Hale/Zealand/West Bond/Bond/Bondcliff; 1/01/04

[Frodo]

6:56 am
Start at Zealand Parking Lot on Rt. 302. Thom heads out 1/2 hour later to ski to the Zealand Hut and meet us along the way.

9:24 am
Summit Mt. Hale with Post'r Boy and Michelle, who we were surprised to meet 1/4 of the way up the mtn. Post'r Boy shocks us by ripping off his shirt on the summit, climbing the cairn and posing for photos. We head down Lend-A-Hand Trail.

10:35 am
Junction of Twinway. We say goodbye to Post'r Boy and Michelle as they head down to Zealand Hut and back out. We head up to Zeacliff.

12:14 pm
Summit Zealand Mtn. Stinkyfeet layers up because the wind is picking up, and we have Guyot to cross next!

1:00 pm
Summit Guyot. We catch Thom hunkered down behind a cairn. Brrr... Wind is brisk. We break trail through fresh snow and drifts.

1:55 pm
Summit West Bond. No views today.

2:36 pm
Summit Mt. Bond. We brace ourselves for the trek across Bondcliff. The exposed ridge is all rock and ice, so we remove the snowshoes.

3:28 pm
Summit Bondcliff. Strong gusts knock us around.

7:44 pm
Reach spotted car at Wilderness Trailhead. Wilderness Trail is nasty--lots of ice. Thom "skis" out (removing his skis at least 50 times for gully washouts and blowdowns).

32 down, 16 to go...

Frodo & Stinkyfeet

Thom now has 22 down, 26 to go.