[Bill Menke's Journal for January 12, 2009]. Gigi, Nate and I leave Zealand Falls Hut at 6:00 AM sharp, me after doffing down as many cups of hot chocolate as I can. The sky is overcast and pretty dark, with just a little light from the setting moon. The temperature is 3 degrees Fahrenheit, but fortunately the air is pretty calm. I'm wearing a fleece jacket and fleece pants over two pairs of thermal underwear, heavy gloves, a light balaclava and crampons strapped onto my snow boots. I'm also carrying a daypack with food, water, extra clothes and a set of snowshoes. And I have a set of ski poles to give me stability in the snow and to allow my arms to assist my legs. Gigi and Nate are equipped similarly.

The light is enough for me to see the trail, if dimly, even without my headlight, which I leave switched off. We huff up the steep trail to the Zeacliff, crossing the frozen Zealand Creek at a narrow point well above the falls. A couple more inches of snow have fallen during the night, to add to the three feet already on the ground. This part of the trail has been traveled yesterday, and is well tamped down, aiding our progress. The snow also encrusts all the trees (which are mostly conifers). I am leading the way, and use my pole to knock snow off of overhanging branches ahead of me, lest it fall down our necks as we brush by. The exertion warms me up, so much so that I unzip my jacket for a while.

The sky has brightened noticeably by the time we reach the Zeacliff. We stop for a minutes and eat a quick breakfast - for me, a few sips of water and some gorp. We can see our first 4000-footer, Zealand Mountain, ahead of us. A rocky spur is nearby, but the forested summit looks quite distant. The spur has some steep uphill sections. I really have to kink in the toe points of my crampons and push on my poles to get up. Some open spots atop the spur allow for some nice view of neighboring mountains, now visible in the now-bright light. We keep a steady pace along the trail until we reach a junction with a spur trail to Zealand Summit. The time is now 9AM. We have been hiking for three hours. We walk this more-or-less flat spur trail to the summit, which is an unremarkable spot among the trees marked only with a sign. We then return to the junction and switch to snowshoes, for the trail from this point on is unbroken. A Canada Jay flies up to me, looking for handouts.

The hike down the far side of Zealand Mountain is easy, even with having to break trail, for its all downhill and quite steep in places so that my snowshoes are sliding. The fact that we will have to huff up that flank on the way back does not escape me! The trail then begins to ascend the flank of Guyot mountain. It's a long haul, so we take turns breaking trail, each for ten minutes or so. As we ascend, the trees slowly become shorter and shorter, until they are less tall than us. We have a good view of the surrounding mountains. Nate is concerned about whether we are on the right trail, so we take a series of compass and GPS fixes. They convince us, unfortunately with something less than complete certainty that we are on track. The trees continue to thin first to mere stubble on the ground and then to bare rock, and we can see Guyot summit. It is a bare, rocky knoll, with the trail edged with low walls of boulders, punctuated with an occasional larger cairn. We're pretty exposed here and the summit is windy enough to be rather unpleasant. We quickly head down the far side, to where the trees are again about neck high.

There we eat lunch - more water and gorp for me - and discuss our options. The time is 12 Noon. The map says that West Bond is 1.0 mile distant. We had planned to turn around at 1PM, or 1:30 at the latest. Given that it has taken us six hours to cover about 4.5 miles, we are not optimistic that our goal is possible. We're all pretty tired, too, from breaking trail through snow three or four feet deep. Bu we press on for a while, to a little past the Bond-West Bond trail junction. There a steep downhill section almost causes Gigi and I to give up, for we worry about ascending it on the way back. Nate, however, urges us onward. I take over breaking trail, and set down a section that is unreassuringly downhill. Finally, however, the trail starts to ascend and we get a glimpse of the summit of West Bond. Its a white cone with trees up to just short of a rocky summit. It looks further off to me than the 0.3 mile that it must be, but that's probably because the trees near the summit are tiny. We plow ahead, again with me breaking trail, first up a moderate slope and then up a very steep and deep snow bank that I'm hoping is just a few tens of yards below the summit. Most inconveniently, my right snowshoe falls off. I struggle on for a few yards, pushing my ski poles - upside down - into the snow bank for handholds. Nate passes me, a pounds me out some steps. He confirms that the summit is indeed just a few feet ahead. I find a perch to reaffix my snowshoe, and then join Nate at the top. Gigi arrives a few moments later. It's 12:57.

The summit is just a few yards wide and commands a 360 degree view of the surrounding mountains that is really quite remarkable. The afternoon has brightened, with deep blue sky showing between scattered clouds. Some of the neighboring mountains are free of clouds and others are beautifully draped by them. I stand on a flat boulder at the summit, snapping pictures. Gigi poses for one. That's my last photo on the summit, for the camera battery has run down and I cannot bear the thought of changing it in the cold wind. This is Gigi's forty-something winter 4000-footer. She is elated, having knocked two more off the list today (Zealand was the other). I'm happy to have made the summit, too, but I don't want to linger. Back down I go. I hardly notice the steep section that had so daunted Gigi and me, as I head back.

The trek across Guyot is even more brutal than before, for the wind has picked up considerably. Furthermore, drifting snow has obscured much of our outbound tracks, making picking our way back across the rocks a bit tricky. We stop for a snack when we're back in the trees. Nate lets me sip some of his juice, which is a good deal more refreshing than my now very icy water. The time is now 2PM.

I'm now leading the way, and I stop occasionally for Gigi and Nate to catch up. We make Zealand summit at about 3PM. The steep sections down Zealand's rocky spur are a challenge. I am reduced to sliding on my side, using the edges of the snowshoes to steer. I reach the Zeacliff a little ahead of Gigi and Nate. The sun has just set, and the clouds on the western horizon are beautiful pinks and oranges. I manage to exert the willpower to stop aand change the canera battery, so that I can take a few last photographs. As soon as Gigia nd Nate arrive, we head down the last section of trail to the Hut. The light is pretty dim now and I have to pay very careful attention to my footing. I reach the porch of the hut at 4:56PM, and take a final photo of the valley before taking off my snowshoes and going inside.

About 11 hours, in all.