Following Atticus: Forty-Eight High Peaks, One Little Dog, and an Extraordinary Friendship by Tom Ryan is published by William Morrow. It tells the story of my adventures with Atticus M. Finch, a little dog of some distinction. You can also find our column in the NorthCountry News.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Wind Postpones Bonds

These are the conditions on Mt. Washington at 8:00 this morning. This is the reason I put off the Bonds Traverse for a day...at least one of the reasons. The wind is a little bit strong for me to be taking Atticus along the highly exposed Bondcliff, Bond, West Bond and Guyot. I had expected the wind to be a bit lower today from earlier forecasts. As you can see from the bottom of the diagram, tomorrow's forecast looks much more promising when it comes to the wind.
Another reason to put off this long hike is due to strategy. The next few days are not going to be perfect but they are good hiking days. Hiking the 24.5 miles today would assure that Atticus and I would not be hiking for a day or two after due to recovery. By putting off the Bonds today I can do something like Tom, Field and Willey and get more peaks without losing a good hiking day.
I got up at 5:00 to check the Higher Summits forecast on Washington, saw it was not looking like I had hoped, went back to bed and slept some more. Now it's time for me and the Little Bug to get going. Have a good day.