We had planned this outing for months, and I was jealously guarding these dates on my calendar. Alex and Jeff and I were determined to make a four-day, three-night backpacking trip in the White Mountain National Forest (WMNF), here in New Hampshire. The weather had other plans, with heavy rain and strong thunderstorms in the forecast. We squeezed our trip into two days, and it all turned out well; read on!
As the date approached we realized the forecast for Day 1 would mean spending a rather unpleasant day (and night) in the woods: none of us relished the idea of hiking in heavy rain and setting up our tents in a severe thunderstorm. So we postponed the mid-Thursday start to Friday morning, which allowed us to spend all-day Friday hiking in sunny weather over some spectacular terrain in the Pemigewasset Wilderness, right in the heart of the White Mountains.
We cruised the first few miles on the flat Lincoln Woods Trail – really, the bed of an old railroad built during the early days of logging – marveling at the heat and humidity. It has rained this summer – and rained, and rained, and rained. It was only 10am but already 70ºF and the dew point was so high that the cool streams were steaming with fog.
We soon reached Franconia Falls, a well-known swimming hole. (Indeed, my 1982 Freshman Trip stopped here twice in three days, a spectacular beginning to my experience as a Dartmouth student.) Franconia Brook was swollen from all the rain, and it looked too dangerous to slide through the chute at left – which is one of the best natural waterslides I’ve ever seen. Instead, Alex and I swam in the pool below; even there, we found the currents frightening and we needed help getting out of the water.
After five miles we turned left and up the Bondcliff Trail, a long slog with many crossings of Black Brook. The last time I climbed this trail was almost thirteen years ago, on a family backpacking trip. Like then, we were pleased to finally emerge from the woods, and scramble onto the open terrain of the long Bondcliff ridge.
Bondcliff is a great spot for photos, enabling dramatic poses on the cliff edge with the Franconia, Twin, and Bond range surrounding the view.
It was now late afternoon and we still had to climb up and over Mount Bond, then down the trail to Guyot Shelter. We were tired, and made our way slowly. It being Friday, many other groups were heading in as well… several of them passing us. Eventually it was decided I would hurry on ahead in hopes we could snag a precious tentsite at Guyot. I moved fast, ahead of two other groups nipping at my heels, and got the last of the tent platforms.
The next morning we were up at 6am, with the glow of the sunrise illuminating the shelter and tents all around us. I ate quickly because I wanted to run back up the trail to visit West Bond Mountain, a side-trip that cost me an hour but was worth it… the morning was fresh and clear, with low clouds clinging to a few peaks like Garfield but most of the rest were still in the clear. That would not last long.
I caught up with Alex and Jeff and we continued west along the ridgeline, away from the Bonds and toward a bump known as Mount Guyot. Here we met the Appalachian Trail and had a choice: to continue ahead on our planned route (over South Twin to Galehead and Garfield) or to turn right (out past Zealand Hut to Zealand trailhead). With more heavy rain in the forecast, and yesterday’s fatigue still weighing on us, we decided for the latter. We headed down the long Zealand ridgeline – over Mount Zealand (no views) and Zeacliff (spectacular views) to Zealand Falls Hut. This trail – part of the Appalachian Trail – is incredibly rugged despite looking like a long gentle ridgewalk on the map. The ridge ends at Zeacliff, with great views over an expansive wilderness.
Zealand Falls and its AMC hut were hopping with several dozen mid-day visitors sprawled on the porch and on the rocks near the falls. In the hut we nibbled cookies baked fresh by the Hut croo; at the falls we cooled off and rested our feet. A passing father-daughter pair kindly snapped our photo.
Three miles later, out past the many beaver ponds along the Zealand Trail, we reached the trailhead. We had not planned to exit here, so we had no car here. Along came the friendly father-daughter pair, who generously gave Alex a ride to his car, parked at the Garfield Ridge Trailhead. Alex arrived back just in time, as the rain started to sprinkle. A half-hour later it was a torrential downpour. We had hit the weather window perfectly!
Lots more photos in the photo gallery, from close-ups to landscapes.
Hike stats (day 1, Friday):
Distance 12.15 miles; 19.6km
Gain: 3,895 feet (1187m)
Time: 10h 09m, with stops
The distance includes ~11 miles with full pack, plus ~1.15 miles pack-free side-trip to Franconia Falls and my jaunt back from campsite to assist Jeff and Alex.
Hike stats (day 2, Saturday):
Distance 9.31 miles; 15.0km
Gain: 909 feet; 277m (most of the day was downhill!)
Time: 7h 45m, with stops
In the map below, Day 1 is light purple and Day 2 is dark purple.
David Kotz 