Bondcliff Loop

[RemoteTrout]

25-miles, four 4,000 footers, three days, two nights, and one calf-killer hike!

DAY 1 9/18/04
Jim, Christina, Erica, & I managed to avoid the rain on Sat and hike in 5-miles up the Wilderness trail and find a campsite off the Bondcliff Trail.

DAY 2 9/19/04
Erica and I were on the Bondcliff trail by 8:00 Sunday morning, the skies were clear and our hopes were high. Jim and Christina headed back to the car (Jim broke his foot 6-weeks ago).

At 11:00 when we broke through the tree line the weather was on us! The clouds had moved in, the temperature dropped, the wind was whipping, and visibility was about 60-feet, a very surreal sight above tree line. We submitted Bondcliff (1st 4,000 footer) at about 11:30, and kept moving to stay warm. We stopped halfway up Mt Bond (aka-hell) for a 15-minute snack and break at about 12:00. At this point our legs felt like Jell-o, the shoulders ached, and it was COLD! We sumitted Mt Bond (2nd 4,000 footer) around 12:30pm and kept on walking. At this point all of the trees were covered with ice, the clouds were whipping by us, blowing the ice from the trees onto our heads and into our faces. Standing upright was a challenge with the wind. We descended Mt. Bond and started up Mt Guyot, the weather had not improved and we had seen only 4-people so far. About this time Erica and I began to ponder our sanity (who the H#%@$ would do this to themselves?).

We sumitted Mt Guyout (3rd 4,000 footer) at about 2:00 pm after 6 hours of hiking with a couple of short breaks. Needless to say, our bodies were not happy with us. Yes, the scenery was cool but a nice clear day would have been better. Now my legs were the consistency of warm honey, and my feet hurt! The ice was everywhere and the wind kept on howling, damn wind! On to South Twin Mt we trekked! South Twin was conquered sometime around 3:00, I gave up on the watch and was just trying to stay upright. Although the hike up South Twin was painful, the decent down was a path created to cause pain and new curses! Ice, mud, and boulders the size of VW's, along with the wind and cold did not make me happy. After and hour and half of Hell we made it to the Galehead AMC Hut. Time-4:30, Temp:37, windchill:27, Damp & misty, brrr.

Now we only had 2.6 miles DOWN to the 13 Falls campsite via the Twin Brook Trail. We could feel darkness coming and the pain in our legs and feet. A delirious decent down the Twin Brook trail (thank you Mom for the trekking poles) and we arrived at the 13 Falls campsite at 6:00 pm. 13 miles and 10hours of hiking.

DAY 3 9/20/04
A beautiful clear autumn day, sunny and 60. We slept in and got on the trail around 11:00. 8.2 miles of relatively flat walking along the Franconia Brook and Wilderness Trails and we were back at the car at 2:30. Dirty, exhausted, and ready to do it again. Next year: THE PRESIDENTIAL TRAVERSE.

 

[MadRiver]

Sounds like a fun day had by all.

 

[Doc McPeak]

What a difference a week makes in the Whites. A few days before I backpacked around the Pemi loop in short sleeves, and on Franconia Ridge we were actually cheering when the very occassional light breeze would flutter through to cool us off!

Glad you had a great time nevertheless. It's amazing in there!

 

[David Metsky]

Sounds like a fun day. Isn't that why we hike?

BTW, you mentioned Guyot as your third 4000'er. It certainly is over 4000', but doesn't qualify as an "official" 4000'er due to the lack of a 200' col. Still a nice peak.

-dave-

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

BTW, you mentioned Guyot as your third 4000'er. It certainly is over 4000', but doesn't qualify as an "official" 4000'er due to the lack of a 200' col.

Let me see ...

Guyot is not on the AMC 4,000 footer list.

It is on the Trailwrights 4,000 footer list.

It is not on Stophers 4,000 footer list.

So what, if anything, does an "official" 4,000 footer mean??????

Of course I know perfectly well what you mean. But I think that it is time we all realized that there are a very large number of less well known lists that are just as interesting as the well known ones.

 

[Doc McPeak]

It is on the Trailwrights 4,000 footer list.

Cool. So because Guyot was the first mountain I hiked on that day, does it count for the Trailwrights? (Is that how it works?)

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

So because Guyot was the first mountain I hiked on that day, does it count for the Trailwrights? (Is that how it works?)

No, you choose which one of the peaks you hike on a given day you want to count. You can change that choice at any time until you send the list in.

Let us assume that one day you hiked both Liberty and Flume. At this stage you can choose either. But if subsequently you hike Liberty alone, you will obviously choose Flume as the peak that "counts" on your first trip.

 

[David Metsky]

Well, yes, Mohamed, how good of you to correct me on the question of lists. I thought about adding the caveat, but you are right.

IIRC, on the Trailwrights list you must climb each peak seperately from the road. So if you slept at Guyot Shelter it's all part of one trip and you only get to count one peak for the whole loop. Unless you cross a road somewhere along the way.

-dave-

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

It is so long since I have done the Bonds as a multiday trip that I had not realized that Doc was talking of a backpack. I should have; how else do you get to Guyot as the first peak of the day?

The rule is

Each peak must be climbed individually; therefore, only one peak counts per hike or backpack.

I believe that I completely misunderstood the question. I thought that Doc was asking: Do I have to count the first peak that I climb as that day's peak?

 

[Doc McPeak]

Thanks for the link, Mohamed. I like the 72 hours of trailwork requirement. I had gleaned my info for this list from remarks in threads (since I will probably never complete this particular list) but think the concept is interesting. But yes, I will jot down Guyot! Even if I did like Little Guyot more!

And since this was originally a Bondcliff report thread, I'll add this NYer was blown away by the Bonds! Photos coming soon...