Rhody Seth
Active member
Two friends and I did an overnight at the Guyot campsite last weekend, over the Bonds on Day 1 and exiting over the Twins on Day 2. We hiked in Friday and the big storm was forecast to arrive during the night/next day so we were looking at potentially 8-12" of snow to contend with on Day 2.
Day 1 featured hard packed trails which worked fine with microspikes. Good conversation with good friends makes those Lincoln Woods miles go by quick and the views when we arrived at Bondcliff were spectacular as always. We ran into two different people wrapping up their winter 48 on Bondcliff. At the campsite it proved harder to find a suitable place to hang our hammocks than expected. The slope was very steep in most places and while there were plenty of tent platforms, the snow was mounded on top in such a way that it made hanging awkward. Additionally this area had been hard hit by storms which had required them to rebuild the shelter and took down a lot of potentially hanging trees. My buddy Rob and I both found places to hang in the end and I have to hand it to Rob for bringing his own GoPro and filming - I ended up not taking a lot of hammock footage but he picked up the slack. With the storm arriving at some point we were not surprised to be the only ones making use of camp that night.
The next morning we woke up to fog and then drizzly rain which was frankly worse than snow. Rob and I took our sweet time breaking down our hammocks which actually worked out in the end as the precip had finally switched over to snow as we began hiking towards the Twinway. Other than the exposed Guyot section, snowshoes were the traction of choice for the day. With temps in the low 30s I was very comfortable all day in my wool base layer and rain jacket but I battled cold hands for much of the descent. Between that and everything getting iced over, I didn't get as much footage as I would have liked of that incredible snow. It was really coming down as we descended and while we were all exhausted, it was also a bit magical hiking in that much fresh powder.
We wrapped up the hike with 2.5 miles of road walk on Haystack Rd and which seemingly went on forever in our tired state. A little bit of luck - as we neared the car the storm seemed to peter out and made the drive back to Lincoln Woods less awful then it could have been. Interestingly, there was a lot more snow up in Twin Mountain than there was down in Lincoln, which only had seemed to get an inch compared to the 4" we had hiked through. You never know who is going to get hit with what. Overall a great trip to wrap up my official winter season, bringing my Winter 48 total up to #33.
Day 1 featured hard packed trails which worked fine with microspikes. Good conversation with good friends makes those Lincoln Woods miles go by quick and the views when we arrived at Bondcliff were spectacular as always. We ran into two different people wrapping up their winter 48 on Bondcliff. At the campsite it proved harder to find a suitable place to hang our hammocks than expected. The slope was very steep in most places and while there were plenty of tent platforms, the snow was mounded on top in such a way that it made hanging awkward. Additionally this area had been hard hit by storms which had required them to rebuild the shelter and took down a lot of potentially hanging trees. My buddy Rob and I both found places to hang in the end and I have to hand it to Rob for bringing his own GoPro and filming - I ended up not taking a lot of hammock footage but he picked up the slack. With the storm arriving at some point we were not surprised to be the only ones making use of camp that night.
The next morning we woke up to fog and then drizzly rain which was frankly worse than snow. Rob and I took our sweet time breaking down our hammocks which actually worked out in the end as the precip had finally switched over to snow as we began hiking towards the Twinway. Other than the exposed Guyot section, snowshoes were the traction of choice for the day. With temps in the low 30s I was very comfortable all day in my wool base layer and rain jacket but I battled cold hands for much of the descent. Between that and everything getting iced over, I didn't get as much footage as I would have liked of that incredible snow. It was really coming down as we descended and while we were all exhausted, it was also a bit magical hiking in that much fresh powder.
We wrapped up the hike with 2.5 miles of road walk on Haystack Rd and which seemingly went on forever in our tired state. A little bit of luck - as we neared the car the storm seemed to peter out and made the drive back to Lincoln Woods less awful then it could have been. Interestingly, there was a lot more snow up in Twin Mountain than there was down in Lincoln, which only had seemed to get an inch compared to the 4" we had hiked through. You never know who is going to get hit with what. Overall a great trip to wrap up my official winter season, bringing my Winter 48 total up to #33.
