Our summer trip this year had us visiting our very first AMC Hut at Zealand Falls, knocking another, as yet unvisited, hut off our list at Galehead, and finally reaching Greenleaf, a hut we first visited last year.
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The trail to Zealand Falls Hut
Though rains the previous week had dampened the trails, we had some great weather as we set off from the AMC Highland Center at the Avalon Trailhead. We crossed a crystal clear stream just before heading up a steep grade for the first two miles changing over to the A-Z Trail approximately over one and a quarter mile from the trailhead. Just after noon, we crossed our second stream marked with small cairns mid-stream. Moving past a toppled tree and across some well-worn log decks we continued the climb towards Zealand Falls. A short stretch of downhill and another stream crossing brought us closer to the top of the incline. As we finally crested the initial steep climb at the two-mile mark, we were looking forward to some downslope and getting our wind back. The slope was initially as steep downward as it had been coming up but leveled out after about three-quarters of a mile. With more level ground we made our way through flooded sections of trail, across more log decks and both larger and smaller streams. Along the way, we changed to the Zealand Trail at just under the four-mile mark as we started the last climb up to the Zealand Hut. As we approached the hut, the dirt paths gave way to cut stairs and a final rise up to the Zealand Falls Hut.
Life at the Hut
We were practically giddy as we walked into the hut to check in. Lying on a bench out front was a through hiker who had come all the way up from Springer Mountain in Georgia. She was spending a few days at Zealand Falls to recover from some blister that the White Mountains had inflicted. Through hikers are allowed to sleep on the floor of the AMC Huts in exchange for doing some work around the huts like cleaning dishes, sweeping or folding blankets. Initially, a friend of ours had intended to join us on this hike, and we had a reservation for five people for the night. Rather than let it go unused, we invited the through hiker to take our open reservation and enjoy a bed for a night as well as the included dinner and breakfast that it comes with. She was very appreciative, and it made us appreciate the two-way benefit of Trail Magic. The turkey dinner with all the fixings filled us all up and was an excellent reward for the days hiking.
As the light started to fade, we found our bunks with Matthieu up in the rafters on the fourth bunk from the floor, and let sleep take us.