Some hikers skip gleefully across the Bonds during their traverses, but not all. Other hikers will take all the help they can get. This is sometimes a choice but in other instances the decision may be driven by the level of conditioning, or a disability, or perhaps just the result of age. We’re not here to judge, only to help. And by help we mean hut-to-hut guidance coupled with portering and stretching out the trip into four days — to Zealand Hut, to the Guyot Tentsite, to the Bonds and back to Guyot, then a great exit to the starting line. On lead for this trip was Redline Guide Debra McCown. What follows are her words and photos.
Bagging the Bonds
The night before the trip, he was a little anxious. For him, Zealand and the Bonds were a big goal. And he’d just experienced a setback: He’d tried to last-minute squeeze in an extra peak in the Presidentials and failed. But I told him I was confident that our plan to bag four peaks in four days was a good one that he could accomplish — and he spoke on the phone to his girlfriend back home in Indiana, who encouraged him to go out and crush it. So he went. And he did.
Monday: We hiked in to Zealand Falls Hut. He made great time on the relatively flat trail, even carrying his overnight gear and three days worth of food. It set a good tone for the week.
Tuesday: We hiked from Zealand Falls to the Guyot shelter — five miles on steep, rocky terrain that took about 8 hours. I carried his gear, and he focused on getting himself safely up and down the rocks. He checked Zealand off the list for his 48.
Wednesday: We hiked out and back to the Bonds. Our first peak of the day — West Bond — proved to be one of his favorites, with its half-mile of gentle trail followed by a short and manageable scramble to a spot with stunning views. We then hiked to Bond and Bondcliff and returned to camp. Another 8-hour day.
Thursday: With me carrying all the gear again, we hiked back over Guyot, Zealand, and Zeacliff and down to the hut, where we bought coffee and coconut cake and took a long break in the sunshine before hiking out the last 2.7 miles to the car. It was another satisfying 8-hour hiking day that ended with our guest being able to say that he had officially hiked Zealand and the Bonds — and therefore has just six peaks remaining to finish his 48.
And that, despite his anxiety over the challenge, even a guy who’s suffered with some health-based frustrations — with a little help — tackle some of the hardest peaks in on the 4000-footer list. I think it’s very easy for people who are young and able-bodied to get so caught up in ticking off competitive physical feats that they miss the fact that sheer athleticism isn’t the only story these mountains have to tell.
There are a lot of of people like this guest, who keep putting one foot in front of the other despite suffering serious life setbacks, whose stories can be quite inspiring. He says these mountains are his happy place — and that’s what keeps him coming back. And I, for one, am looking forward to helping him complete those last half-dozen peaks to finish his 48. —Debra
