Our crew consisted of 3 adults and 4 dedicated scouts from BSA Troop 26 of Pepperell Massachusetts. We started our trip with a morning of Ziplining with Alpine Adventures on Saturday Sept 10th.
Our journey to the Mount Bondcliff summit was a challenge, we hiked in about 6 miles and camped off the Bondcliff trail on Saturday late afternoon. Got up at 6am Sunday morning after enjoying a relaxing night of a steady rain preceded by a thunderstorm. Lightning struck about 1/4 mile away, a close one. After a quick breakfast, and breaking camp, we started at 8am up the remaining 3.2 miles only to have another rainstorm hit us hard. Heavy downpours soaked us to the core and a few more close by lightning strikes. Sheltered under a tarp for about 30 minutes and refilled water bottles with the rain water running off the tarp. Rain stopped after about 2 hrs and the sun began to fight its way through the clouds. We reached the summit a little after 11am. Winds were gusting to over an estimated 60mph. We managed to get our 20′ flag pole setup and 5’x8′ flag raised after a brief ceremony to honor those we lost 15 years ago today. The 1-1/2″ pvc pole was yielding to the wind but never broke. We had 3 ropes securing the pole at 10′ and 15′ from the base. Several hikers came through and thanked us for participating and making the effort. We all felt it was nothing compared to the sacrifices made by so many others 15 years ago. Our flag flew from noon till 2pm and then we lowered it and started our way back down to base camp to get our overnight gear and backpacks to finish the hike out. We arrived back at the Lincoln woods trail head about 7:20pm. About 21 miles round trip, including a side hike to bag Mt Bond. It was nice to see the New Hampshire National Guard fly a UH60 helicopter by the peaks for a photo op. Proud day for all of us to be able to participate in such an honorable event.
