Pemi Traverse

July 7th & 8th 2012

A traverse through the Pemigewasett Wilderness, for the serious hiker, is a must do, can’t miss, just gotta have it.  The “Pemi” is a 45,000 acre wilderness area between Crawford and Franconia notches. Once a barren wasteland created by indiscriminate logging and a devastating forest fire, it has recovered in the last hundred years to be a vast forested area with jaw dropping views and unsullied by sounds of civilization. It contains four of the forty-eight 4000 foot mountains of New Hampshire and is ringed by sixteen others.  Sixty miles of trails, a half dozen ponds and a river with a couple dozen tributary brooks which have waterfalls galore, complete the experience that is the Pemi.

I know it sounds like I’m gushing a bit and I’ll admit to being a romantic about wild lands but The Pemi delivers the goods. I’ve been reading trail descriptions and trip reports about this area for years, seen photos and talked to folks who have been there. I finally got to go myself and it was well worth the aching muscles from the long miles of hiking, it takes to get there.

I met Chris and Moses the hiking dog at their place in South Paris at the appointed time and we drove the two hours to the Zealand Trail parking lot to spot a vehicle and then drove South through Franconia Notch to the Kancamagus Highway and then to Lincoln Woods where we parked. We got on the trail about 10:00 AM.

Chris and Moses at the start of the trail.

Rail left over from the narrow gauge railroad.

 The first part of the hike is 4.5 walk along The Pemigewasett River via the former railroad bed
once used to exploit the forests in the area. It is nearly flat and so straight, you can see a quarter mile in places. I’ve heard, this part can be demoralizing after a long hike but I found it pleasant enough and in a couple of hours we had completed that section and began the real work of climbing up the ridge to our first destination which was Bondcliff. The forecast was for moderate humidity and temps in the upper 80s so we went slow and took frequent breaks to take on plenty of fluids. We zig-zagged up the switchbacks meeting people who had stayed at Guyot Tentsite, our eventual destination for the night. We were passed by a couple of faster groups, passed a couple of slower groups and leapfrogged with a group that was going about the same pace.

Soon we were approaching the ridge and got our first views of the day. The weather had changed considerably since the morning. It was 65 degrees with a cool breeze, very welcomed after the humidity and warm temps, earlier in the day. Within a few minutes, we were on top of Bondcliff.

Bondcliff

Mount Bond

I’d seen a picture of this spot on the cover of one of the AMC White Mountain Guides I bought years ago. I’ve been looking forward to this moment since. Sweeping views of an area that has no roads, buildings or anything built by man, are the reward for all the work. Chris took the signature photo of me on the overhanging rock that gives Bondcliff it’s name.

 

Looking Back at Bondcliff

We continued along the ridge toward Mount Bond, a little over a mile away. Nearly the whole distance is in the open and I was imagining what it would be like to do this in winter as Chris has done. A goal for another time. Forty minutes later we were standing on top of  Bond and spent twenty minutes or so enjoying the incredible scenery. The hardest work was done for the day and it was all downhill to Guyot Campsite. We headed down and soon reached our destination for the night.

Shelter at Guyot Tentsite

Guyot Tentsite is .2 miles below the saddle that connects Mount Guyot and the Bonds. It has a capacity of about 30. There is an open cabin type shelter and eight or ten tent platforms. All of the platforms were occupied but there was room for a second tent on most of them. We doubled up with a couple from the Boston area.  The caretaker, a pleasant young man named Joe, introduced himself as we arrived and then came around after we set up to collect the $8.00 fee to camp for the night. The only flat ground at the campsite is a small area occupied by two bear boxes, heavy, lockable metal footlockers where everyone’s food is stored for the night. Arriving at 6:00, we quickly set about getting the tent set up, getting water and starting a stove to make dinner. Our meal consisted of a Coleman freeze dried pasta dish. You boil water, pour it in the bag, voila! Dinner. It really wasn’t too bad. Of course I was hungry enough to eat anything. Crackers and cheese rounded out the meal and with no dishes to do we were ready for the next thing.

West Bond

Sunset from West Bond

The next thing was a sunset hike up West Bond, a little less than a mile away. We headed out about 8:00 and by 8:30 we were watching the last rays of sun disappear behind Mount Garfield. Four thousand footer number three for the day. Man, my legs were tired. At least we weren’t carrying heavy packs. We found a young couple at the summit enjoying the sunset. We talked to them for a few minutes and then headed down. We were back in camp by nine and headed to bed. I didn’t sleep much, the first part of the night because Moses was in the tent with us and the only place for him was kind of on our legs. Chris was worried about him wandering off if he stayed outside the tent. Sometime in the middle of the night Chris let him out and we all slept better for it. He hung right around and when I woke up at 5:30 or so, he was right there.

More boiling water in the morning provided hot coffee for us both and oatmeal for Chris. I had bagels. By 7:15 or so, we were on our way. We still had a couple of mountains and 8.5 miles to trek to reach the car we dropped yesterday morning. It was a glorious, cool, clear morning and by 7:30 we were in the open on Guyot and for the next twenty minutes we had views nearly to the horizons.  We soon began to meet people who stayed either at Galehead hut or Zealand hut and this began a steady stream that we would see for the rest of the day.

We made our way over to Zealand Mountain, my fourth peak of the weekend. Zealand is a wooded summit and one of those that would not see visitors if it were not for “the list” and the fact, the Appalachian Trail goes pretty much over the summit. I came across the trail adopter, brushing out the trail and talked with him for a few minutes before moving on. We passed Zealand Hut and went to the falls below to stop for a few minutes and have a snack from the meager rations left in our packs.

Ten minutes later we were on the trail out. With 2.3 miles to go we kept a good pace on the mostly flat Zealand trail, meeting lots of people out to enjoy the woods on this fine day. We arrived at the trail-head by 12:45 and then drove around to Lincoln Woods where we started so I could pick up my vehicle.

This was a fine weekend spent in the mountains. I hope to explore other parts of the ‘Pemi” soon. The brooks, ponds and river beckon my fly fishing soul and Owls Head is one of the four remaining mountains on my list.