridge was taken down and will not be replaced, so our only choice was to hike the 2.6 miles back to the trailhead and cross the river at the ranger station. We left at 7:30 and started our hike. The Lincoln Woods trail is flat and easy and is in good shape.
We did not reach the Bondcliff trail until around 11:00. At lower elevations, the trail was in good shape. The brooks were running fast with rain and melting snow. As we climbed, there was still snow and ice on the trail. No special equipment was needed however, and it all should be gone by this weekend. I had to take off my boots and wade for a couple of the brook crossings – Jay was able to leap from stone to stone. The crossings slowed us down.
We reached the top of Bondcliff at around 2:30 or 3:00. It had rained off and on all day, and by the time that we reached the top, it was pouring. Our visibility was about 10 feet. It was too late to continue on to Mt. Bond so we turned around, got off the summit and stopped for a late lunch.
The trip down was long and slow, and we still had a long way to go. (Why we did not break down our campsite and leave our gear in the car, I do not know.) The river was even higher in the afternoon, and there was even less of a chance of crossing on our way back. We finally got back to the Fanconia Brook tentsite at around 8 p.m., when the skies opened up and it rained harder than it had all day. We could not start a fire, and did not bother to cook.
The sky was clear on Sunday morning, it was a beautiful day, and we had an easy hike back out to the car. We had seen a total of four people on the trail on Saturday. One couple was headed to 13 Falls, but told us on Sunday that they did not quite make it because of the difficult river crossings.
Despite the extra mileage, a weekend in the woods is better than almost anything else, even with rain and blisters.
We arrived at the tentsite without incident Friday evening, but the Pemigewasset River looked a little high. We figured we would be able to cross one way or another in the morning. There was rain on Friday night and the river was up at least 3 or 4 inches more than it was the night before. We could not cross. The option of hiking up to the Cedar Brook Trail and crossing the suspension bridge there no longer existed because that bridge was taken down and will not be replaced, so our only choice was to hike the 2.6 miles back to the trailhead and cross the river at the ranger station. We left at 7:30 and started our hike. The Lincoln Woods trail is flat and easy and is in good shape.
We did not reach the Bondcliff trail until around 11:00. At lower elevations, the trail was in good shape. The brooks were running fast with rain and melting snow. As we climbed, there was still snow and ice on the trail. No special equipment was needed however, and it all should be gone by this weekend. I had to take off my boots and wade for a couple of the brook crossings – Jay was able to leap from stone to stone. The crossings slowed us down.
We reached the top of Bondcliff at around 2:30 or 3:00. It had rained off and on all day, and by the time that we reached the top, it was pouring. Our visibility was about 10 feet. It was too late to continue on to Mt. Bond so we turned around, got off the summit and stopped for a late lunch.
The trip down was long and slow, and we still had a long way to go. (Why we did not break down our campsite and leave our gear in the car, I do not know.) The river was even higher in the afternoon, and there was even less of a chance of crossing on our way back. We finally got back to the Fanconia Brook tentsite at around 8 p.m., when the skies opened up and it rained harder than it had all day. We could not start a fire, and did not bother to cook.
The sky was clear on Sunday morning, it was a beautiful day, and we had an easy hike back out to the car. We had seen a total of four people on the trail on Saturday. One couple was headed to 13 Falls, but told us on Sunday that they did not quite make it because of the difficult river crossings.
Despite the extra mileage, a weekend in the woods is better than almost anything else, even with rain and blisters.
