Bonds from LW 3.7.09

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Juniper

Juniper

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Participants: MtnPa, Mad Townie, Stev-O, Donna, Juniper

Short and sweet TR:

Skied in from LW to the start of the Bondcliff Tr. Huge group led by Ed Hawkins left ahead of us. Winds were only concern for the day, but when we reached Bondcliff around noon we experienced only a few strong gusts and had otherwise calm weather the rest of the day. Gorgeous views, fantastic weather. Some kind of traction needed from Bondcliff to Bond. Saw a few other hikers throughout the day but most traffic was one-way in the Zealand direction. Hike back to our skis felt very long. Ski out was fine and our timing with the weather was again very fortunate. Sprinkles on the ski out and back in the cars on our way home when it started to rain in earnest. Beautiful day out in the mountains. Very glad to have these peaks under our belts!

Photos here: Bonds
 
so sad I couldn't make it. so glad you had a great day! hope my skis were ok for you- they are a bit long for backcountry.

great job, team!
 
We just missed you at the West Bond trail junction. We made the summit of West Bond around 4:00pm and Bondcliff at 5:45pm. It was a great day to be on the Bonds.
 
Nice! I'm glad you got lucky with the wind; the morning winds up at Sunday River were vicious ... lifts were on hold all over the place ... and that's at elevations lower than the Bonds. Your timing was just right for the wind letting up. Beautiful pics, too! That trail is going to be a well-packed monorail for a while... :)
 
grouseking said:
Wow, that's a long hike! Nice pics. How deep was the snow in along the shadier parts of the ridge?

grouseking
Click to expand...

I didn't take a picture, but the sign for the West Bond spur is just a few inches above the snow. Other than that, I'm not sure since I had the good fortune of not finding out.

Not shady, but the snow on the SW side of Bond as you approach is deep. As noted in one of the trail conditions posts, some hikers have gotten off-trail on the approach to Bond from Bondcliff. This includes a few folks who were ahead of us Saturday, and us (at least on the way up) so it's going to look like a well-traveled route. Lots of deep postholes/spruce traps up there given the softness of the snow on Sat - better to find the proper trail if you start to see the conditions deteriorate on your way through that area.
 
Hey Juniper,

That was real nice meeting you & your crew on the way to W. Bond.
I don't think anyone wanted to leave with the 360 views!! But thanks for kicking us all off.
BTW, Did Donna ever make it back from the real W. Bond?
 
NIce Pics!! Looks very similar to our Bond Cliff ski & hike but you guys weren't crawling across the summit hanging on for dear life...Glad that Donna & Stevo got back up there to finish what they started the last time!! ;)
Glad the views were good for you!

Great hike and good group! :D

Tom & Bill are fun hikers!! Hiked with them on some of my 48 hikes, and was with Bill on his finish! :eek:
 
MadRiver said:
We just missed you at the West Bond trail junction. We made the summit of West Bond around 4:00pm and Bondcliff at 5:45pm. It was a great day to be on the Bonds.
Click to expand...

We saw you at the bottle-neck of the west bond junction.
There were actually, two groups there, heading off in different directions

Great day!

Not much else to add but, I would like to have a moment of silence ( or yelling )
For the millions of snowflys which perished on this day.:(
 
It was a great day, indeed! Juniper neglected to say that someone had to stay back to get a picture of the rest on West Bond.

In fact, being the "heavy" of our group I had more fun with the Bond spruce traps than the others. That floundering took care of any excess energy I might have had! Having walked while they skied, and looking at the prospect of doing that again on the way back, I decided to leave West for another winter. Beat 'em back to the parking lot, though.:D

The rest of my pics are here.
 
Tremendous! Looks like the stars lined up for you!

What made you do out-&-back, rather than pushing through? When you got to your furthest point, did you feel you wanted to keep going north, or was it a relief to retrace your steps (photo 50: "View of the route back")? Could you have carried skis through the trees on the Bondcliff Trail (let alone deciding it's a good idea)? Did you notice any particular logging artifacts from the Henry era (I think I saw a bridge abutment in one pic)? Obviously, it's still on my list (had another near miss this winter).

Congratulations!
 
Car spots are a pain. That's why we did the out-and back. Besides, even for the folks who tagged West Bond it was a little shorter than the traverse.

Oh, and lots of folks were doing the traverse, so we wanted to be contrary! :D

Carrying skis on the Bondcliff trail would have bee a pain. It was hard enough just trying to keep the branches out of our eyes, noses, ears, etc.
 
Mad Townie said:
Carrying skis on the Bondcliff trail would have bee a pain. It was hard enough just trying to keep the branches out of our eyes, noses, ears, etc.
Click to expand...
Each Monday my co-workers think that I’m in an abusive relationship with all the scratches and bruises I receive over the weekend.
 
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