Sunday, December 17
Summits: Zealand, Guyot, Bond, West Bond, N/S Twin, Galehead, Garfield
Start: Zealand Falls hut
Finish: Garfield winter TH
Miles: 21.93
Elevation gain/loss: 7671′
After getting up around 4:45am, I was hiking by 5:25am. In spikes, I headed up Twinway towards Zeacliff; it was well packed until the overlook and then there was only 1-2 sets of snowshoe tracks in front of me. The snow was firm enough to hold me most of the time all the way to Zealand, but after that, only 1 set of tracks remained so I switched over to snowshoes. At the Twinway/Bondcliff intersection, I left my pack and did an out-and-back to tag Bond and West Bond. It was windy (40-50 MPH) and completely socked in; the little alpine trees were rocking back and forth, moving the moss-covered ground where their roots lay. It was quite intimidating but I just kept moving.
Back at the intersection, I picked up my pack and began breaking the 2mi of untouched trail over to South Twin. My legs were quite tired already but I plugged along. Once I hit South Twin, the trail was well packed and I dumped my pack and snowshoes in the bushes by the N Twin spur. I tagged N Twin and headed back, with my spikes being sufficient for the task despite some drifting in the saddle. I went back over South Twin and quickly descended, making amazing time to the hut. I said ‘hi’ to a trail runner tagging the hut and then descending; he was the only person I saw all day, which made for a more risky-feeling day. I summited Galehead quickly and then headed along the Garfield Ridge trail. It was well packed until the Gale River trail; after that, only 2-3 pairs of tracks had gone through since the last snow.
I was able to continue forward in my spikes, but I found myself wishing for my more robust trail crampons. The ledges were very icy and traction was hard to achieve. Shy of the Garfield campsite, the waterfall was mostly frozen, leading to a very slow mile climbing up the slick ice with a fall risk. I made it to the trail intersection with the Mt Garfield trail and I was incredibly happy to be done with the mass majority of my climbing and done with steep, risky sections. My legs were very tired, but I dropped my bag and hit the summit of Garfield before quickly turning around and joyfully descending. The hike out on Mt Garfield trail went quickly, as the trail turned to ice and rocks after dropping elevation.
Almost at the road, I missed a frozen puddle of black ice in the shadows of the pine trees and nearly did a split, slamming my right knee on the ground. It was already bruised from my fall the day before and it wasn’t happy about the additional impact. But I wasn’t injured and was able to continue walking at a quick pace once I hit the road. I hiked to Rt 302 as fast as my legs could take me, hoping to be there before full dark.
I arrived around 4:30, with fading light. Unfortunately, no one was willing to stop for me. I stood there for 20 minutes before I began to get chilled standing still, and decided that I needed to start walking to stay warm and get closer to shops and my eventual finish at my car. I walked for 20 minutes by headlamp before a local couple from Whitefield who hike and volunteer with the Pemi SAR group stopped to pick me up. I was so very grateful, both for cutting my walk many hours short and for being able to avoid walking in the rain that would start falling in the next hour. We had great conversations for the 8 minute ride back to my car, and I thanked them profusely before dropping my bag in my car and starting the 3-hour drive home.
* Photo is from a past hike – no photos were taken on this hike.
Transcending Mountains 