Bondcliff

The hike I'm doing in Iceland has one day that's 14.9 miles with 2952 ish feet of elevation gain, which is pretty strenuous! I decided I should try doing a similar hike to get my body ready for it, and to show myself that I can do it. I decided on Bondcliff because I remember it being so nice, but I didn't stay there for long because of the bugs, and I thought it would be nice to go back. Which it was!

Bondcliff is broken into four 4.4 mile sections - 4.4 miles on a flat, former rail trail, 4.4 miles up the mountain, and then returning with the same - 4.4 miles down and 4.4 miles back, for a total of 17.6 miles - I had to park about .3 miles away from the parking lot, so that added another .6 miles - though it was on pretty flat road. So, it was about 3 miles longer than the hike I will do, and there was over 3086 feet of elevation gain (Bond Cliff is 3086 feet higher than the trailhead, but there is always some up and down on the trail, so it was probably a little more elevation gain.) So, that's higher than the Iceland trail. Also, all the elevation gain in Iceland is at the start, on fresh legs, as opposed to in the middle. So, I'm feeling pretty good about the whole thing.

I was pretty nervous about the hike, because it is pretty long, and so I didn't sleep well the night before. It became a lot of lying awake worrying about lying awake. The plan was to get up at 6 am and get to the mountain by 8:30, since it's such a long hike. When my alarm went off at 6 am, I thought I would hit the snooze for 10 minutes and then get up. But, somehow I turned the alarm off, and got the best two hours of sleep from 6 am - 8 am. Sigh. When I woke up, I was so upset with myself, and spent some time trying to decide if I should go or not. I really wanted to get in the long hike, but there are others closer by which I thought I could do instead - for example the blue hills. But then I thought that if I did the blue hills I would want to turn back before mile 8.8, and the drive to get there can often take an hour, even though it's closer to home, so I decided to just go for it, with a hard turn around that got me out of the woods before dark (I didn't turn around at the hard turn around, of course.)

I have a new book that I'm listening to so the drive up went pretty fast. I had to stop once for a bathroom break, but I left at 8:30 ish and arrived at the trail at 10:30 ish. By the time I headed out, it was about 10:40, and I knew I was pushing it on daylight. On the other hand, the start and end is on a rail trail which I had hiked in the dark before (when doing Owls Head), so I wasn't too concerned.

I booked it up the flat trail as fast as I could, walking less then 20 minute miles for the first 3 miles, and then around a 20 minute mile for the next 1.4, so it didn't take me too long to get to the uphill parts. From there I slowed down to my regular hiking pace. The trail was pretty muddy, but not too difficult at first. At a certain point there is a huge flight of stairs, and that marks the real ascent. It took me an hour and a half from there to get to the top. At that point it was 3:30 and I was so hungry. I had a banana with peanut butter before I left home, 3 hard boiled eggs on the road and some trader joes pb&j ball, but that wasn't enough. I was dragging by the top, and so happy to eat!

As I was getting closer to the top, I was a little weak, and asked some people who were coming down if I was close. They said "no!" which no one ever does, but the thing is that I was close - I was about 20 minutes from the top. I thought about turning around, because it was 3 and that was meant to be my turn around, but then I looked at the map on alltrails, and decided that it wasn't that far, and I'm so glad that I went to the top! As I was going the last little bit, it was really busy with people leaving the top - all the smart people who didn't hit their snooze bars, and when I finally made it, I had the place to myself! That never happens, but I was up there for about 30 minutes and saw 2 people. 

The view from Bondcliff is amazing! I could see to Washington, and over to Franconia, and just mountains everywhere! It was a little buggy again, so I found a spot with a breeze, and sat and ate a cheese, tomato and avocado sandwich.  It was so good! I ate and admired the view for about 30 minutes, but then I knew I had to go because it was almost 4, I had 8.8 miles to go, and the sun goes down around 7:40 these days. I knew it was going to be tight, and actually I was low on water, so I knew I was going to have to stop and filter. 

The hike down wasn't too bad - much of the trail is steady uphill, but not crazy, and in many places there aren't even rocks on the trail, so the downhill had a lot of easy-to-navigate spots. It took me an hour and a half to get down the long stairs and to the more gradual downhill. The next part, to the old railtrail seemed long - I think it was because I knew I was going to have to finish in the dark. A guy passed me and was all "do you have enough food and water? You won't get out until 9:30." Which was nice of him to be caring and make sure I was ok, but also I had done the calculations in my head, and I was thinking about 8:30 for the trailhead (and I was right.) He kind of through me for a bit, though, and I think that made things seem longer. 

I finally got to the railtrail part and knew I had a long but easy walk. The last 2.6 miles are especially flat and easy, though there are still some of the train trestles on the path - I did a little trail running even - I ran for 50 steps and then stopped and walked - I figured this would get me closer before it got dark. One of the bridges is out, so there was a (easy) stream crossing that I wanted to do before dark (and I did). The last 45 minutes or so the trail was getting darker and darker, and I probably hiked in the dark for about 30 minutes - I thought about using my headlamp, but actually didn't even need it. I got to the trailhead at 8:30 and to my car about 10 minutes later. By this point my feet were killing me and I was so sweaty and muddy, so I drove to the parking lot (yes, .3 miles, but I drove) where I was able to clean up a little in the bathrooms. I was starving again by this point, and stopped - first I tried to get pizza but the place was closing, and then for ice cream. I got a black raspberry oreo ice cream, and the woman gave me 2 scoops because that was the end of the container. It was sooo sooo good!

It was about 11:15 by the time I got home due to stopping at the rest area in Concord, plus ice cream eating time. I was so sore, but really happy about the day.  For some reason All Trails hasn't been working well - it turns off every time I look at it, and even though I was in airplane mode my battery drained super fast - I wound up having to turn my phone off and on to save battery, and not really recording my hike. IDK what's happening with that - it's happened all three of my training hikes. I feel like I might want to look for another program since my membership expires this week.

I did once again fill up my bladder with 2 liters of water and was glad that I did because I was almost out by the time that I got to the top (though there were a ton of water crossings and streams to fill up from). I regret that I didn't have more food to eat while walking to the summit - I think it would have been much more pleasant if I wasn't starving. And, of course, the whole not sleeping/oversleeping thing was a bummer. But, otherwise, I was pretty happy with the hike and feel good about being able to do the Iceland one!

Mini Trampoline at the Lake

After my hike I was tired and had a little exercise hangover, but I was definitely less sore than after flume. I went to parkour the next morning, and it was all jumping. It killed me! My legs were tired and jumping was not what I wanted to do, but I tried my best.

Later, I went to the lake with some friends. I did a short swim which was really nice, and after we sat on the dock chatting. We watched the clouds move in, and then watched the rain move across the lake until it came to us. Most everyone left, but it looked like the rain was going to move off, and it did. After the rain, three guys arrived with a mini trampoline which they put at the end of the dock and used to jump into the water. It looked so fun, we asked if we could try too, and they were happy to let us.

At first I was really nervous about it because the dock was wet and slippery, and I felt like things could go wrong. After a few jumps I started to feel better about it, but still wasn't up for diving. I did a dive off the edge of the dock to remind myself that it isn't hard. And then I just went for it and dived, and it was so fun. After a couple dives I noticed I was sort of rotating, so I tried a front flip! I was a little short on the rotation and landed on my back (ouch!). I tried one more time and got a little further, but not quite around. 

At some point the state police came, and we were so surprised that they didn't tell us to leave. We saw the guy on his radio, and assumed that the college police would come kick us off the dock, but they didn't. It was such a fun way to end the weekend! Eventually it started pouring again, and we left. 

Little Haystack, Lincoln and Lafayette

I did this loop once before on my birthday, when I turned 50, and decided to do it again today. This is an amazing hike, but also challenging - it's 8.6 miles and it goes over 3 4000 footers, with 3845 feet of elevation gain. There are amazing waterfalls, views and one of the huts on the trail. And, because of how amazing it is (and the fact that it's a 2 hr drive from Boston) it's really busy! Well worth it, 2 thumbs up, loved it! 

I woke up at 6:30 am and was out of the house before 7. I realize that I often run out of energy on these big hikes, so I decided to have a bigger breakfast, which turned out to be really helpful. Because the trail is so popular, the parking lot fills early, and by the time I got there at around 9 they had people parking at the ski slope and taking a shuttle. It wasn't my preference, but it was fine - I barely waited on the trip to the mountain, and on the way back I waited about 10 minutes - which seemed like forever when I was pooped, but really wasn't that bad.

The hike starts out slow and relaxing, following a brook with a bunch of waterfalls - it was so pretty and not too difficult. There were a ton of people, but I reminded myself people are friends, not foes, and just stepped off the path to let anyone faster than me pass. And, I chatted with some very nice people and admired the waterfalls. The last time I went up I didn't go to the little offshoot to shining rock because it looked like it was downhill, but this time I decided I was there and a little hungry, so I went. It did go down a lot, and then I had to go back up, of course, but I was glad I took the little detour. I think it was the only solo nature time I got. Plus it was a really nice view and a cool rock. I ate a stuphenwaffel, which was delicious!

Getting up to the top of Little Haystack was hard, but didn't seem that hard - I got to the top and thought "that wasn't so bad" and I sat and had a small snack and admired the amazing view. It took about 3 hours to get up there, once again, though I had stopped at shining rock. Of course, getting to the top of Little Haystack isn't the finish - there is still almost 900 feet of elevation gain, and the toughest climbing on the hike. 

I sat and enjoyed the view for about 15 minutes and then was ready to move on. The ridgeline is definitely one of the best in the White Mountains - it's such a special place. In particular, the first part of the ridgeline is just amazing - there aren't rocks in the path, it's not too strenuous and so you can look around at the scenery. There was a naturalist up there (making sure that people stayed on the path) and he pointed out some flowers that were doing well, and a brand new avalanche slide. There's also a part where the trail dips into some fir trees, and the smell was like christmas (I mean, it is for those of us who aren't Jewish), I think it took a little over an hour to get to Lafayette - it's 1.7 miles and I really relaxed, enjoyed the view, and sauntered. One little note - the first peak that you see is Lincoln - you have to go over that before you can see Lafayette.

I decided to keep going at Lincoln and sit on Lafayette to eat my sandwich. Even though I knew it would be super crowded (which it was), I kind of wanted to walk and enjoy the ridgeline, and to get to the summit. It was like 2 when I got to Lafayette, and I was so hungry! I sat on a rock, enjoyed the view, and ate a cheese, avocado and tomato sandwich (which was delicious) and an orange. 

The way down is full of rocks - there was a lot of rock hopping and steep areas. It took a while to get to the hut, where I was excited to be able to fill my water without having to filter. The hut smelled delicious, like brownies. They were in the oven, baking. One of the Croo said they would be done in 10 minutes, so I decided to wait, but when the ten minutes passed they were poking at them like they weren't done, and I was ready to go. So, no cookies for me. 

It's pretty steep going for the first bit on the way down. There were a few spots where I scootched on my butt. I definitely didn't rush on the rocky parts, but as the path got clearer I went faster. I was about a mile and a half from the finish when I met up with this group of 4 - we were going a similar speed, except one woman from the group was moving slower. I passed the group, but then this one woman was hiking right behind me, something that I hate. I sped up a bit, but she was still right there, so I stopped to let her pass, and then she stopped too. It was at the part of the hike when I was cranky anyhow, and it was so annoying - I finally had to tell the group that I was stopping to let them pass, and the woman was all weird about it, which made me crankier.

By the time I finished I was pretty tired and sad to have to wait for a bus, but it did just take about 10 minutes. There was no way I was going to walk. My new boots were much better - I put in a second insole and they fit perfectly now! When I look at my splits, it wasn't my fastest hike for sure. I think I wondered around the hut for a bit, which added a little time, but really not that much. Anyhow, it's a classic and I was so happy to do it - it will probably be a while before I do it again because of the crowds.

Flume Slide and Liberty

It's been forever since I hiked Flume and Liberty, and now I remember why. It's hard! I decided to go all in on my hiking training, though, and decided that the loop would be a good practice hike, which it definitely was. I got up early - about 6:15 and was out the door by 6:45. I had to stop once on the way up, but made it there by 8:45 (one thing that's nice is that it's a straight shot up Rt 93 - only 2 hours! One of the shorter drives. 

I was hiking by 9, and thought I would make a 9-5 day of it, but it took me way longer. The first part was very nice, I did a gentle saunter and really enjoyed the first few miles, because I knew it was going to get harder. And it did. At first it was a gentle uphill, I definitely knew I was going up, but nothing killer. It took me about 2 hrs and 20 min to get to the slide part, and that's when things got real. At first it was just some rocks, but then I got to the slab. I forgot how much slab there was! So so much. This time it was all wet - which I kind of knew was going to happen because it rained yesterday. But, I didn't really think about how much I would slip on the rock and how sketchy it would be. (Hint, I slipped a lot, and it was really sketchy). I also forgot that when you finally get to the top of the slabby bits, you still have to go up an insane amount of steep, rocky trail. It was brutal. I could feel my heart pounding for some of the climbing, and had to stop and let it slow down before starting again. (Might need to do more aerobic?)

Once I got to the top, there was this really nice lookout with a great view, which I went and sat at, and ate a half a cheese sandwich on sourdough, and admired the mountains. I had a lot more to go, so I soon left to summit Flume - the hard parts done, it wasn't too bad. I sat on Flume for about 5 minutes, but I remembered that the view from Liberty is more 360, and decided to go over there for the second half of my sandwich and an orange. 

It was a long way down and then a long way up on the ridgeline, so, not like one of those awesome ridgelines. I was pretty excited to get to the top and be done with climbing up - also the view was amazing and it was so nice up there. I spent a while sitting up top, admiring the view, and eating. I people watched as others came up, and took some people's photos for them. Finally it was time to head back down.

It's a pretty steep downhill on this one. I started doing pretty well with trusting my feet and using parkour. I felt pretty good about it! After a while, though, I was so tired of going down that things got slower. I also had to stop at Liberty Spring because, even though I put 2 liters of water in my bladder, I was out of water. The hike down seemed pretty long and brutal. A couple times I accidentally turned off all trails, which was a bummer because I don't have the full stats for the hike. But, I can say that it was slow. 

At the end, I felt tired and sore, but my meniscus feels fine, which is good news. I wore my new hiking boots which were mostly perfect, but unfortunately I think they are a little loose - my feet were moving around in them on the downhill, and I have some "hot spots" that aren't quite blisters. I'm going to try insoles. I love that the new boots are fully waterproof - there were a few times that I was crossing a stream and the stepping stone was a couple inches under water, but I just used it anyhow, and it was no problem! Here are my incomplete statistics - really slow on the super uphill bit!

Full Moon Swim

Last night was the first full moon of August - we will have a blue moon this month! To celebrate the Merfolk had a moonlight swim, which was awesome. We met at the lake at 9 pm (about 20 of us!) and were in the water by 9:30. Someone brought glow sticks and we all made bracelets and necklaces.  We had to swim a little ways out before we could see the moon, but when we did, it was SO bright. It was amazing! Everyone treaded water and watched, and then someone started howling, and everyone joined in. I love full moon swims.

Today I rode a blue bike to the Y in Charlestown, did the elliptical for 20 minutes and lifted some weights, and then biked home. It was a good workout. It's actually really nice out finally - it was 74 and not humid, no signs of rain. So exciting to be outside and not dying from the heat. On the way to the gym, I saw an outdoor yoga class that looked good - I'll have to look it up and see if I can figure out how to join.

I'm on a big exercise kick because I decided that instead of hiking the Pemi loop on my vacation, I'm going to hike the Laugavegur Trail in Iceland! It's a little spur of the moment, but why not? I'm super excited about it, but also a little nervous because it's 34 mile and considered moderate to challenging. I will be headed to the White Mountains for some training for sure!