In June of 2010 I went hiking for the first time in more than a year. My desire to recover properly from anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction in one of my knees prevented me from hiking during the summer of 2009. Although this first post-surgery hike was a short hike, ascending only 1800 vertical feet (550m) on a very heavily climbed mountain in southwestern New Hampshire, I found that my ACL's recovery was more than adequate for climbing on steep and uneven terrain. So I went on a few more hiking trips that summer.
One of my goals for a long time had been to summit both North and South Twin Mountain. Several years ago, I often stayed overnight at a bunkhouse near the village of Twin Mountain. This village was a great location in the winter if you wanted to ski at either Cannon Mountain (Olympic Champion ski racer Bode Miller's true home ski mountain) or Bretton Woods (a mountain Bode Miller did adverts for at some point, claiming it was his home ski mountain). It was a great location in the summer if you wanted to hike anywhere in the White Mountains from Kinsman Ridge to Mount Washington and the southern Presidential Range. The far northern, southern, and eastern bits of the White Mountains may not have been all that convenient from this spot but it covered the core of the White Mountains quite well. Although the actual physical appearance of the village itself may seem a bit fake and overly commercial (it's understandably a touristy place), Twin Mountain's location amongst the mountains and valleys is exquisite!
The view to the east is a substantial bit of the Presidential Range. The view to the south is a looming monolith consisting of the village's namesakes - North Twin Mountain and South Twin Mountain - and these are much closer than the Presidential Range. Having already taken care of some standard destination summits such as select mountains from the Presidential Range and the Franconia Ridge as well as Mount Moosilauke, my attention was pretty firmly fixed on the Twin Mountains after it was clear to me that I was ready to hike once again, this time with a reconstructed ACL.
The standard way to the summit of the taller Twin, South Twin Mountain, was via the Gale River Trail. It would miss North Twin Mountain and I was going to have none of that! However, adding North Twin Mountain to this route would add another 750 vertical feet (230m) to a hike that was already going to climb 3400 vertical feet (1040m). During this summer I made it a point to gradually increase the amount of vertical from one hike to the next to see how my knee would handle it. I did not deem it prudent to just jump from my previous 2700 foot (820m) hike up Mount Chocorua to a 4150 foot (1260m) hike here.
So I chose instead to go up South Twin via North Twin. The distance hiked would be similar to the Galehead route but this time it would include North Twin and I wanted to do both Twins. This looked like a reasonably short hike on the map because it only ascended 2950 feet (900m) to get to North Twin and the ridge between North and South Twin did not look that daunting. So I made up my mind to do this one next. But upon closer examination, I found that climbing 450 feet (140m) up South Twin and then 300 feet (90m) to reascend North Twin on the return trip would make this a 3700 foot (1130m) hike. Each segment on its own did not look like much but they have a way of adding up. I decided to do it anyway so I did.
After having climbed 3400 feet (1040m) to get to the top of South Twin I felt really good. Looking down and to the west I could see Galehead Mountain less than a mile away. It was so close that I could clearly see the details of the Galehead Hut. This made it very tempting to just go down the west side and bag another 4000 foot (1220m) summit. Looking to the south, the Bonds (Mount Guyot, West Bond, Mount Bond, Bondcliff) did not appear very far away even though they are in the core of the Pemigewasset Wilderness and are some of the most remote summits amongst all of the White Mountains. The ridges appeared to undulate very gently between South Twin and the Bonds. This made it tempting to just push further and bag an additional four (4) 4000-footers.
So I looked at the map and guidebook to assess the situation. Going to the summit of Galehead would turn my 11.2 mile (18.0 km), 3700 foot (1130m) hike into a 13.8 mile (22.2 km), 5150 foot (1570m) hike. If I were to choose instead to continue south to the Bonds, my hike would be 21.2 miles (34.1 km) and 6250 vertical feet (1900m). Even 3700 vertical feet (1130m) was already pushing the upper limit of what I was comfortable doing on this particular hike so I elected to stick with the old plan and just head back down now that I reached the summits I had intended to reach.
It has been 2 years since I had elected not to go beyond South Twin Mountain and, seeing how quickly my hiking season is coming to an end due to other travels, that wait will likely become 3 years before I get to those mountains that seemed so tantalizingly close on that hike. Looking back, I realize that I very possibly could have pulled off one of those hiking trip extensions. Since then I had gone on some bigger hikes than the Twins, including one where I covered approximately 18 miles (29 km) and climbed approximately 6900 vertical feet (2100m) in a single day (it was not originally planned that way, in case you were wondering). My knee did not bother me on any of them.
But hindsight is always 20/20 and nobody can predict the future. Nevertheless I do sometimes feel regret about playing it exceedingly safe that day, mostly because I wonder how it could take so long to get to something that I had come so close to getting to earlier. This is merely an example of the limitations of my humanity. We humans are not known for being patient. We want instant results. When things don't seem to go according to plan or when they appear delayed we assume that something has gone dreadfully wrong.
As it turns out, the Bonds could easily be done in a 2-day backpacking trip. A 3-day weekend would not be necessary. Even if it does not happen this year, it could very easily happen next year. If one were to approach from the north via the Gale River Trail, Galehead Mountain could easily be taken care of as well.
Let's follow this scenario. I could drive up from work on Friday evening to the Gail River Trailhead and sleep in my car there (sadly, the bunkhouse I used to stay at several years ago is no longer in operation). On Saturday morning I could head up the Gale River Trail and make my way to South Twin and then Mount Guyot. If I'm doing pretty well on time at that point I could head over to Zealand Mountain to bag another 4000-footer and then back to Guyot to continue on my way. At the Guyot Campsite I could set up camp. If it's still nice and early and if I'm still feeling pretty good I could continue south and summit West Bond, Mount Bond, and Bondcliff. That would be an excellent day of hiking, complete with some quality time spent in the Pemigewasset Wilderness!
If I don't get to either Zealand or to the Bonds on Saturday, or if I miss all 4 of those summits, I could start with the Bonds on Sunday morning instead. Zealand would be an on-the-spot decision, if it comes down to that, on the way back while on the summit of Guyot. Continuing north from Guyot I would go over south Twin again on the way to the Galehead Hut. From there I would do a quick up-and-back to reach the summit of Galehead Mountain and then I would continue west from the Galehead Hut on the Garfield Ridge Trail. When I get to the top of the Gale River Trail again I could see how I'm doing on time and how I'm feeling. If things are going really well I could continue west to Mount Garfield, then head down the Garfield Trail to its trailhead and then walk a little over a mile (~2 km) on the loop road to the Gale River Trailhead where my car would be parked. From there I would make my way down to Boston for a Sunday evening Mass.
In addition to South Twin, which I've already summitted, I would also get at least 5 additional 4000-footers. Incidentally they would be all 5 summits that I had considered when standing on the South Twin summit 2 years ago - Zealand, Guyot, West Bond, Bond, Bondcliff - and I would get them all on the same trip! If things go really well I might even be able to add another 2 to that list - Zealand and Garfield - making a total of seven (7) 4000-footers in addition to South Twin which I had already summitted earlier. Although it may not always seem that way, things do have a way of working out. And not only do they have a way of working out, but they have a way of working out quite beautifully.
Mark 8: 27-35
Oops, just realised that "Galehead," not Zealand, would be one of the five definite summits.
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