Zealand

6/2/2024

I had to go back up and knock off Mt. Zealand. I couldn’t stop thinking about how dumb I was the prior weekend by not heading up the spur trail to the summit. I needed to get redemption.

And man did I find out how dumb I was. The length between the turn off the Twinway and the Zealand summit is maybe a tenth of a mile, with basically no elevation change. I was so insanely close to it last weekend. Could I have just claimed getting to the summit last weekend because I was right there? Some people say yes, but I can’t make that claim and not have it weigh on my conscience.

So, I set out for another hike in the same general area as last weekend. This time, I parked at the end of Zealand Road to take Zealand trail up towards Zealand Falls and Zealand Falls Hut. The parking lot at the Zealand trailhead is under construction, but there is a secondary lot a little further down, where I was able to find a spot. I arrived at the lot at 6:30. There were plenty of cars there, even some on the side of the road, probably from the day before. I got my stuff, didn’t waste any time, and hit the trail 10 minutes later.

Zealand Trail is very flat and runnable for 2+ miles, almost all the way to the Zealand Falls Hut. There is just a quick climb right before the hut, but I was able to run most of the way for the first couple miles, which was nice. I reached the hut at 7:30 (I may have been running, but I was keeping it nice and easy). Huts are always nice to come across because they have spots to refill water. Not that I went through all my water in that short amount of time, but I took advantage of the resources, drank 2 of my water bottles and refilled both of them. I wanted to make sure I was staying hydrated today.

The AMC huts are interesting to me. I think they are fantastic resources to have while hiking up in the mountains. At the same time, I would most likely never consider staying at one. If I’m going to go on a multi-day hike, I will bring my hammock and camp out off trail somewhere. I realize not everyone enjoys that like I do, so the huts are a fantastic option for others. However, the huts are incredibly expensive, and they very much cater to wealthy people that want to say they have had the full White Mountain experience. This is not in itself a bad thing. I just think they could do more to allow people from all walks of life to enjoy the convenience of the huts. Supply and demand is real, and if they didn’t put a price on staying there, the demand would be higher than they can handle. I’m aware of the contradicting statements here. Everything is a tradeoff. I’m all for capitalism, and I believe the organization can do whatever they think is best. I just wonder if there is a better way to handle it. The bathrooms within the huts are not an area where I have contradicting thoughts. They have 2 bathrooms. One would think with 2 bathrooms that one would be for men, and one would be for women. But AMC feels the need to cater to a small group of people and have signs that the bathrooms are open to any sex, gender, etc. This isn’t ok. They may think they are doing the right thing and being inclusive and all that, but it’s just not ok. If I bring my daughter there and she has to use the bathroom, I don’t want her to have to feel uncomfortable going into a bathroom with grown men. It’s not ok. Bathrooms have always been separate for a reason. If the bathrooms were singles with a lock on the door, it’s totally different. But they aren’t. And there are 2 of them. So let’s get thing back to normal and have one for men and one for women.

From the hut, it was a straight climb to get up to Zeacliff overview. I knew the climb was coming. It can’t be level when hiking up mountains. While it slowed me down, I felt good on the climb and was able to power hike at a pretty good pace. I stopped at the overview to grab a quick snack and talk to some other hikers before moving along on the Twinway to get to Zealand. There was some steep sections, but also a few runnable sections. I was still feeling good and moving pretty well. When I got to the intersection where I needed to turn to get to the summit, I stopped, took it in and realized how I made the mistake last weekend. There is a sign showing the Zealand spur trail turns there, but only coming from the east. When I came from the west last week, I couldn’t see the sign and didn’t realize I was coming up on an area where the trail splits. I’m not making excuses, but just explaining what happened. I screwed up and was making up for it now. I was at the summit of Mt. Zealand by around 9, so it took me a little over 2 hours elapsed time to go the 5.5 miles. I had a couple thoughts in mind at this point. I planned on going over to the Bonds to get some great views on a beautiful day. That’s what I started to do. Then I thought that I could be back at the truck by 10:30 probably and could drive over to Cannon to hike that since I haven’t done that one yet. I thought about it for a little bit, but I decided I didn’t want to take the risk of finding parking over in that Franconia area and decided to just stick with the original plan to go to the Bonds.

I was happy with the decision. The Bonds are incredible. This wasn’t my first time there. I had been there when I did the Pemi Loop, but they are so incredible that I don’t mind seeing them more often. I took the short spur to West Bond first. I remember loving West Bond because of the 360 views of the Pemi Wilderness. It didn’t disappoint. I love being on the inner part of the wilderness and being able to see the entire loop around where I’m standing. The only problem was the black flies. I was getting attacked, so I really couldn’t just hang out for long there. I spoke to the only other person up there for a bit and then we both headed back. Once back on Bondcliff Trail, it’s a relatively simple hike over to Mt. Bond. At this point, I was starting to run low on water. I wanted to get Bondcliff in as well, but I knew it would be steep going there and coming back. It was getting sunny and warm out, so I made the decision to skip it, and just head back. I would head down to the Guyot campsite on the way back to refill water. I didn’t want to run out of water on the way back. Going down to water access points is always a decision to make. You have to hike down quite a bit to get to the campsite, and the water is all the way at the bottom of the site. So, it takes a little bit out of you just to get down and back up. If you really need the water, it’s worth it. But if you’re content with what you have, you may want to skip the extra journey.

From there, I just had to retrace my steps back past Zealand, past Zeacliff Outlook, past Zealand Falls Hut and down Zealand trail to the truck. I did refill my small water bottles again at the hut and put some electrolytes in them. I knew I would be able to run the last section and wanted to make sure I was fueling well enough to keep a decent pace. Once I made it down the last descent past Zealand Falls, I started to pick up the pace. 2 miles to go and I thought it would be no problem. I ended up having one problem. As I passed another hiker, my foot went right into a rock and I took quite a spill, face first. I braced myself with my hands, so it wasn’t all that painful. But water bottles and other items came flying out of my pack and my hat flew off my head. Not the most graceful thing I’ve ever done. I quickly picked up my stuff and continued on my way with a bruised ego and a pretty decent cut on the palm of my hand. I was able to cruise the remainder of the way with no more issues. All in all, I was pretty happy with the effort. My legs were tired, but still moving and working well. For not being able to be up in the mountains much or do much training at all the past several months, I was happy with the result. My moving time was just over 7 hours to do the 17-18 mile trek. As always, I’m not breaking records, but I continued to keep moving and felt good with my overall effort.

I enjoyed today thoroughly and was happy to check Zealand off the list so quickly after making such a huge blunder the week prior. Mistakes happen. We all need to make mistakes so we can learn and grow from them. I’ve made a few mistakes in the mountains, and I continue to grow and be better from them. If you’re worried about making mistakes, don’t be. Just remember that it’s part of the process of being a better person.

39 done. 9 more to go. Let’s go!