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I have this habit of repeating things until I know it. I do it with hiking as do most people. The trails in The Whites are different than most. I did some new trails this weekend as well as some ones I had done before. I was solo this weekend so I left on Friday and it was raining. I drove through Franconia Notch and it was very rainy but up towards Carroll, the sun was out. Huge clouds were covering the mountains. I parked at Zealand Falls, unsure of what direction I would go at the AZ Trail. I could have gone to the hut and gotten dry or bag some 4000 Footers. I think we all know the direction this went. The bugs weren't out YET, and the rain wasn't all that bad. I had been wanting to stretch out the durability of some of my rain gear anyway. It stayed dry, I sweated a lot so the rain jacket didn't even go on til coming down Willey. I hit the AZ Trail to Mt Tom and got up to the top very quickly. The AZ Trail is pretty smooth actually, the up hill is gradual til just before the top on the spur. The Willey Range with Field and Mt Willey is up and down with little views but I am sure that on a clear day it would have been beautiful. The rain stopped on Field and really started back hard as I came down Willey and that was scary because it is STRAIGHT down with this 12 level wooden staircase that comes off of the ledges. I was a little nervous coming down but took it really slowly. I got to Ethan Pond a lot earlier than I thought I would. It stopped raining long enough for me to get my tent set up. I want to add something about my experience and this is not me complaining. When you walk into a campsite, notice that there is a privy. DO not sit on the edge of the tent pad and use the bathroom because some day, someone is going to be setting their tent up and will step in it. I used some tree bark and a rock to properly dispose of the mess. It took me an hour to clean up and disinfect all of my gear and clean my shoes. Thank goodness for denatured alcohol! Anyway, the rains returned for an hour or so as did more people and the tent pads were full. After dinner I walked out to the pond and sat on a rock and watched a beaver swim across the pond. There was another guy there that spotted a Loon. I could not ever get a good zoom on the camera because he was all the way across the pond. The loon made its moaning call that I haven't heard since my thru hike.
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| Mt Willey stairs |
I retired early and noticed a few passing showers through the night. By the way, my tarp tent is awesome! It was an awesome shelter and by tieing out the doors and adding the little porch is perfect. I sat under it and stayed dry and had my dinner and some whiskey. I woke up at 4 am and was ready to get up. I took my time, cleaned up the campsite some more and tested some things on my pack. I walked out of camp a few minutes before 6. The walk was easy but the bugs were going crazy. As I write this, I have learned my lesson about carrying bug spray or some sort of protection as my ear and neck have huge welts from the bites. Anyway, I got to Thoreau Falls quickly and stayed there and cleaned my shoes again just to make sure. I filled up my water jug and went back on the trail a bit and scrubbed the bottom and sides of my shoes with water and some Dr Bronner's. As I walked out I passed a guy, that I would learn at the hut, is a thru hiker. I was a little surprised to see one so early but with the mild winter the south had, it makes sense. Anyway good luck Peachfuzz.
I was walking along the slides heading back towards Zealand and met Red Devil. He hiked in 1987 during the 50th Anniversary of the trail. I guess he really saw the first TrailDays. Anyway we hiked together til Guyot Campsite. Really awesome guy and is probably the most knowledgable person I have met thus far when it comes to knowing the trail and ins and outs of The Whites.
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| Ethan Pond |
Zealand had been full and Im guessing we saw the last group leave out. Everyone was heading for Guyot and they all wanted to get there early to claim a spot. Red Devil and I were the first one's there and we passed about 10-12 people heading there. When we summited Guyot and had lunch, there were a couple of groups. I had to water up so I had to make the silly drop down to the campsite. Its one of my favorites but I wouldn't want to be there this weekend. I walked out of Guyot Campsite and made the climb back up to the summit. There was a line of people coming off of the first summit of Guyot down to the junction. Everyone stopped to ask about the numbers. I must have passed 20 people before I got back into the woods going to South Twin. I had thought for a second about going with Red Devil, who was going to camp on the "spot" on West Bond. I talked it over with him and just decided to go to North Twin, since it was only noon. I was going to camp in the woods on the other end of North Twin but would ultimately hitch on the highway and get picked up and back to my car at 7:30 pm. A really awesome trip with lots of lessons! I also met a NH Tramper this weekend from VFTT which was another awesome highlight.
New Hampshire is awesome!!
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