After a prematurely aborted attempt back in September, the timing seemed good for me to attempt a pemi-loop. A solo winter pemi-loop at that. I’d been watching trail conditions and weather reports for the last couple weeks and the stars were definitely aligned.  

Day 1 (Dec 29th) : The long one

The plan was to get to the Garfield campsite on day 1; roughly a 22km hike. A lofty goal considering that I was carrying a 45lbs pack and that I’d gotten a late 9:30AM start (with an early 5:00AM departure from home, it was difficult for me to get started earlier).

The real hiking starts here.

The day is beautiful.

The journey starts off well enough; on the way up to mount Flume, my first target, I’m feeling strong. The pack doesn’t feel all that heavy and my pace is good. Then comes Liberty which I dispatch relatively quickly as well. Things start to slow down on the way up to Lincoln. The un-abating wind which hits me non stop when I get above tree live takes a toll.

At the top of Mount Flume.

From the ridge, looking back at both Flume and Liberty which I hiked earlier in the day.

Looking at Lincoln from LIberty.

On the top of Lincoln, having trouble staying on my feet, I look towards Lafayette then back at the setting sun. I already know that I’ll be getting off the ridge in the dark. And it won’t be fun …

Looking towards Lafayette with the sun getting dangerously low

Un oh ... I'll be coming down Lafayette towards Garfield in the dark ...

Mighty Washington in the back

As I hit the summit of Lafayette, it’s almost dark. Most people start going down towards the hut at this point. Therefore most don’t know (including me) that the ridge continues for another kilometer or so above tree line. Just my luck, if I thought the winds were bad on Lincoln and Lafayette, tonight the winds are even harsher on the north end of the ridge. As I try to hurry towards the tree line, I feel the corners of my eyes, unprotected by goggles because it’s now dark, start to freeze severely. More than once, I’m thrown to the ground by the winds. Because of the darkness, I often lose track of the trail. Finally I hit tree line, mercifully, exactly on target.

Hiking in the dark

Cold and dark

Then begins the moderately steep descent towards Garfield Pond which sits roughly at 3800 feet. A cold night is in view; -25 celsius I’m told by hikers who also spent the night out. I’m exhausted; making it to the Garfield campsite, still 2 miles away won’t be possible. I’d still have to hike up Garfield which is definitely not in the cards for tonight. I setup my tent, boil some water, eat a cliff bar and try to get some sleep. The night will be short, shivering for most of it.

My setup for the cold first night out

Tally for the day: Over 10 hours of hiking, 4 summits (Flume, Liberty, Lincoln, Lafayette), 20 km (12.64 miles), 5500 feet of elevation gain and 2800 feet of elevation loss.

Day 2 (Dec 30th): The exhausting one

I wake up feeling surprisingly well given the horrible night I just went through. My legs aren’t sore and my back feels fine. After breaking camp I set out for Garfield. Immediately, I realize that stopping where I did the night before was a good thing. The 600 foot ascent towards Garfield is immediate, and somewhat long. I also realize that my legs won’t bring me as far today; they aren’t sore, but they feel like jello.

The summit of Garfield tells me what I already know; the weather is horrible and there will be no views today. I’ll be spending the day in the clouds. Small consolation, it’s not nearly as cold as the day before.

The odd view at the top of Garfield

Once at the top of Garfield, I descend back to 3400 feet at which point starts the horrible Garfield Ridge Trail. An unending series of ups and downs which mercifully stops at Galehead hut. At the hut, I debate with myself if I should do the .4 miles to go tag Galehead. I decide that I’d feel silly if I didn’t. I remove my pack, and fly up, literally, towards the nondescript and boring Galehead mountain summit.

Galehead hut, closed for the winter.

The very un-noteworthy summit of Galehead

Then starts one of the hardest sections of the loop; the ascent towards the 4900 foot South Twin mountain. It involves 1000 feet of ascension in .8 miles. I resorted to use the trick used by mountaineers: 50 steps then rest; 50 steps then rest, … At the top of South Twin, I decide that tagging North Twin wouldn’t be wise; the 1 mile hike in the opposite direction of the Guyot campsite (my target for the day) coupled with the late time of day means that it will have to wait for another time.

The top of South Twin.

Sign at the top of South Twin. I'll be taking the Bondscliff trail.

The surreal ambiance at Guyot

Back to my pack after walking to the top of Guyot

The rest of the trail towards the Guyot campsite is easy enough. I tag Guyot thinking that it counts as a 4000er; it doesn’t … oh well. I arrive at the Guyot shelter just before dark and spend the night there, a much warmer one, with 4 other hikers from Connecticut.

A Whites lean to!

A plaque on the shelter at the Guyot campsite

2 floors in this one.

Tally for the day: 7.5 hours of hiking, 3 summits (Garfield, Galehead, South Twin), 13.5 km (8.3 miles), 3000 feet of elevation gain and 2600 feet of elevation loss.

Day 3 (Dec 31st) : The painful one

The last day is supposed to be the easiest. I’ll be going over the 3 Bonds (West, Bond and Bondcliff) followed by the long descent towards my car. But for some reason, my boots decide that they are about to hurt me and hurt me hard.

The day starts off with the ascent out of Guyot camp followed by the detour towards West Bond. As with the day before, I’ll be in the clouds. Worse yet, the weather is close to freezing, so the snow is sticky and my micro-spikes are continuously clogged. Back on the main trail after doing West Bond, I realize that my heel is hurting. I take off my boot and realize that a blister is forming … not much I can do; I put on a blister patch, tighten up my boots and keep going.

Taking a breather

Next is Bond. Again, I’m in the clouds. Then comes Bondcliff … in the clouds.

Moving towards Bond.

Summit of Bond.

When I get back below the tree line, I stop again to look at my heel; it’s getting worse. At this point, I still have about 14km to hike back to my car. A long and painful one. I need at least 2 hours more than I would normally need to get back. When I take off my boot, I’m presented with the blister to rule them all. I’ll have a good excuse to spend the next few days in slippers at work …

Lincoln Woods trail ... long, boring, straight and flat.

At a river crossing

Finish line: 55km in 3 days.

The after math .... no wonder that 3rd day took me so much time.

Tally for the day: Close to 7 hours of hiking, 3 summits (West Bond, Bond, Bondcliff), 20 km (12.6 miles), 1000 feet of elevation gain and 4100 feet of elevation loss.

Other info

I always appreciate when other hikers share some of the technical info about their hikes.

Pack contents
  • Gregory Palissade 80 : 5lbs
  • Mountain Hardwear Lamina -30 Long : It’s a 5.9lbs bag. I got the long version so that I could stow my boots and other stuff at the bottom of it during the night to keep everything warm. 
  • Marmot Eos 1P tent : 3lbs
  • Big Agnes insultated Air Core : ~23 oz
  • A wonderfully comfy Cocoon ultralight air-core pillow : 3 oz
  • Cooking : 1 liter of white gas, a MSR simmer lite stove and a titanium cooking pot to boil water and melt snow
  • Food : 5 dehydrated packs of food, a lot of snacks (I don’t eat a full meal while hiking; I just snack) which includes dried fruits, beef jerky, a cliff bars, cliff shots and jujubes.
  • Misc stuff: matches, spare batteries, 2 head lamps, duct tape, large plastic tie-wraps, fire starter, camera, misc medication (nsaid, benadryl, aspirin, …), first aid kit
  • Clothing : spare socks and spare mits/gloves.
  • MSR Evo Ascent snowshoes (4lbs), micro-spikes and crampons (2lbs): I used micro-spikes for 100% of the trip. 
Unfortunately, my pack broke on me on the last day, the screws for the hip belt seemingly broken … My shoulders are sore today because of it … I’ll have to bring it back as this was only it’s second outing. To say the least, at the price I paid for this pack, I was not impressed …

Annotated pemi-loop panorama