Silverfox
New member
After checking the weather forecast on sunday we agreed that the conditions would be acceptable for Bonds traverse on tuesday..
We left the Lincoln Woods parking lot at 6:40 and headed out the Wilderness Trail quickly shifting into high gear to get this stretch of the trail behind us..We reached the newly done over bridge to the Franconia Brook Trail jct in 45 minutes..quick fuel stop and headed out again. Water levels were much lower than a few weeks ago.. Lots of railroad ties remain from this jct to the Bondcliff trail but we toughed it out and reached Bondcliff Trail at 8:10 where Grumpy Gran promptly enjoyed half of her glazed donut..Nothing like a little health food...Of course I eat bars so whom am I to talk....
The Bondcliff Trail was quite wet and muddy for a bit..the water crossings were all quite easy. Once we got to the large dry brooks and the 192 step..by actual count..section the trail that ascends to a shoulder the trail dried out and the footbed got much nicer. Little views here and there through the trees..then we reached the scrambly ledge at around 3900 feet and get immediately wowed by the landscape surrounding us..Franconia Ridge close by over Owl's Head..the sharp cone of Garfield..range after range of mountains stretching off to the distance..it was a bit hazy for dstance photos but this initial view gave us a bit of peak fever and shot up to Bondcliff very quickly.. Wow..Quite windy and out came a shell...We enjoyed the summit for a few moments, had a snack..yes a dreaded bar, then slowly headed along the ridge to the Bond col...no sense to hurry here and we remarked that we had yet to see another person on this extraordinary day....
As we started up the steep south slope of Bond I swore not to burn myelf out on this climb as I had the past 2 years and deliberately slowed.... Great views into the West Bond slides and back to the craggy edge of Bondcliff...Still lots of blueberries in evidence and patches of mountain cranberries.. We reached the summit at high noon and enjoyed lunch gazing at the terrific panorama unfolding before us. We saw our first hikers of the day..a couple of ladies from the Henniker/Weare area who had stayed at Galehead and were headed to Bondcliff to finish their 48..Hearty congratulations for sure..they were some kind of psyched..
After savoring the summit for as long as we dared we started down to the West Bond spur..the trail winds along a ridge through here with some nice ledgy spots offering fine views towards Guyot and beyond..We passed an angry hiker? and dropped down to the Spur where we dropped packs and headed for the spire in the wilderness, West Bond..There has been quite a lot of recent trailwork along this section...thanks.. with great rock steps in places and many more in reserve for future work..We passed a gentlemen..Gregg.. who had just finished his 48 and was very pleased when we told him that the first summit of West Bond is the accepted top..I guess he attempted a bushwack over to the other edge of the ridge but was turned back..he was quite relieved... The final scramble to the summit comes to you very quickly..with it the wind picked up as well as we had been warned earlier by the ladies we saw on Bond.. What a spot..pictures do not do it justice you just have to sit there and turn every once in awhile..I love it..Finally the wind driven chill got us off the peak and we continued on our journey..
The climb over to Guyot was uneventful..windy..great views all around.. the rocky trail dry offering great rock hopping..we lingered a bit on the high point of the Twinway knowing we would be dropping in to the woods shortly..several thru hikers there and we passed a few more on this stretch 3 NB and 2SB.. Twin way was mercifully dry and we made quick time to Zealand.. We came along a group of folks sleeping on a large rock on the trail..some muddy spots showed up in places heading over to Zeacliff but overall a really dry hike..even the mud bogs at the top of Zeacliff were fairly dry. Bog bridges all in fine shape with some new ones in place..View from Zeacliff is spellbinding..the outlook towards Lowell and Cardigain sharply defined and seems so close..Washington and the Presis in the clear under the high cloud layer..We took some photos for the "sleeping" group as they arrived on route to the hut just as we were leaving..More and more tentsites in evidence in this area with some sadly badly disposed of waste..
The descent from Zeacliff long and steep but uneventful..Mostly dry rock allowed for good footing and with a couple of shaky knee breaks..even Grumpy Gran was happy to have one..we easily crossed the stream above the hut and were soon happily refilling water bottles and sitting on the porch for a spell.. Not much activity at the hut this day..
45 minutes later we were in the parking lot where Doctor Tom had just arrived for our pick up.. Zealand trail was also dry with excellent footing the whole way..even the rooty section was acceptable.. I love the walk along the beaver ponds through here..there are some maples turning red..bright yellow golden rod in places..white asters..just a beautiful ending to a successful traverse through some of the most spectacular areas of New Hampshire..I never tire of the views through this section..Thanks to Grumpy Gran and Dr Tom for making it happen..There is something nice about ending in Zealand where the end of the walk is pleasant..I find it hard to face the 5 mile death march heading back into Lincoln Woods at the end of a long day....
I took a few pictures but saved them mostly in my head...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/silverfox777/sets/72157607105812940/
We left the Lincoln Woods parking lot at 6:40 and headed out the Wilderness Trail quickly shifting into high gear to get this stretch of the trail behind us..We reached the newly done over bridge to the Franconia Brook Trail jct in 45 minutes..quick fuel stop and headed out again. Water levels were much lower than a few weeks ago.. Lots of railroad ties remain from this jct to the Bondcliff trail but we toughed it out and reached Bondcliff Trail at 8:10 where Grumpy Gran promptly enjoyed half of her glazed donut..Nothing like a little health food...Of course I eat bars so whom am I to talk....
The Bondcliff Trail was quite wet and muddy for a bit..the water crossings were all quite easy. Once we got to the large dry brooks and the 192 step..by actual count..section the trail that ascends to a shoulder the trail dried out and the footbed got much nicer. Little views here and there through the trees..then we reached the scrambly ledge at around 3900 feet and get immediately wowed by the landscape surrounding us..Franconia Ridge close by over Owl's Head..the sharp cone of Garfield..range after range of mountains stretching off to the distance..it was a bit hazy for dstance photos but this initial view gave us a bit of peak fever and shot up to Bondcliff very quickly.. Wow..Quite windy and out came a shell...We enjoyed the summit for a few moments, had a snack..yes a dreaded bar, then slowly headed along the ridge to the Bond col...no sense to hurry here and we remarked that we had yet to see another person on this extraordinary day....
As we started up the steep south slope of Bond I swore not to burn myelf out on this climb as I had the past 2 years and deliberately slowed.... Great views into the West Bond slides and back to the craggy edge of Bondcliff...Still lots of blueberries in evidence and patches of mountain cranberries.. We reached the summit at high noon and enjoyed lunch gazing at the terrific panorama unfolding before us. We saw our first hikers of the day..a couple of ladies from the Henniker/Weare area who had stayed at Galehead and were headed to Bondcliff to finish their 48..Hearty congratulations for sure..they were some kind of psyched..
After savoring the summit for as long as we dared we started down to the West Bond spur..the trail winds along a ridge through here with some nice ledgy spots offering fine views towards Guyot and beyond..We passed an angry hiker? and dropped down to the Spur where we dropped packs and headed for the spire in the wilderness, West Bond..There has been quite a lot of recent trailwork along this section...thanks.. with great rock steps in places and many more in reserve for future work..We passed a gentlemen..Gregg.. who had just finished his 48 and was very pleased when we told him that the first summit of West Bond is the accepted top..I guess he attempted a bushwack over to the other edge of the ridge but was turned back..he was quite relieved... The final scramble to the summit comes to you very quickly..with it the wind picked up as well as we had been warned earlier by the ladies we saw on Bond.. What a spot..pictures do not do it justice you just have to sit there and turn every once in awhile..I love it..Finally the wind driven chill got us off the peak and we continued on our journey..
The climb over to Guyot was uneventful..windy..great views all around.. the rocky trail dry offering great rock hopping..we lingered a bit on the high point of the Twinway knowing we would be dropping in to the woods shortly..several thru hikers there and we passed a few more on this stretch 3 NB and 2SB.. Twin way was mercifully dry and we made quick time to Zealand.. We came along a group of folks sleeping on a large rock on the trail..some muddy spots showed up in places heading over to Zeacliff but overall a really dry hike..even the mud bogs at the top of Zeacliff were fairly dry. Bog bridges all in fine shape with some new ones in place..View from Zeacliff is spellbinding..the outlook towards Lowell and Cardigain sharply defined and seems so close..Washington and the Presis in the clear under the high cloud layer..We took some photos for the "sleeping" group as they arrived on route to the hut just as we were leaving..More and more tentsites in evidence in this area with some sadly badly disposed of waste..
The descent from Zeacliff long and steep but uneventful..Mostly dry rock allowed for good footing and with a couple of shaky knee breaks..even Grumpy Gran was happy to have one..we easily crossed the stream above the hut and were soon happily refilling water bottles and sitting on the porch for a spell.. Not much activity at the hut this day..
45 minutes later we were in the parking lot where Doctor Tom had just arrived for our pick up.. Zealand trail was also dry with excellent footing the whole way..even the rooty section was acceptable.. I love the walk along the beaver ponds through here..there are some maples turning red..bright yellow golden rod in places..white asters..just a beautiful ending to a successful traverse through some of the most spectacular areas of New Hampshire..I never tire of the views through this section..Thanks to Grumpy Gran and Dr Tom for making it happen..There is something nice about ending in Zealand where the end of the walk is pleasant..I find it hard to face the 5 mile death march heading back into Lincoln Woods at the end of a long day....
I took a few pictures but saved them mostly in my head...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/silverfox777/sets/72157607105812940/
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