At 5:30am I grabbed my stuff and went to the common area. My water reservoir took a leak into my pack over night...about half a liter was sitting in the bottom of my bag, which was (not) awesome.
After a bad cup of coffee I made my way back up to Lafayette. The next “segment” of my hike would be from Lafayette to Galehead Hut. It was about six and a half miles. I expected it to take four hours.
Pointless ups and downs...I remember that phrase being used when reading about the Pemi loop. This is where I felt it the most.
I filled up my water at Galehead, had a snack and prepared for the steepest section of the trail which gained about 1100 feet in .8 miles...it was pretty much a straight climb up to South Twin, but from there it leveled off and was quite pleasant.
Next up...The Bonds, which are what I had been looking forward to the most. The 360 degree views at this point were absolutely breathtaking...clear skies, the perfect temperature and very little wind...this is where I took the time to soak it all in.
From Bondcliff it was a gradual descent to the Wilderness Trail and then back on the Lincoln Woods Trail. Once below the tree line, I wasn’t sure how many miles I needed to walk to complete the hike. I still don’t know how many miles it was, but I can tell you that it was “ a lot” and that the weird lady who gave me “Finding Dory” graham crackers with three miles to go put a smile on my face until I got to the parking lot and discovered that I had lost my wallet (again).
