That wasn't so bad . 9:35 pm - 31.5 miles. Suspension Bridge at Lincoln Woods.

Four miles down hill from Bond Cliff . Better trail conditions. Gravity at our back. To the Wilderness Trail - five miles on that old railroad bed that leads out to the road. The end in sight - well if it wasn't getting dark. Not even old railroad ties can slow us down. With a head lamp to guide us for the last 45 minutes we emerge sore and only lightly scathed. A celebratory sub and a coke at Lincoln' NHs finest pizza parlor and a 2 hour and 45 minute ride back home. The circuit is ours!

Mile 22.4 (6:30 pm) Bond Cliffs -

Ben picks his way up to the top of Bond Cliffs - a majestic end to the Mountains on our trip. The previous time we did this trail we were greeted by swarms of black flies on the Bondcliffs - no such plague this time.

Atop the Bond Cliffs with Mount Bond in the background. The clouds are puffy, the light is rich and clear.The cliffs drop into a trail-less valley covered with hardwoods.  We may not be quite as fresh as were this morning across the way on Mount Flume - knees and hips speak to that - but this has been a very special hike with great company. .

This is the end of the views . but it is 6:30 and there are still nine miles to go....

Mile 21.2- Atop Mount Bond (6 pm) Why are these guys smiling?

Could it be that at 4700 feet  and on a ridge smack in the middle of the Pemi Wilderness, Mount Bond offers the best views east to the Presidential and west to Franconia Ridge - delicious long range vistas in the late afternoon light?
Or could it just be delirium - that after 12 hours and with still a third of the trip to go they just didn't care about hiking in the dark?
Regardless - Hi Colette and Rachel - we are thinking of you.

Looking north toward Mount Garfield and South Twin - did it really take six hours for us to get from here to there?

Like the back of a reptile. the ridge leads down from Mount Bond over the Bond Cliffs and down to the valley.

 Thanks to Rachel - our photoshop wizard - here is what you see from the top of Bond. Way cool. (click on image to get bigger view)

Mile 17.9. 4 pm - from here it is all down hill (mostly)

At 4 pm, it is approaching his customary nap time, and such needs must be observed. Atop South Twin Mountain (4900 feet) after a rigorous 1000 foot scramble in .8 miles, Ben catches a few Z's with the presidentials behind him.

The clouds have lifted in the late afternoon and our circuit is revealed. Lafayette the highest point on the Ridge (our old friend Mount Moosilauke lurks in the back left) and Mount Garfield to the right.

Here is a full width view of the Franconia Ridge (thanks Rachel) - it is like you were there, minus the sweat and the wind.

Turning left. this is our path out.  We go over Mount Bond -the tree covered knob just to the right of of the sign.

His nap interrupted, Ben descends the trail towards Mount Bond - Pressies in the background. In the next hour Chris will talk loudly to Ben about anything to keep him from falling asleep.

Mile 14.5. 12:30 pm - You call this a trail?

What kind trail goes down a creek bed over boulders? After summiting Mount Garfield we hop and lurch and stumble along the Garfield Ridge Trail.  Time is starting to hang over this sojourn. We figure we have until about 8:45 pm for daylight. 15 hours seems ample time to go 30 miles - a mere 2 mph. We think 14 hours is more likely.. The fastest crazies - according to the web - can scamper around this circuit in 6:45 (presumably with marshmallows for knees) . But here we are making nowhere close to 2 mph on this ridiculous 6.5 miles of boulders and up and down masquerading as the Appalachian trail (imagine doing this with packs). Later on at Galehead Hut - (17 miles and already 2:45 pm) we make a fateful decision - daylight be damned, we are doing this circuit.

Mile 10.5 10:30 am. In the clouds

Spirits are high but the clouds are low as we approach Mount Lafayette. Check out Chris's old man knee brace. This is Chris's fourth time on Mount Lafayette and he has yet to snag a view of the three mile long ridge -  all above timberline.

Ben was taken -almost literally - by the wind. As befits the plight of late adolescent, it was, alas, blowing the wrong way - against his path. Life is indeed hard.

Mile 5.6 (8am) Atop the ridge

At 4200 feet, Mt Flume is southernmost on the franconia ridge. In top photo is our route along the ridge. Mt Lafayette - at 5250 the big guy - is in the clouds. Below.:  behind Ben, Lincoln and i-93 are just waking up.

A little bit later, Ben can mark his progress up the ridge from the valley below.

Mile 4.6 (7:45) So far so good

The sun is coming up on the kancamangus highway. . The Bondcliffs - our descent path - is in the far background. All is fresh.

(by the way - click on any picture to enlarge it)

5:40 am. Mile zero Lincoln Woods Parking Lot

Chris takes on some liquid fortification on Saturday July 9, 2011 before he and Ben embark on the Pemigewasset Loop: a 32 mile circuit of the Pemigewasset Wilderness in the White Mountains.The Pemi Wildernes is 200 (?)square miles of formerly heavily lumbered areas and the headwaters for the Pemigewasset River The circuit runs clockwise with 8800 feet of total elevation gain over the Franconia Ridge along the Appalachian Trail, over South Twin Mountain and (departing from AT) over Mount Bond and the Bondcliffs. It returns to the parking area via a five mile long former logging railroad bed (important detail). The Whites and all that granite are a psychic home of sorts - Chris has been coming up here since college days and dragging the family at any chance. Why try to do this in a day? Well Chris is 50, the clock is ticking and Ben has been running to get in shape. Time to give it a shot.