Bonds plan, advice wanted please

[MarkL]

I'd like to get the Bonds this winter because next winter I'd be a year older. I work at a college and have all of next week off for "Spring" break" If weather and conditions are VERY cooperative, I'd like to make a bid for Zealand and the Bonds. I'll be keeping tabs on weather and trip reports to help me decide.
I'm hoping to start out on the Zealand Rd. Sunday AM and hike over Hale to ZHut and spend the night. Sunday I'd go for Z and the Bonds, return to ZHut, and maybe down and out to 302.
Or if I hear of anyone planning a Bonds traverse that week, up to the 19th, [AMC winter ends at 7:44AM on the 20th] I might ask if I can join them, if I think I can can keep up with them.
I read BIGEarls report and looked at his pictures. That was all very helpful. Thank you!

Here are my questions.
1. There's a section between the hut and Zealand where the trail tends to get drifted over. -Is that open or wooded?
-If wooded, are there paint blazes to follow? If so, are they frequent and recent enough and above the snow to be dependable? ? If not, is the way through the woods visible, or at least not hard to 'whack?
--If that section is open, what do I aim for?



2. I've read that the West Bond spur drifts over quickly too. What works there?

3. Are there signs at all junctions and summits?

4. Can we use the campgrounds along Z Rd. in the winter?

5. Conditions permitting, is it worthwhile to ski only to the Hale Brook Tr. and stash the skis there?

 

[Taconic]

1: I've only done it in summer, but I remember the woods between the hut and Zealand being pretty open (and beautiful.) I think the trail would be pretty obvious even without blazes since I remember it being fairly wide in most places.

You'd probably have to keep your eyes open for the spur to the summit, though. It sort of jumps out on your right and might be tough to spot in winter.

2: The woods were fairly thick. The trail was very narrow and I can't imagine it's hard to follow even if it's drifted over--it'll be the path of least resistance.

3: No, but it's not hard to follow. Guyot is the only place where you could really lose your way at a junction and it's pretty hard to mistake South Twin for Bond. And I'm pretty sure there's actually a sign there pointing you towards Twinway or Bondcliff besides. I don't remember the other summits having any sort of signage (other than Zealand.)

No idea on the rest.

Good luck.

 

[rocket21]

Here are my questions.
1. There's a section between the hut and Zealand where the trail tends to get drifted over. -Is that open or wooded?
-If wooded, are there paint blazes to follow? If so, are they frequent and recent enough and above the snow to be dependable? ? If not, is the way through the woods visible, or at least not hard to 'whack?
--If that section is open, what do I aim for?



2. I've read that the West Bond spur drifts over quickly too. What works there?

3. Are there signs at all junctions and summits?

4. Can we use the campgrounds along Z Rd. in the winter?

5. Conditions permitting, is it worthwhile to ski only to the Hale Brook Tr. and stash the skis there?

I've only done two winter Bonds hikes (and only one of them to all 4 peaks inc. Zealand), but:

1. Both - somewhat open at the height of land, then in spruce from there to Zealand Mtn. Zealand Mtn. looks completely different in winter - the summit was virtually unrecognizable for everyone in our party (some of the folks in our group had been there multiple times in winter too), as well as another solo hiker. A lot of the blazes are burried or hard to see (white AT blazes, snow is white). My piece of advice is that the spur trail to the summit is on the right, a few dozen feet past the trail's height of land. The highpoint, at least a few weeks ago, looks to be a good 10 feet lower than the surrounding area, due to drifted snow.

2. I didn't find West Bond as hard to follow as Zealand, though there were still a few headscratching moments. The blazes are blue here, but many were either burried or almost burried.

3. Pretty much yes, but a few weeks ago the non-alpine zone signs were mostly around ankle height - a few were easy to miss.

5. You could probably ski pretty much all the way to the hut (which the exception of the final short, steep .2 miles, but it seems like skiers just carry their skis up that section to the hut) - so just under 7 miles should be skiable.

 

[Mad Townie]

Mark, there were a few Bonds hikes this past weekend. Check the TRs to see if any of them answer your questions. Unless there was a fair amount of snow up there this week, the spur trail to West Bond at least should be well tracked and easy to follow.

 

[MadRiver]

Since we had a few hikers descending Zealand as we ascended, the trail was broken out to the Zealand spur sign. After that we broke trail to Zealand’s summit. If it is drifted over, just walk straight back from the sign and you should have no problem spotting the nub where the Zealand summit sign is located. We also found the trail to West Bond broken out and if drifted over when you arrive, you shouldn’t have any problem following the blazes, which are just above the snow pack. All junction signs were above the snow pack as well so you should have any problem spotting them. I do not know about camping or the skiing question so others will answer that for you. Have fun.

 

[--M.]

4. Can we use the campgrounds along Z Rd. in the winter?

5. Conditions permitting, is it worthwhile to ski only to the Hale Brook Tr. and stash the skis there?

I've called the FS a couple times over "closed" campgrounds (WV, Dry River, Wild River). Each time, their answer was that I was welcome to use them on a backpacking basis, but that I was on my own, and to pack in & pack out my bs.

In one case (Dry River in December), the driveway was passable, and they didn't mind me driving in there, but they reasserted that I was on my own if it snowed or I otherwise got stuck.

I have also used the Wild River CG after closing; sometimes gated, sometimes not. A large rainstorm brought the river up and the trees down, right across the exit road. Three parties and a tire jack cleared the road out.

So for Zealand, you can't get yer car in there, but you can probably use the cg on a backpacking basis. Watch out for logging trucks!

You can also ski quite nicely all the way to the hut. Or badly. Your choice.

Good luck, and post results!

--M.

 

[AndyF]

I did the traverse yesterday so I can give some recent beta. I had the advantage of following the tracks of the hut caretaker, Julia, from the hut to the Bonds.

1. Between the hut and Zeacliff it is wooded. IIRC some blazes were visible, but I was mostly following Julias tracks. From Zeacliff to Zealand it starts in open scrub then gets wooded again. There weren't any blazes or cairns in the scrub.

2. West Bond spur was a little drifted over but blazes were visible as were evidence of older tracks. There was also evidence of older tracks going in wrong directions.

3. Signs at most junctions. There were a couple that I know I had seen in the past that I either walked by without noticing, or they were buried, or they were missing. They are not important junctions though; Zeacliff Trail and Guyot Tentsite. The sign for the Zealand Spur was ankle height and I walked past it at first but turned around and found it when the trail started to descend. West Bond spur also has a sign as does the Bondcliff Twinway junction.

It helps to be familar with trails from other seasons, but with snowpack some areas can look a lot different than you remember.

 

[wardsgirl]

Here are my questions.
1. There's a section between the hut and Zealand where the trail tends to get drifted over. -Is that open or wooded?
-If wooded, are there paint blazes to follow? If so, are they frequent and recent enough and above the snow to be dependable? ? If not, is the way through the woods visible, or at least not hard to 'whack?
--If that section is open, what do I aim for?

2. I've read that the West Bond spur drifts over quickly too. What works there?

3. Are there signs at all junctions and summits?

4. Can we use the campgrounds along Z Rd. in the winter?

5. Conditions permitting, is it worthwhile to ski only to the Hale Brook Tr. and stash the skis there?

Hi Mark,

If the weather cooperates, you will likey have a great trip. By "Bonds" are you including Bondcliff as well? Depending on conditions, it may be easier to visit Bondcliff on a separate trip, because the col between Bond and Bondcliff is a veritable wind tunnel. However, others on this site have apparently been able to cross this stretch without too much trouble. I would not underestimate the challenge in crossing it twice if you are doing an "out and back."

As for the section of Trail between the Hut and Zealand, unfortunately, the blazes are white for the AT and painted on birch trees because that's what's available. The woods are fairly open until Zeacliff, then you may have trouble if you can't find the groove of the many parties that have traversed this trail in the past couple weeks. If you are GPS savvy, I will send you a GPX file for it.

In my opinion, drifting on West Bond Spur is the least of your concerns. Make sure you have snowshoes.

There are signs at all junctions. As for summits, the 'Zealand' sign is hard to find in winter. West Bond has no sign, but a large cairn marks the spot. At my last visit Bond had a sign, Bondcliff did not.

You can use the campground on Z Road, but you can't drive your car directly to it.

Plan on skiing at least to Hale Brook Trail. It is absolutely worth it. You will appreciate having skis at the end. Personally, I would visit Hale on a dayhike and concentrate on the biggest task in this plan which would be potential routefinding on the Twinway.

Good Luck and have fun!

Wardsgirl
AMC Adopt-aTrail Program Region Leader- Pemi (1994-2005)

 

[MarkL]

Thank you!

It's late and I still have to do a wash, but I want to thank everyone who's responded so far. Each of you has given me useful info. I'll approach the Bonds (including Bondcliff) with a higher expectation of success...again, if the weather is very cooperative.
I think I found and read all recent Bond tr's, but will review therm all before going. I know there's an AMC group (Boston & Maine?) doing the Bonds from LW on Saturday, but with the winds in that area, I couldn't count on tracks being visible. Julie at the hut sounds like a great source of current beta when I get there. If she's in, that is. If she's out, maybe she'll be freshening the tracks for me.

 

[Jim lombard]

I did the traverse N-S recently and was glad to not have to go back across that col and back up over Bond. We exited at Lincoln Woods like most having spotted a car. Heading back from Bondcliff, up and over Bond-Guyot-Zealand and out to 302 could be tough mentally. It's a heck of a long day already without backtracking in winter conditions. I hope you have good weather.

We've seen people camping at the campgrounds on Zealand Rd before.

Good Luck

 

[WildPeaks]

Yes, I'll second wardsgirl on the col between BondCliff & Bond. The wind turned us back 3 years ago, coming in to just do the Bonds.
Move the date if they're calling for high winds. On maybe just bag BondCliff from LW. That way you can continue if it quiets down.
On the traverse Sat. it was howling up top while we were on the second leg of the WT but slowly dying down. When we got there, it was just an occasional knock you, 20 second gust every now & then.
And just for ___& giggles, it was dead calm as we climbed up to Bond from the col.
Enjoy.
BTW. All was easy to follow, except we knew we were not on the official trail climbing the cone of Bond. Spruce Trap City! But sometimes you make the call, Stay on the well beaten path or break trail on the real one!

 

[MarkL]

Woohoo! Got 'em all!

Thanks everyone for getting me up to speed on the Bonds. You all gave me enough of a picture, and enough to think about, that I felt informed enough to give them a try. As it turned out, all my concerns about losing the trail were to no avail. I could have only lost the trail if I'd tried! Trail, snow, and weather conditions were close to perfect! Well, it was actually a little too warm. I had to wipe sweat off my face so much that the sunscreen came off and I got a little red.
I posted a trail conditions report at http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?t=28895
When I get back home [Fri? Mon?] I may write up a TR if I think it's still relevant to current conditions. Otherwise I might just post some details on this thread.
Oh Yeah! Almost forgot to mention. Someone at the hut was charged by the moose twice on Monday. He thinks it might have been more of a territorial thing rather than feeling threatened. On my way out Tues I saw it ahead of me on the trail (where else!) just before Noon. It was maybe 10 minutes beyond the S-bridge, and I hadn't seen any moose scat for a while, leading me to think I was out of danger. A father and son caught up to me while I was giving it some time. The three of us made noise and it slowly moseyed (mooseyed?) along the trail at its own pace. We did the moose herding thing (will look great on my resume!) for 10-15 minutes till it went off to the right and into a stream. We got to the parking lot at the south end of Z. Rd about 20-25 minutes after the Moose Exit.

 

[--M.]

Well, it was actually a little to warm. I had to wipe sweat off my face so much that the sunscreen came off and I got a little red.

Congratulations on your big win! Sunscreen was a do-not-forget item, huh?

 

[andrewb]

Sounds like you had a great trip! Looks like I have to save this traverse for next winter now... although the area is still a blast any time of the year.

 

[eddie]

Mark, glad you had favorable weather and a successful trip. Love the moose encounter too. The Bonds are gorgeous.