New Hampshire- Shaken and Stirred

Monday, May 8th, 2006:

Been a while since a writing.... so blah,blah,blah, and all that. I just took a trip up Route 93, North, and went into the White Mountain National Forest. Spent 3 nights and 4 days on a solo camping trip which was freakin' great. Boy, my feet need to toughen up a bit, though.
The Kancamagus Highway, or Kank, as we "Noo In'glindehs" like to call it, although known for its scenic driving, biking, and multitude of day hikes, also offers access to the interior of the Forest for multi-day hikes. That's where I headed, 4.5 miles off of Route 93, exit 32.





Name's Bond, Mt. Bond. And this is the top. That's Mt. Washington in the background.

I went up two peaks, Mt. Bond and Mt. Bondcliff. I had two incredibly nice days and one drizzly afternoon/evening, but basically the trail to myself. Well, almost. I saw one woman, one crazy dude, and a black bear. Not too bad for 4 days, so there you go.
Cue the pictures.


Mt. Bondcliff, with Mt. Bond behind my head. If my expression seems a bit perplexed its probably because I had just had my first black bear encounter on foot. He crossed about 40 yards in front of me on top of the saddleback connecting the two peaks. He was a good sized bugger and I watched him for about ten minutes looking for food. Amazingly, he never picked up on my scent, which was definitely strong after all the uphill.

Here's that crazy dude I referred to earlier. His name is Calem. Met him a half mile from the top of Bondcliff, right when the snow was beginning. Wearing only Vans skateboard sneakers, a cotton T-shirt over a cotton jersey, and air force duct tape on his shins, he warned me of the postholing hell on top for the rest of the way. He did have a sleeping bag, a can of tuna fish, and a full bottle of Jagermeister. So, I took the obligatory haul(and then 3 more) to toast our meeting, and felt like shit for the rest of my postholing session. Then we said "bye" and he continued on his was back to the highway, a full 8 miles off, with two hours of sunshine left. Here's to walking statistics, just waiting to be recorded!!

What a place. Hard to believe it only a little over 2 hours from Boston.