Crotchet Mtn, Mt Monadnock, Bondcliff /Mt Bond/W.Bond (1-3), Zeacliff/Mt Zealand (4),  Mt Hale(5), Mt Moosilauke (partial), and more…

First an apology for the limited quantity and grainy quality of these pictures in this first post. You gotta work with what you got sometimes. Maybe my family can send me some more early day pics to add to the collection. Now, a little bit of background… I guess this affinity for climbing started with the Bonds in high school, but really it started much earlier. Before I ever knew what the list was or had any idea of how many mountains existed, I grew up in a family that loved to explore the outdoors through camping, hiking and exploring some beautiful places in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, New York, and even a trip to Prince Edward Island in Canada. As for the climbing part, I remember taking day trips as a family (Mom, Dad, 3 sisters, 2 brothers & myself) up Crotchet Mountain where we picked blueberries for homemade jam, up Loon Mountain where we explored the caves, up to the 360° views of the rocky peak of Mount Monadnock and a few others. Usually mom had the youngest of us on her back I might add! Before I go too much further in to my ramblings, I want to thank my parents for exposing us to nature and instilling this desire to come out and connect with it. It is something that has continued to saturate my existence and give me the most joy in life to this day.

So getting back to what has led me to this journey, later in my high school years and early 20’s, along with much of my family, I took to cross country and downhill skiing and continued with camping and hiking as well. My sister Therese was a student at Tufts University and got immersed in Tufts Mountain Club and the White Mountains. She shared her love for the Whites with me, my Mom, and my brothers Paul and Sean, and we went on several trips to the TMC lodge where we did some cross country and downhill skiing, went on some day climbs and a few overnight backpacking trips.
My memory of these hikes has faded and the details are somewhat foggy at this point in my life. But I will try to recall some of them. Hopefully my family will chime in here to fill in the gaps. Some of these details could very well be inaccurate, and for that reason along with the pure desire to relive the experience, I will most likely repeat all of these peaks to get a more current recollection of them. One thing that did not fade from memory is the feeling I get when reaching a summit- the feeling that you are on top of the world, and that you can reach out and touch Heaven.

The most detailed picture I have of any of these is our first overnight backpack trip in the Whites to Bondcliff, Mount Bond, and West Bond. Therese, Paul and I set out early one fall morning carrying on our backs all the items we would need for a fabulous weekend in the mountains. Things were not as high tech back then. There were no GPS devices, moisture wicking breathable clothing (I think we even wore cotton) and no “ultra-light” gear technology that we have today. With our clunky loads we started from the Lincoln Visitors center off the Kancumagus and traveled along the Pemigewasset River through a canopy of bright yellow leaves over the long flat Wilderness trail. Back then, you could be assured safe drinking water by simply replenishing your supply in clear running mountain rivers and streams and there were many opportunities to fill our bottles. After several hours of moderate grades we began the steeper ascent up the Bondcliff Trail. This took us through the remainder of the day. We took in the scenery and breathed the crisp clean air and talked about our lives in school, our jobs, and stories of growing up in a family that can best be described as unique, quirky, and caring …all the while climbing higher and higher over rocks roots and fallen leaves.

Suddenly, we didn’t have much more time before dark and we were just below our first summit. We stalked out a spot to make camp and pushed on to Bondcliff for a brief but breathtaking sunset view. We headed back below tree line for some dinner and some much needed sleep. The next morning we woke to a hefty chill and after a quick cereal breakfast, gathered our gear and loaded it on our backs to head back up to Bondcliff and beyond. We were greeted with an amazing view of the Pemigewasset Wilderness where the clouds had blanketed the valleys below.  The only thing I can say is that we were transported to a land in the heavens! Above us only blue sky, Below us only white clouds, and as far as the eye could see, mountain after mountain after mountain covered in the vibrant yellows and oranges of autumn mixed with patches of evergreen forests and brown and gray slabs of boulders, cliffs and ledges, all merging out from the undercast of clouds. We continued along the ridge up to the Mount Bond summit and then over to West Bond where we had some lunch and another view with a look back at the cliff line we had just traveled. This part isn’t completely clear but I remember some conversation about whether to head back the way we came or continue on to another peak (not sure which one we were contemplating). At this point our fatigue was a factor and the miles had finally started to show their wear on our young muscles and joints. So we decided to head back down the way we came. With each step down to the wilderness trail our feet would pound the rocks sending an earthquake shock through our legs up our body and into our heads. Occasionally with our clumsy legs and feet, becoming ever more lifeless, someone would miss a targeted step and slip then catch their self. “Careful” someone would say as they would slip the same way. “Careful” someone else would say….slip, “careful”…slip, “careful”….on an on all the way down the mountain. We finally reached the end of the trail without injury and were able to travel on 4 wheels and an engine and rest our weary legs. The human bonds we created amongst the Bonds we traveled that weekend would last a lifetime!

Our second overnight trip was to Zeacliff and Zealand Mountain. I believe Thoreau Falls was part of this trip too.

I don’t remember much about the hike at this point, but my brother Paul recently recollects “Remember Zeacliff? We ended up scaling the mountain with almost no room, as the other side of the trail was straight down!”…We didn’t stay at the Zealand Falls hut and instead set up our tent on one of the tent platforms. When we woke, the entire platform including our tent was encased in a sheet of ice! I remember we couldn’t get moving too soon. This hike is worth a redo so I can describe in more detail. I don’t remember if it was this trip or not, but one of them ended with the realization that we had locked the keys in the car (or had lost the keys or something like that). I think we had to walk to the nearest store payphone, get picked up by one of Therese’s friends at the lodge, then call AAA (this was before cell phones existed).

When my youngest brother Sean was able to join in the fun of hiking, we all set out one morning from the TMC Lodge for a day hike up to Mount Hale. We were joined by a few of my sister’s TMC friends. On the way up, the “Careful” theme continued but was not carried out. Sean slipped and bashed his head on a sharp rock. I was directly behind him when this happened, and raced to the scene, threw his head back, pulled a bandanna from my pocket and pressurized the wound (I had heard somewhere to do this). Others followed and proceeded to give the bleeding gash a more proper dressing. We ended up splitting the team up with Therese, Sean and one other heading down the mountain to get Sean to a hospital. The rest of us continued up to the summit. Later we learned that Sean received several stitches. I guess I saved the day that time, but Sean would return the favor years later saving me from drowning in a pond. That’s how brothers roll! Who’s turn is it to save who’s life?

There were a few other day hikes as well but I’m not sure what they included. i seem to remember at least discussing Garfield but I have no recollection of climbing it, so that one remains on the to-do list. I may even finish the NH48 with it! I do remember we set out one winter morning after a fresh snowfall without snowshoes to climb Moosilauke. What were we thinking?? I think we were expecting packed trails for some reason but got something completely different. Well it started out pretty well packed with hikers before us doing the trail breaking.
Moreover, tangible research has proven that products viagra sale made solely of herbs enables individuals to achieve total revolution and models. The discount viagra cialis whole procedure begins with the arousal of the man. This cost of cialis can make diagnosis extremely difficult and self diagnosis nearly impossible. This chemical aides in expanding the cialis 5mg tablets level of cyclic Guanosine Monophosphate (cGMP).
As we made our way up the mountain, the snow got deeper and deeper, and slowly but surely, the broken trails became less and less populated with footprints. People were obviously wisely turning back with the unfavorable conditions.  We continued on for a while sinking up to our thighs with every labored step. I know now that this is called “postholing” and is frowned upon with good reason. Eventually we accessed the situation and admitted defeat, turning back to home base…Again, this one is still on the to-do list (as I write this in 2014). It would be cool if on these repeat/redo hikes I could duplicate the group members and conditions for either redemption or revival…

Fast forward a few years…

As sometimes happens, at some point life brought on changes with marriage, buying a house, and making it home, the arrival of my son Chad (and all of the blessings, challenges and excitement that go with parenthood), along with going back to school, career changes, new jobs,  etc etc etc.  Before I knew it, I temporarily lost touch with my love for mountain hiking. Not too sure exactly where my footsteps strayed from the trail, but i may have let the fact that my wife Kelley doesn’t share my interest in hiking or camping contribute to my drifting. Plus I really was into trying to make some sort of a music carreer, which slowly morphed over the years into just playing music for fun…

   

Whatever the case,  I have fortunately been able to share the camping tradition with my son Chad along with Sean and his family and occasionally other family members.  And of course the best camping dog ever. (Miss you Wilson)

We tried hiking Monadnock once when Chad was really young. Turns out he wasn’t quite ready for the climb and Sean and I ended up taking turns carrying him up on our backs. That experience probably took some part in discouraging me from subsequent mountain hikes. We should have tried harder to keep it part of our lives, but we didn’t. Excuses, excuses… Thankfully I have since reconnected to the mountains in a big way!

But that’s getting a head of ourselves. Time to fill in the rest of the story leading up to that. To be continued…