This was the first overnight trip I have gone on since I was a teenager and I thought I would post the trip report here.
Day 1:
We drove to Zealand Trailhead and took the shuttle over to the Gale River trailhead. After shouldering our packs, Pip and I set off up the Gale River Trail. It was relatively flat early going and the stream crossings were pretty easy. Outside of the mud and that fact that it took us a bit to get used to the heavier packs, it was a really pleasant start to the day. There was a bit of a breeze, the temps were cool, and the hiking pleasant.
The trail eventually grew steeper and we labored on up, finding it somewhat mroe difficult to move along with full packs than day packs (heh). We stopped frequently, as we were in no real rush to get to the hut early. It was really quite a pleasant afternoon as we got to talk at times and enjoy the peace of the woods as well. We saw 6 people total on our way up, so we spent lots of time on our own.
Just as we were starting to really work up a sweat, we arrived at the Garfield Ridge trail and knew the hardest/longest part of the day was over. Moving along the Garfield Ridge trail we soon came to two tents set up on the left side of the trail in what looked to be a very nice spot to spend the night. I would assume this wasnt a legal sight and would be curious if anyone could fill me in on whether its a place where people frequently spend the night? We arrived at the hut just under book time, seven minutes to be exact. We both found that pretty weird as we usually would be on that pace with daypacks and this time we had done some lounging and seemed to be going slower than normal - but who knows...
There were a number of people already there, a mix of thru hikers and people making the trip over from Greenleaf (a tired lot). We grabbed two adjacent bunks, took a quick breather, and then went up to the summit of Galehead before dinner.
At dinner and afterwards, we heard from a number of people who were absolutely destroyed from their hike over from Greenleaf. It seems a couple people needed help from the croo or other people they met near the end of the trail to finish. Many of them seemed upset that booktime didnt translate into realtime. We met a pair of sisters who were in the late sixties early seventies and were doing their annual hut traverse...
Final note - the snoring was loud even with earplugs
Total for the day: 5.6 miles, 2700 feet elevation gain, and roughly 4 hours of hiking.
Day 2:
The weather was again looking really good and we decided to try to stick with our plan of doing the Twins, the Bonds, and then on to Zealand Hut. It was a perfect occurence of our aspirations outrunning our realistic expectations.
We started out with the steep climb up to South Twin which was not as bad as we expected from reading the AMC guide and from a few people we knew that had done it before. We kept passing and being passed by different people from Galehead, who were now making their way over to Zealand. The views from South Twin were excellent. It was the first time either of us had been there. At the top, we realized we had gotten started a little later than we planned and it took us a little longer than we had thought to summit South Twin. After talking it over on the summit, which was quite windy (the hut report said winds could be between 25 and 40 - I would have guessed this around 35 mph), we decided to skip North Twin and push on to Guyot and the Bonds.
We enjoyed the hike over to the intersection of the Twinway and the Bondcliff Trail. It was a nice change from the steady up to get to South Twin. Outside of the mud (which there was lots of) it was a very nice section of trail. At the intersection, we said hello to some people we had chatted with the night before and they offered to save us bunks at Zealand. We parted ways and headed to the summit of Guyot, where we took a short break. We left our packs there and took the camera, a couple of snacks, and a bottle of water and headed to the Bonds. We decided to leave West Bond till the end and pushed along the Bond. It took us a while to get there (though it was quicker than it looked from the summit of Guyot) and we had a bite to eat on the summit. The views were amazing from the summit and I really understood for the first time why so many people rave about the Bonds. It was the quietist I have ever experienced in the Whites. We just laid there on the rocks for a while soaking the silence and the views in.
Unfortunately, we were running behind schedule and I knew we wouldnt make Bondcliff before the turnaround time we had set. After talking it over, we decided to save Bondcliff till September when we would hit it from the Kanc. We idled a bit and then headed back as we realized it was getting late and we had polished off the last of the water. As we hiked back, we ended up zipping right by the West Bond Spur without even noticing it. I guess we were so focused on a cold drink on what had become a warm day that we just motored right by it. We reached our packs on Guyot, shouldered them and set off down the Twinway.
As we continued along, I realized we had been smart to stick to the turnaround time as we had a fairly long way to go and we were both feeling increasingly tired as we continued. Trodding around, over, and through the mud we pushed ahead. I was pretty surprised at how quickly we went through our water. We had started the day with 2 nalgene bottles each and we quickly ran through them and a 32 oz bottle of Gatorade at a pace where we had to make certain we saved enough for later. (A quick question - whats a good amount to bring on a hike of that length? We have done dayhikes and that is always plenty...).
We summited Zealand and made our way down to the hut. We were both pretty tired and it was getting late. Pip was so excited (and tired) when we reached the final water crossing that she fell in She wasnt hurt or very wet and after picking her up, we made it to the hut where we had a nice dinner and relaxed for the evening. Interestingly, there was a man and his son there who we had seen at Galehead the night before and they had lugged a guitar along with them. He ended up playing a whole bunch of good tunes over the evening (the Dead, JGB, James Taylor, Paul Simon, etc) that turned into a small singalong session in the hut.
Day 2 Totals: 9.2 miles 2950 feet of elevation gain.
Day 3:
Pip had quads that were aching and despite assuring me she was fine to do Hale, I could tell that would be pushing it. I told her how nice it was going down from Zealand and seeing the beaver dams and the valley. I think she knew what I was trying, but agreed to it anyway. We had a quick walk down, jumped in the car at 9:45 AM, and headed back to Mass.
Day 3 Totals: 2.8 miles.
Trip Totals: 17.6 miles
All in all, it was an amazing trip for both of us. We had done a number of dayhikes over the past couple years, but Pip had resisted spending a night on the trail. She was fine with car camping but leery of being so isolated in the backcountry. The huts ended up being a nice compromise/icebreaker. We got to try out some new gear, push our bodies a bit (nothing compared to many people on here - it wasnt lost on me that for many people it would be a daytrip), and see some amazing sights. We also met some very nice people along the way. Most importantly, it brought us closer together and we are both looking forward to doing it again soon. This time, however, it will be with the tent and not at the huts.
Day 1:
We drove to Zealand Trailhead and took the shuttle over to the Gale River trailhead. After shouldering our packs, Pip and I set off up the Gale River Trail. It was relatively flat early going and the stream crossings were pretty easy. Outside of the mud and that fact that it took us a bit to get used to the heavier packs, it was a really pleasant start to the day. There was a bit of a breeze, the temps were cool, and the hiking pleasant.
The trail eventually grew steeper and we labored on up, finding it somewhat mroe difficult to move along with full packs than day packs (heh). We stopped frequently, as we were in no real rush to get to the hut early. It was really quite a pleasant afternoon as we got to talk at times and enjoy the peace of the woods as well. We saw 6 people total on our way up, so we spent lots of time on our own.
Just as we were starting to really work up a sweat, we arrived at the Garfield Ridge trail and knew the hardest/longest part of the day was over. Moving along the Garfield Ridge trail we soon came to two tents set up on the left side of the trail in what looked to be a very nice spot to spend the night. I would assume this wasnt a legal sight and would be curious if anyone could fill me in on whether its a place where people frequently spend the night? We arrived at the hut just under book time, seven minutes to be exact. We both found that pretty weird as we usually would be on that pace with daypacks and this time we had done some lounging and seemed to be going slower than normal - but who knows...
There were a number of people already there, a mix of thru hikers and people making the trip over from Greenleaf (a tired lot). We grabbed two adjacent bunks, took a quick breather, and then went up to the summit of Galehead before dinner.
At dinner and afterwards, we heard from a number of people who were absolutely destroyed from their hike over from Greenleaf. It seems a couple people needed help from the croo or other people they met near the end of the trail to finish. Many of them seemed upset that booktime didnt translate into realtime. We met a pair of sisters who were in the late sixties early seventies and were doing their annual hut traverse...
Final note - the snoring was loud even with earplugs
Total for the day: 5.6 miles, 2700 feet elevation gain, and roughly 4 hours of hiking.
Day 2:
The weather was again looking really good and we decided to try to stick with our plan of doing the Twins, the Bonds, and then on to Zealand Hut. It was a perfect occurence of our aspirations outrunning our realistic expectations.
We started out with the steep climb up to South Twin which was not as bad as we expected from reading the AMC guide and from a few people we knew that had done it before. We kept passing and being passed by different people from Galehead, who were now making their way over to Zealand. The views from South Twin were excellent. It was the first time either of us had been there. At the top, we realized we had gotten started a little later than we planned and it took us a little longer than we had thought to summit South Twin. After talking it over on the summit, which was quite windy (the hut report said winds could be between 25 and 40 - I would have guessed this around 35 mph), we decided to skip North Twin and push on to Guyot and the Bonds.
We enjoyed the hike over to the intersection of the Twinway and the Bondcliff Trail. It was a nice change from the steady up to get to South Twin. Outside of the mud (which there was lots of) it was a very nice section of trail. At the intersection, we said hello to some people we had chatted with the night before and they offered to save us bunks at Zealand. We parted ways and headed to the summit of Guyot, where we took a short break. We left our packs there and took the camera, a couple of snacks, and a bottle of water and headed to the Bonds. We decided to leave West Bond till the end and pushed along the Bond. It took us a while to get there (though it was quicker than it looked from the summit of Guyot) and we had a bite to eat on the summit. The views were amazing from the summit and I really understood for the first time why so many people rave about the Bonds. It was the quietist I have ever experienced in the Whites. We just laid there on the rocks for a while soaking the silence and the views in.
Unfortunately, we were running behind schedule and I knew we wouldnt make Bondcliff before the turnaround time we had set. After talking it over, we decided to save Bondcliff till September when we would hit it from the Kanc. We idled a bit and then headed back as we realized it was getting late and we had polished off the last of the water. As we hiked back, we ended up zipping right by the West Bond Spur without even noticing it. I guess we were so focused on a cold drink on what had become a warm day that we just motored right by it. We reached our packs on Guyot, shouldered them and set off down the Twinway.
As we continued along, I realized we had been smart to stick to the turnaround time as we had a fairly long way to go and we were both feeling increasingly tired as we continued. Trodding around, over, and through the mud we pushed ahead. I was pretty surprised at how quickly we went through our water. We had started the day with 2 nalgene bottles each and we quickly ran through them and a 32 oz bottle of Gatorade at a pace where we had to make certain we saved enough for later. (A quick question - whats a good amount to bring on a hike of that length? We have done dayhikes and that is always plenty...).
We summited Zealand and made our way down to the hut. We were both pretty tired and it was getting late. Pip was so excited (and tired) when we reached the final water crossing that she fell in
She wasnt hurt or very wet and after picking her up, we made it to the hut where we had a nice dinner and relaxed for the evening. Interestingly, there was a man and his son there who we had seen at Galehead the night before and they had lugged a guitar along with them. He ended up playing a whole bunch of good tunes over the evening (the Dead, JGB, James Taylor, Paul Simon, etc) that turned into a small singalong session in the hut.Day 2 Totals: 9.2 miles 2950 feet of elevation gain.
Day 3:
Pip had quads that were aching and despite assuring me she was fine to do Hale, I could tell that would be pushing it. I told her how nice it was going down from Zealand and seeing the beaver dams and the valley. I think she knew what I was trying, but agreed to it anyway. We had a quick walk down, jumped in the car at 9:45 AM, and headed back to Mass.
Day 3 Totals: 2.8 miles.
Trip Totals: 17.6 miles
All in all, it was an amazing trip for both of us. We had done a number of dayhikes over the past couple years, but Pip had resisted spending a night on the trail. She was fine with car camping but leery of being so isolated in the backcountry. The huts ended up being a nice compromise/icebreaker. We got to try out some new gear, push our bodies a bit (nothing compared to many people on here - it wasnt lost on me that for many people it would be a daytrip), and see some amazing sights. We also met some very nice people along the way. Most importantly, it brought us closer together and we are both looking forward to doing it again soon. This time, however, it will be with the tent and not at the huts.
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