The plan for day 2 was to take Ethan Pond Trail over to Thoreau Falls, then back to Zealand Trail and out to the trailhead. It would be around 7 miles, but only around 500 feet of elevation gain. I didn’t know a lot about Ethan Pond Trail, other than I had hiked a couple of miles of it from the other end. And I really hadn’t heard anyone talk about Thoreau Falls. Likely because it’s a minimum of 5 miles from any trailhead. But it was a largely flat hike, so let’s go!
A couple of notes, that I forgot to include in Part 1 –
Note 1 – As we descended from Zeacliff back to the hut, we encountered two hikers ascending to Zeacliff. We stopped and had the normal hiker chitchat, views are great, yes it’s steep the whole way, etc. A few moments later, they came back down, heading back to the hut. “You’ve inspired us to bail.” Possibly the funniest words said to me on a hike. They decided they’d hit Zeacliff the next day with more time. A wise choice, especially since we only made it back only 15 minutes before dinner.
Note 2 – Overnight apparently our hut was raided by another hut croo! I completely missed it thanks to my meds and noise cancelling headphones, but there was a loud bang and footsteps. And much discussion in the morning about how another croo had raided the hut and stolen the hut’s “secret object”. Hilarious to me that I missed it completely.
And now back to Part 2
The croo wakes you up around 6:30 AM for breakfast at 7. I woke up around 6 anyway thanks to an early night and other folks already moving around. We had breakfast, refilled our water, packed up our stuff and were ready to head out by 8:15.
Day light view from the hut (looks similar to the moon the night before!).
We started by retracing our steps down to the lower falls, and took our “starting selfie”. What’s my hair doing? Who knows, there aren’t a lot of mirrors in the hut, okay?
Retracing our steps a bit more, then turning right onto Ethan Pond Trail. The trail was GLORIOUS. Flat, cleared of debris, no rocks, no roots. We were able to just walk and enjoy the forest around us.
That’s Rainbow on the gloriously flat trail. The large boulder is a glacial erratic, frequently seen throughout the White Mountains as everything here was at one time covered by glaciers, including the tops of the mountains, which is partly why so many of them have rounded tops rather than pointy. A picture of a dead birch. Included because I learned during the naturalist talk that birch trees only live about 150 years. 200 years ago this entire area was completely logged and then multiple fires cleared the area to a barren wasteland. The first trees to grow in similar terrain are birch trees. So all the birch trees here were planted at roughly the same time, and are now dying at the same time, as other tree species fill in the space. It’s wild to think that only 200 years ago, there was nothing here. It often feels like the trees have always been there. And getting on my soapbox for a second, they feel like they’ll always be there, but they won’t, not without our help and protection. (gets off soapbox)
Another photo in that gallery shows where a woodpecker went to TOWN on a tree trunk. And a view of Zealand Mountain through the trees (including the falls again, if you look carefully).
Then the big surprise for me, the trail opened up and gave us beautiful views of Zealand Notch, Zealand Mountain, and other mountain ranges.
Zealand Notch with the Hancocks in the distance.
Since they weren’t ON the trail, I was really LICHEN these rocks. Sorry not sorry.
Did you know lichen are a combination of fungi and algae? Basically, fungi “farm” the algae in their cells to give them nutrients. Lichen is also the first thing to grow in a harsh environment (like say Zealand Notch after a glacier, or after devastating fires), since it has very little needs. Then lichen provides the bio matter for things like moss, and eventually larger plants, and then trees!
This whole stretch of trail was just really gorgeous. Flat and trip-hazard-free, you could just look around. And there was plenty to look at. First photo in the gallery is looking back at Zealand and if you zoom in, you can see Zeacliff. The last photo is looking up to Whitewall Mount.
The weather was perfect as well. We just kept saying over and over how nice and how unexpected this was.
Then the trail goes back into the woods for a short stretch. Delightfully, ferny woods. Then the junction to Thoreau Falls trail, and a sign for the Pemigewasset Wilderness. Then you’re at the falls!
As I mentioned in part 1, water levels are currently very low. While we were enjoying the falls, another hiker (the only one we saw at the falls), commented how low the water was. I will definitely be back in the spring to see the falls again. Side note, I think we saw maybe 3 other hikers the entire day once we left the hut. I love hiking the “less traveled” trails.
We had the falls to ourselves for quite a bit. We stretched out and relaxed and had a snack. The view from the falls was just as nice as the falls themselves. So cool to see this other side of the Bonds, which Rainbow and I hiked together in 2023.
Hitchhiker on my pants.
Then it was time to head back to the trailhead.
One more pic in the notch, featuring Rainbow.
Mushrooms, plants, and caterpillars, oh my.
My feet really started to feel it towards the end of this hike. It seems like I’m due for some new shoes as they really hurt on the last hike as well. I was a bit whiny on the last couple of miles, sorry Rainbow!
All in all, this was a really wonderful trip. Weather turned out to be perfect. The trails were amazing and unexpected. The company, as always, was great. I would definitely do this one again.
My Take 