It seems like every hike I did this year was preparing me, teaching me, and training me for this trek. The cold weather hikes were obvious. In June, hiking Starr King and Waumbek opened my eyes to what a traverse would be like. I attempted a Franconia Ridge traverse the following weekend with Karen Washington and Eva Czubernat being as fantastic as hiking partners could be. Even though I didnt bag Flume at the time, I dont think I ever felt as victorious as I have finishing that 14 mile trek. I wasnt sure if a feeling could top that...until Seek the Peak in July. After confidently walking in to the summit building for my Gatorade, I looked down at Monroe Yeah, I still had another peak in me that day;) It hasnt all been smooth sailing. Hearing that I have arthritis in both knees was tough to swallow. But doc encouraged me to keep hiking. That I did. My good friend Teri Heatherington and I would be on the same team for Flags on the 48. When we found out our peak would be Zealand, Teri tossed out an idea I jumped on immediately. We were going to Zealand -- what about doing the Bonds? We had hiked Monadnock together, but we wanted to do a hike to prepare. The Franconia Ridge seemed to be calling. Teri and I bagged Liberty and Flume. After hiking nearly 11 miles together, we were ready to talk about more adventures. The following weekend, a longtime friend reached out to me over Labor Day to hike Cabot. Due to individual commitments he had earlier in the weekend, we needed to make a late start on Sunday. We hiked up York Pond in the rain, hunkered down in the cabin, summitted, and came down the following tagging The Bulge and The Horn. My first overnight 4K was now in the books. After Ellen McDowell Ruggles joined us for another hike of Monadnock, it was time to finalize our plans. Wed continue on to Guyot to spend the night. Joe Ciras offered to graciously drive Teris car to LW so we would not have a late night car spot. The size of the commitment hit me when getting my supplies together. If we get to Guyot and things arent going well, we either have an 8 mile hike back to where our car isnt, with some exposure over Mt. Guyot itself -- or we have a 12 mile hike to where are car is, with rougher exposure on the ridge. Philip Werner was generous with some last-minute tips. A final trip to the hardware store and...I was ready. On our way up to Mt. Zealand, the weather turned colder and the skies turned darker as the day went on. We arrived at the summit to find our counterparts who had arrived first to set up the flag were wearing socks on their hands to stay warm. It would be a challenging day. As we climbed up the ridge, the weather turned rainy and raw. Mt. Guyot was socked in. We got down to the campsite, cold and tired. Rather than sleeping up on the ridge in the overflow, we opted for staying down at the main campsite, where a lady finishing her 48 on Bondcliff graciously shared her paltform with us. There wasnt enough room for Teri and I to set up both of our tents. Teri and I sardined ourselves in to her tent, with mine used as an added overhang. Originially we were hoping to bag West Bond before going to bed, but that would not be happening. The following morning, we had to make the decision. Would the weather hold? As we refilled our water, the sun came out. Onward. We stashed our packs to head up West Bond. Down, and on to Bond, where a young lady with a dog that had different colored eyes snapped some photos of us. Then on to Bondcliff. We got to Bondcliff, and two terrific gentlemen offered to take our picture on the ledge, so we could get our iconic Bondcliff shot. I didnt catch their name. Teri looked at her camera, only to find that the photos werent captured...and the gents were ready to leave. But, they were willing to do another retry -- this time successfully. I dont know who they were, but if they are part of this group, I do hope they say hello. After a bit of relaxing and chatting with a young couple who had already done their 48 and were doing repeats, we decided to go on. It was already mid afternoon, and we had 9 miles to go to get to the car. We made it down to the Wilderness trail before getting benighted and made our way out to Lincoln Woods. Exhausted, sore, hungry and.....exhilarated! We had done it! #37 for Teri, #16 for me. Amazing summer. Simply amazing. And....OMG, we did a Bonds Traverse! :D :D
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 01:45:31 +0000
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