The Bonds: unfinished business (3/19)

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blaze

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Location
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My first winter Bonds attempt, in March 2008, ended badly. We were ascending the Bondcliff Trail, at ~3,500’, when I collided with a blowdown that I not only failed to negotiate, but failed to see entirely. A sharp, protruding “spike,” on the underside of the blowdown, raked across the right side of my head. The result was a 6” laceration, which immediately began to bleed profusely.

My friend Foster was brilliant that day, and kept a level head under duress. She did her best to get the bleeding under control, miles from the road, using everything at her disposal. And folks, I do mean everything.

And so I emerged from the woods wearing some gauze, bandages, medical tape, and a common, self-adhesive sanitary product not typically worn by a guy, and definitely not on his head. All artfully concealed beneath a blood-soaked bandanna. But on the bright side, I felt as fresh and feminine as an April morning after a spring rain shower.

We hiked and skied back out as quickly as we could. Back at Lincoln Woods early to mid afternoon. After a fruitless stop at the Loon Mountain medical clinic, we motored back over Kancamagus Pass with all due dispatch, and proceeded forthwith to the North Conway emergency room.

The on-call nurse had a look, and paged the on-call physician. The on-call physician had a look, and paged the on-call surgeon.

Eventually the on-call surgeon showed up. Without having had his look, he proclaimed that he’d “put in a few stitches and have me out of there in no time.” Then he did have a look, and then there was no more talk of a few stitches, and certainly no more talk about “in no time.” He booked an operating room and informed me that I’d be going under sedation.

Several additional hours later, I emerged from the North Conway emergency room, with fifteen staples in my head, and a scar that I carry “to this day,” as the saying goes. Most of which is, for the moment at least, concealed by my little remaining hair.

And so as we fast forward back to March 2010, it was with some trepidation that I strapped on my pack, at 5:00 AM Friday morning 3/19, for “The Bonds II – The Sequel.” After having completed all of my other winter 48, only Bondcliff, Bond, and West Bond remained. The forecast called for another outstanding day, so Tim and I decided to burn a vacation day and get it done. I believe Tim just wanted to look after me, and shout WATCH YOUR HEAD, whenever low-hanging obstacles presented themselves.

We had a fantastic day. I won’t give you a blow-by-blow description. Perhaps good trips are inherently less interesting than bad ones. And this return trip was most definitely good. I will provide a few highlights and observations:

* Snowshoes and high gaiters are absolutely required. There is still a lot of snow out there. You’re walking 5-6’ off the ground. You’ll be fending off face-high “whipper snappers” all day, and inevitably, some will penetrate your defenses. No major injuries were sustained this time, but I do have some minor war wounds to show for it.

* Over the course of our twelve hour and twenty minute hike, you could almost see and hear the conditions changing. As I said, there is a lot of snow, and it’s starting to turn to water, and the rate of changeover is accelerating. Conditions are getting messy and they’re going to get a lot messier.

* It was nice running into three Pemi Loopers at the Lincoln Woods trailhead. Our groups played leapfrog for a while, until about two thirds of the way up Bondcliff, after which they vanished ahead of us. Guys, I hope you had as enjoyable a day as we did.

* We bushwhacked up (and down) a stream bed on Bondcliff. Snow cover in the stream bed is getting soft. We did not hear running water underneath.

* No difficulties with stream crossings further down Bondcliff.

* We lingered on West Bond for 45 minutes, enjoying the stunning Bonds views that are perhaps the finest in the Whites. A small container of bourbon fell out of my pack – hey, how’d that get in there? – and we drank several toasts. To my final winter peak, to life in general, and to absent friends. You know who you are.

* We left a small snow man on the summit of Bond, and a slightly larger snow woman on Bondcliff. It was I who decided to make her a snow woman… but I cannot claim credit, or blame, for the placement of those two red M&Ms.

* Thanks to the lady who turned the lights back on and unlocked the door for me, at the Lincoln liquor store, at 6:02 PM on Thursday evening. Talk about trail magic!

* Thanks also to Tim, and to Foster. It is humbling and profound to quite possibly owe your life to somebody. If you are not a total loser, you must try to live a life worth saving.

This report is about those mountain peaks that we happen to know as “the Bonds.” But even more, it’s about the bonds that link us together, sometimes inextricably, and how our lives are enriched by those bonds. I know I am repeating myself… but I feel very fortunate.

Photos will be posted soon.
 
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Wow! First....Congratulations, what a beautiful day it was for such a great finish!!!

And second.......what a story/ordeal! You are one lucky guy! It's amazing what comes in handy in the "first aid" kit! That's called using all your resources!! (I've been known to do that before too) :) Whatever works!

Congrats again!
 
Thanks for the kind remarks! Yes, the Bonds were the last remaining winter peaks for me.

So, what to do next? Completing a major goal is always a time to look to the future, as well as to reflect on the past.

Well, rather than leap right into another "list," I think I'll remain "listless" for the time being. And for the record, there is definitely no "grid" in my future, not in this lifetime. There are more than 48 peaks in this big, beautiful world, and life is short, and for some mountains, once really is enough. For that matter, not every great hike even goes up a mountain. That's just me though. Your mileage may vary.

Photos from yesterday - (gallery, slideshow)
 
leapfrog / grasshopper

Congrats !!!!
perfect day for a Bonds hike
grasshoppers love to play leapfrog :D
we had a great day but headed down after Lafayette.
g = in search of light
 
Congrats !!!!
perfect day for a Bonds hike
grasshoppers love to play leapfrog :D
we had a great day but headed down after Lafayette.
g = in search of light

Was wondering what conditions would be like between Garfield and Lafayette. I would love to try the Loop in winter sometime!
 
Congrats on the big finish. You sure picked a nice Range and a great day to finish on.
Was wondering what conditions would be like between Garfield and Lafayette. I would love to try the Loop in winter sometime!
From Galehead hut to Lafayette we found it to be sloppy, slow and a lot of work. GH hut to Garfield 3 hours. Garfield to Lafayette another 3.
 
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Nice Job Jonathan, sounds like things went a lot better this time. Congrats.

Petch
 
And so as we fast forward back to March 2010, it was with some trepidation that I strapped on my pack, at 5:00 AM Friday morning 3/19, for “The Bonds II – The Sequel.” After having completed all of my other winter 48, only Bondcliff, Bond, and West Bond remained. The forecast called for another outstanding day, so Tim and I decided to burn a vacation day and get it done. I believe Tim just wanted to look after me, and shout WATCH YOUR HEAD, whenever low-hanging obstacles presented themselves.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Thanks to the lady who turned the lights back on and unlocked the door for me, at the Lincoln liquor store, at 6:02 PM on Thursday evening. Talk about trail magic!

You must have meant Thursday instead of Friday? I was out there Friday (3/19) and saw no tracks nor anyone but the 3 people near W Bond cutoff that had come over from Zealand.

I also didn't see any snowmen or snowwomen, but did hear a few Alpine Cows stalking me from the trees. :)

What a hike, glad you were able to complete the W48, congrats!
 
You must have meant Thursday instead of Friday? I was out there Friday (3/19) and saw no tracks nor anyone but the 3 people near W Bond cutoff that had come over from Zealand.

I also didn't see any snowmen or snowwomen, but did hear a few Alpine Cows stalking me from the trees. :)

What a hike, glad you were able to complete the W48, congrats!

No, I am quite sure we hiked on Friday 3/19. I am not sure why we did not run into one another. But as I mentioned, we were off trail on at least two occasions - going up and down the stream bed on our way up to/down from Bondcliff.
 
No, I am quite sure we hiked on Friday 3/19.

Ditto that, unless that wasn't you. Then again, maybe it wasn't us either. This is confusing me.

Who was that in the streambed?
 
Surely you must have heard me shredding the tree that held the branch that poked me in the eye. I made quite a ruckus as I was delimbing and breaking it into a thousand pieces. Ahem, I mean trimming it carefully so no one else would suffer the same fate.

Sorry I missed you out there. I was hoping I'd see someone else on the trail coming from LW, but only saw 2 people in the morning headed out. There was one other car in the parking lot, but it belonged to a guy and his son who had camped at Guyot, red/maroon car, Mass plates. Maybe I just missed it, I was having a rather 'off' day, as outlined in my trip report.

Hope to see you out there sometime.
 
Surely you must have heard me shredding the tree that held the branch that poked me in the eye. I made quite a ruckus as I was delimbing and breaking it into a thousand pieces. Ahem, I mean trimming it carefully so no one else would suffer the same fate.

Sorry I missed you out there. I was hoping I'd see someone else on the trail coming from LW, but only saw 2 people in the morning headed out. There was one other car in the parking lot, but it belonged to a guy and his son who had camped at Guyot, red/maroon car, Mass plates. Maybe I just missed it, I was having a rather 'off' day, as outlined in my trip report.

Hope to see you out there sometime.

Your post was for March 12th. We hiked on March 19th. Mystery solved!
 
Damn, it was for that long ago, it felt like just yesterday.

Wow, how could I have missed that? Maybe the lack of sleep and work schedule threw me off. My apologies.

Now back to the regularly scheduled program.

(no wonder I didn't see the snowmen...)
 
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