Thursday, June 19, 2025
Summits: Tom, Field, Willey, Zealand
Start/Finish: Zealand Road TH
Miles: 21.3
Elevation gain/loss: 5890′
I was up at 5am to head to the trailhead for a 6am start. It was super humid and sticky to start, with the mountains in and out of low clouds, with blue sky above. I branched off to head up A-Z trail and hiked into the wet cloud cover as I headed for Mt Tom. The rocks were all sweating and slick with moisture, making the footing quite treacherous on steep terrain. I hit Tom, Field, and then Willey, all socked in with thick humidity. Then it was down the Willey Range Trail, with a sharp descent with many log ladders, many which were missing rungs or were in a state of decay and just waiting to break through. There were also super steep sections with loose rocks covered in condensation, all of which made my pace slower than I’d anticipated.
Just before the AT intersection, I stopped to filter water. I’d been sweating heavily the entire time, and I knew I was getting behind on my hydration. The AT was more cruisey, quickly taking me past Ethan Pond, though the sun came out and started baking me as I headed back towards Zealand. The Zeacliff trail was extremely steep and challenging. It just went straight up, and clearly isn’t frequented often. And once I hit the cliffs, the Twinway out to Zealand felt like it took forever. I was dripping sweat, and swamped my own shoes.
I was happy to turn around at the Zealand summit and head back towards my car. I stopped at the hut to get water, drinking a grand total of 5.5L over the 20 miles, and I was still fighting a losing battle. I also managed to get sunburned, despite the many green leaves.
I made it back to the car around 3:45pm, almost 2 hours past my anticipated finish time, but given my not-so-distant ultramarathon and injury, it felt like a solid effort given the conditions. I packed up and headed over to Rocky Branch North TH for the 2nd hike of the day.
