Tom, Field, and Willey - 10/10/08

[skibum9995]

Date Hiked: 10/10/08

Trails Hiked: Avalon, A-Z, Mt Tom Spur, Willey Range

Total Distance: 10.0 mi

Difficulty: Easy to Moderate

Conditions: Trails in great shape

Trip Report:
I decided its time to start hiking again after taking a month off and choose Tom, Field, and Willey to get back into it and gauge my fitness after the layoff as it's fairly short with decent grades. I'm also trying to finish up the 48 before ski season starts. I got to the trailhead, had a snack and started hiking at 9:30. The trail up the the Mt Tom Spur was generally smooth and covered in leaves, with a gentle grade that steepened slightly as it gained elevation.

The spur up to Tom was a bit damp in spots and I slipped a lot and crashed twice, mostly because I'm cheap and won't buy new shoes even though I have over 1200 miles on this pair and the soles are smooth. I got to the top of Tom at 10:31, a little slower than I had hoped and after a 6 min snack break on Tom I headed the 0.9 mi over to Field then on to Willey. I got there at 11:32 stopped to take some photos and get a bagel out of my pack before retracing my steps back to Field while eating. I passed a lot of families with small children out for a hike up to Avalon. I arrived back at the parking lot at 12:47, a bit short of my 3 hour goal but a good hike with nice weather.

 

[MichaelJ]

This hike is 10.0 miles with 3,400 feet of vertical and a book time of 6:40 ... to have done it in 3:17 is pretty impressive! Were you running up on the ridge? Did you stop on Avalon for the great views?

 

[skibum9995]

This hike is 10.0 miles with 3,400 feet of vertical and a book time of 6:40 ... to have done it in 3:17 is pretty impressive! Were you running up on the ridge? Did you stop on Avalon for the great views?

I wasn't really running, but jogged the last mile. I stopped for 6 mins on Tom, 6 more on Willey and 4 on Avalon. I don't really like stopping much, especially since I'm training for a Pemi Loop in a couple weeks, as long as the weather cooperates.

 

[Johnskiismore]

That's a nice hike, views from Avalon are terrific

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

You must be in crazy good shape from hiking the AT...I would never be able to do that hike practically nonstop at that pace..What is a Pemi loop?

 

[skibum9995]

You must be in crazy good shape from hiking the AT...I would never be able to do that hike practically nonstop at that pace..What is a Pemi loop?

Pemi Loop is a 31.5 mile hike with somewhere around 9,000 ft of gain. Start/Finish is at Lincoln Woods off the Kanc. It goes over Franconia and Garfield ridges, up S. Twin, on to Guyot, across the Bonds and out the Wilderness Trail back to LW.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Pemi Loop is a 31.5 mile hike with somewhere around 9,000 ft of gain. Start/Finish is at Lincoln Woods off the Kanc. It goes over Franconia and Garfield ridges, up S. Twin, on to Guyot, across the Bonds and out the Wilderness Trail back to LW.

Wow...out of curiosity..what's the farthest you hiked in one day on the AT?

 

[skibum9995]

Wow...out of curiosity..what's the farthest you hiked in one day on the AT?

42 miles

 

[Mike P.]

Good luck on the pemi loop. I tried it in 1996 & got as far as Galehead & ended up heading down Twin Brook. Not much shorter but without the final1400 -1500 feet of elevation. Garfeild Ridge is mentally challenging for me, my least favorite tral in NH that I've been on. (I've been on many but not the link which is another trail many people do not care for)