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Zealand Notch, Mount Guyot, Mound Bond, Bondcliff and West Bond via Zealand, Twinway and Bondcliff Trails |
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This day hike involved going up the Zealand Trail to Zealand Lake, Zealand Falls and Zealand Hut. From there I want up the Twinway Trail to Zeacliff and then along Zealand Ridge to the summit of Mount Guyot. From there I took the Bondcliff Trail south first to the summit of Mount Bond, and the to Bondcliff. On the return trip I made a slight side excursion to West Bond. The total mileage for the day was about just under 19 miles so it was a very long day hike.
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The starting point for this hike was the parking lot at the end of Zealand Road, where the Zealand Trail begins. I got to the trailhead just a little before 5 and was on the trail by 5:10. Luckily I under-estimated my hiking times though and I ended up doing the 19 miles in just under 14 hours. I also under-estimated my rest stops so the actual hiking time was considerably less than expected. I originally estimated about 1.4 MPH over the course of the day and it was probably closer to somewhere between 1.6 and 1.7 MPH. Not too bad for the White Mountains.
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It only took about an hour to cover the 2½ miles to Zealand Pond and Lower Zealand Falls and shortly after that I was up at Middle Zealand Falls.
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The day was not without its problems though, the biggest one was not having enough water. When I got to Zealand Hut I decided to not have breakfast there because it was just too crowded for my liking. I didn't expect to see that many people up there and it was just crazy. I filled the one empty water bottle I had with me, took some photos of Zealand Notch and the falls and took off for the Zeacliff Overlook, another mile or so away, for breakfast. As a result of this change in plans I did not get to drink as much as I would have liked for breakfast and did not get to refill the water bottles after breakfast. I only had about 1.75 liters with me for the day and I had to ration that carefully. I should have slugged down as much water as I could hold before leaving Zealand Hut but at the time I was only interested in getting away from there as quickly as possible.
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I got to the Zeacliff Overlook just after 7:30 and I had it all to myself, the absolute perfect spot for breakfast. I got out my bagel and my peanut butter and blueberry preserves and it felt like a feast. It was a beautiful morning, cool and a little overcast, and the view from Zeacliff was breath taking... simply magnificent. I stayed there longer than planned so at that point I was falling more behind in the schedule and starting to become a little concerned as to whether I really could pull it off. I made up a lot of time over the next several legs though.
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The hike along the Twinway Trail to Mount Guyot was faster than expected. Most of the climbing was done coming up to the Zeacliff Overlook and there was a little more after that to get to the top of Zealand Ridge but once up there it went pretty fast. I was very disappointed that the blueberries were not yet ripe this year though. They are very late this year, probably still a couple of weeks off, and most of the bushes just had very green blueberries and some still had blossoms and not fruit. Very disappointing. But that could also have had something to do with why I was moving faster than expected. Had there been blueberries I would have been slowed down considerably.
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By the time I reached Mount Guyot I was already ahead of schedule. It was the first peak to bag and I was there just a little after 9:30. From there I went to Mount Bond and was on top of that at 10:30, now running a full 30 minutes ahead of schedule. From Mount Bond I went to Bondcliff and was there just a little after 11. I actually found a considerable amount of ripe blueberries on the ridge between Mount Bond and Bondcliff so I lost a little bit of time on that stretch due to snacking. I wasn't supposed to be on Bondcliff until around noon so I was making really good time and stopped for a nice long rest for lunch. Bondcliff was my favorite of the peaks and the view was awesome. Bondcliff extends south along a ridge line over a mile from the main Mount Bond summit and as a result is surrounded by the Pemigewasset Wilderness on three sides.
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From Bondcliff I went back over Mount Bond and then over the spur trail to West Bond arriving there just a little after 1:30. I lost a little of my lead with the extended lunch break on Bondcliff but I wasn't supposed to be there until just after 2 so I was still ahead of schedule. I knew I would gain even more time on the way back since most of my photo taking was done.
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After a very brief stay on West Bond I headed back across the saddle to the Bondcliff Trail and then up to Mount Guyot again. I hadn't planned on taking another rest there but since I was doing so good with the time I decided to anyway. Water was already becoming an issue at this point and I was down to less than half of a liter with something like 4 miles to go to Zealand Hut.
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Around the time I passed the summit of Mount Zealand on the way back, about midway between Guyot and Zeacliff, I started hearing thunder. I had been under the trees for probably about an hour so I couldn't see what was going on with the sky but the clouds had thickened considerably and there was definitely a storm coming in. The thunder continued to rumble about in the clouds for about 10 or 15 minutes before the rain finally started. It was light at first and being under the trees I was shielded from most of it. The thunder continued though and this disturbed me considerably because I still had one more stretch of open space above the tree line to cross just before Bondcliff. It was a short stretch and would probably take less than 5 minutes at the rate I was going so I didn't stop. This storm was big, not just a passing shower, and I could not afford the time to just find shelter and wait it out. Above the tree line I could not only hear the thunder but see the lightening flashes. I did not see any bolts and the thunder was weird---they were not loud claps just rumbling and lots of bouncing around in the clouds. It was still pretty creepy and I was very glad to get back into the shelter of the trees on the other side of Zeacliff, now only a mile away from Zealand Hut.
The rain got a lot heavier shortly after this and I stopped to put on my rain gear. I was OH SOOO HAPPY that I decided to bring this along even though there was NO RAIN IN THE FORECAST! Yay! Me! Hiking in the rain, even a heavy rain, is not so bad if you are prepared for it. I polished off the last of my water at that point too though and I was starting to get a headache... the beginning symptoms of dehydration I was sure.
I got to Zealand Hut about 5:30, now an hour ahead of schedule again, and stopped there for another snack... and LOTS of water. I sucked down close to 1½ liters right away and then drank another liter with my snacks... Cheerios and Peanut M&Ms. The rain had stopped at that point and I had planned to snack down by Zealand Pond but at this point I just decided to collapse and rest. I already close to 17 miles on my feet at this point and I was starting to feel it. The parking area was still about 2½ miles away but that last stretch of trail was relatively flat and should be easy.
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It started to rain again just as I left Zealand Hut but I still had my rain gear on so I didn't really care. It made that last half mile decent to the Zealand Trail go a lot slower though as everything was wet and slippery. Once I hit the Zealand Trail though I took off like a bat out of Hell and arrived back at the car right at 7 pm, fully 1½ hours ahead of schedule. I switched back into my nice dry jeans and headed back to Meredith. I made a quick stop for some dinner at a roadside stand along the way and was back at the cottage just a little after 9. It was a great day.
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