Bonds Photo Op

[Mark]

My sons and I plan to hike the Bonds this year. Isn't the following photo from the White Mountain Guide from one of the Bonds?



Which summit/view point is this? From where is the picture taken? Do you need someone to take the picture for you or can you set up a camera with a timer? I'm guessing the former. I don't think I want to be sprinting back to this ledge to get in the photo.

We postponed this trip a couple times already trying to get a good weekend weather forecast.

Thanks.

Mark

 

[David Metsky]

That's the classic shot from the summit of Bondcliff. It's taken from near the summit cairn to the cliff (which is 50 feet away) with West Bond in the background.

 

[roadtripper]

Timer may be difficult unless you have one that'll do 30 seconds or more. 10 seconds won't cut it for that shot.

If you are visiting Bondcliff from Mt. Bond (as opposed to coming up from Lincoln Woods), make sure you walk the extra 100-ish feet to see that view (basically, walk until you see the trail start heading down at steep angle)

 

[peakbagger]

Just hang around for awhilw there is plenty of traffic on Bondcliff and you can probably get someone to take the picture for you without much wait.

 

[JustJoe]

 

[wardsgirl]

That shot always makes me remember the Old Man of the Mountains...

 

[TJsName]

I remember how excited I was when I finally figured out where that was. It's an amazing spot - I hope you have good weather!

 

[Mark]

Thanks everyone for the location. I'm pretty sure I will be able to find it now. I even got an idea of the shot and the angle from playing around with Google Earth and lining up the Bondcliff summit with the slides on West Bond. We are thinking of hiking the 3 Bond summits after making camp at Guyot and ending up on West Bond for the sunset. I wanted to see if that would put the setting sun behind us for the photo op, but looks like the angle of the classic shot is more northerly than westerly.

We will likely be doing this over a weekend, so I imagine we will be able to find someone to take the picture. (Then we will take theirs!)

I only have 6 summits left on my NH4K list, so this shot could potentially be #48.

 

[blacknblue]

I only have 6 summits left on my NH4K list, so this shot could potentially be #48.

Great place to finish the 48! West Bond would also be a great finale, but it depends on the route you are taking. This is coming from someone who finished on Waumbek on a drizzly day.

 

[David Metsky]

I'm pretty sure I will be able to find it now.

Unless you are in a white out, it's literally impossible not to see the photo op.

 

[TJsName]

We are thinking of hiking the 3 Bond summits after making camp at Guyot and ending up on West Bond for the sunset. I wanted to see if that would put the setting sun behind us for the photo op, but looks like the angle of the classic shot is more northerly than westerly.

We did a Zealand-Lincoln Woods walk through with the goal of being on Bond/Bondcliff for the sunset and it was spectacular. We didn't make it to West Bond that day, so I'm not sure how the sunset is from there, but you certainly have some great options there. Bondcliff is an excellent choice for #48!

West Bond would also be a great finale, but it depends on the route you are taking. This is coming from someone who finished on Waumbek on a drizzly day.

Waumbek? It makes me wonder... how do people end up finishing on some of the less spectacular peaks?

 

[Mark]

If I don't finish on one of the Bonds, I am saving Garfield for #48. I figure that's a good one to invite others to join me.

 

[TJsName]

That's funny - I have a friend that has 7 left, and that includes Garfield and the Bonds, and I'm trying to convince her to finish on the Bonds, but she wants to do Garfield. Her concern was that not enough other people could join up. Garfield is nice, but it's nothing compared to Bondcliff.

 

[NeoAkela]

30 seconds is enough time if you run. Gotta watch out if the rocks are slippery, though. At least your last minutes will be recorded for others to enjoy.

 

[blacknblue]

Waumbek? It makes me wonder... how do people end up finishing on some of the less spectacular peaks?

My theory is that there are two kinds of 48ers... those that start hiking with them in mind, and those that pick up the idea after they have been hiking awhile. I had already been hiking for about 15 years when the idea of 'doing the 48' struck my fancy. By then, once I tallied up my list, I had already done something like 37-38 of them. Naturally, the remaining ones were gems like Hale and Waumbek.

 

[Lefty E]

Very true point about some 48 being more gems than others...but if you happened to finish on Lincoln with pea soup fog for a view, Hale's view and Waumbek's view was a hell of a lot better!! At least that gave us an excuse to hike the ridge again with bluebird day...

 

[Raymond]

The Bonds were my final three 10½ years ago.

I was on Bondcliff again in 2010 and tried a few times to get in the picture, but couldn’t make it. But with the camera I have now, I could just set it to take multiple shots on the self-timer, then there would be a sequence of me getting into the frame.

It does take some nerve to stand out there, but there is a (photographic) slide somewhere of me doing it. Susan just sat on the edge — the near edge, not with her legs dangling off! — when it was her turn.

 

[Mark]

After at least 3 cancelled attempts due to bad weather, I was finally able to make it to the Bonds this past weekend. My brother Tom flew in from Buffalo to join my sons Chris and Kevin for the trip. We wanted to avoid the weekend crowds at Guyot campsite, so we drove up Friday morning and hit Zealand trail around 10:00. We made it to the campsite by 3:00. There was already one tent platform taken, but we were able to grab #4 which was large enough for our 3 tents. We set up camp and headed out to the Bonds before dinner. The weather forecast was not perfect, but we ended up with great conditions. Here is the shot we got from Bondcliff:



Despite the rather large size of the ledge we stood on, it was still a little unnerving. We held onto each other pretty tightly!

I knew the three Bonds were touted as being one of the best hikes in the Whites, but we were completely blown away by the beauty of this above-treeline hike! Far and away the best views in the mountains! I'm really glad we waited for weather that let us appreciate the panoramic vistas!

We finished the day on West Bond around 7:30, but did not stick around for the sunset opting instead for a well earned dinner back at camp. It was a good thing we decided to hike on Friday. All the platforms were taken by the time we returned.

We headed out the next morning passing many hikers who were headed for the camp, so I'm sure it was busy on Saturday. With Zealand, this trip got me summits 43, 44, 45 and 46.

Awesome trip! Thanks for all the advice!

 

[Peakbagr]

Bondcliff - one of my top 5 NH48.

 

[Bernerbabe]

Just finished on Bondcliff two weeks ago. Been waiting a year for that photo op. All the pictures that I had seen from there were taken in the winter and/or with a very dark/non-existent/totally fogged in background. We lucked out and got a good weather/photo day/good group/others for photo taking. It wasn't at all what I expected... i.e., much less scary, and much more beautiful. Definitely choose this one for your finish! Nice markers for STAND HERE and TAKE PHOTO HERE