Date: 2007-08-25
From: Liberty Springs Tentsite

To: AMC Zealand Falls Hut
Miles today: 17.4

Today will probably go down as one of the scariest days I've had on the trail (at least I hope this was the worst and nothing scarier awaits me still). The day started out as a typical day on the trail. I wasn't in much of rush to start early, since the original plan was to go to the AMC Galehead Hut or Guyot Campsite, for about 11-13 miles. I wanted to take my time hiking the Franconia Ridge, which allows for some of the best views on the AT in the Whites.From the Liberty Springs Campsite to the start of the Franconia Ridge, it was a short 3 tenths of a mile. Unfortunately when I got up to the ridge this morning, visibility was only about 200 ft., hardly ideal for admiring far off mountains and valleys. I wasn't too disappointed though, since I had hiked this area last Sept. in ideal conditions, and had seen some spectacular views then.As I hiked the ridge today I focused more on the varied and diverse, alpine vegetation. The ecosysytem above tree line in the White Mtns. is quite fragile and beautiful. You will see plants here that you will never encounter anywhere else. I made a mental note to learn more about this unique ecosystem, when I return home. I went up and over three 4000+ ft. peaks on the Franconia ridge - Little Haystack (4760 ft.), Lincoln (5089 ft.), and Lafayette (5249 ft.). By the time I reached the summit of Mt. Lafayette the winds were gusting and there was a light rainfall blowing sideways from the west. As I descended Lafayette the rain stopped and the cloud cover seemed to lift a bit as the sun started to break through.Hiking down off of Franconia Ridge was a steep descent which entailed stepping down from rock to rock. Many steps are sometimes 12-24 inches which puts a lot of strain on the knees and I sometimes found myself stepping down backwards holding on to whatever handhold I could find. This went on most of the afternoon as I went up and over Mount Garfield (4488 ft.) and eventually reached Galehead Hut around 2:30 pm.I was beat at this point, but it was too early in the day to stop, so I took advantage of the all you can eat 2.00 bowl of soup at this hut and took a long break. I thought I could possibly push on to Guyot campsite, another 3 miles or camp near Zeacliff Pond 6.5 miles from the hut. My first choice was Zeacliff Pond since it was a .7 mile hike off the AT to Guyot campsite.Starting from the hut there was a rediculously steep climb to South Twin Mtn. (4902 ft.) and then a level ridge walk. By the time I reached the trail to Guyot campsite, I felt fine and still had plenty of daylight, so I continued to Zeacliff Pond. Arriving at Zeacliff Pond I was disappointed that most of the shorline of the pond was a mucky mess with hardly any level ground for a tent. I was losing daylight and could hear a few rumbles of thunder far off. I was considering hiking another 1.6 miles to Zealand Hut, when all of a sudden the storm was right over me, with some serious rain, thunder and lightning. It was too late to put up my tent so I hurried to cover my pack and started hiking at a breakneck speed to make a run for the hut.The problem I was faced with was that I was on the ridge at a high elevation, definitely not the place to be in a thunderstorm. The thunder was so close it was deafening and the lightning seemed to be all around me. Fortunately I was not totally out in the open, and decided the best thing to do was to crouch down, making a smaller target for the lightning, and try and wait it out. I can tell you this, I was scared, and praying like I've never prayed, to get through it ok. Eventually the storm moved off a bit, and I made a dash for the hut, with continuing flashes of lightning nearby and a steady rain coming down. That last mile and a half was real torture, as it got darker and I had to negotiate many slippery rocks to get off the ridge and follow the trail as best I could.After what seemed like an eternity, I finally made it to the hut, quite soaked but safe and enormously relieved. The hut croo let me do a "work for stay", and after putting on some dry clothes, I was able to have some of the leftovers from dinner, and complete a job the croo needed done. I later wandered out on to the covered porch and watched nature put on a grand fireworks display as the lightning continued to light up the sky in the distance. I now have total respect for the awesome power of these mountains and thank God I can get up tomorrow and hike another day.