West Bond / Guyot Shelter via Owl's Head?

[rainman19]

I was looking at google earth today and noticed a stream that appears to split West Bond and Bondcliff. Is it possible to follow that all the way up to West Bond or does it get too steep to climb? Has anyone attempted it or found another way?

 

[nartreb]

That would be Hellgate Brook. Google for "Hellgate Ravine" and you'll find some trip reports - mostly here on VFTT. One other way is to head up to the Bondcliff-Bond col instead of up the West Bond side of the ravine: the bondcliff side of the ravine is less steep.

 

[RoySwkr]

The most gradual is to follow the ravine all the way to the Bond-W Bond col. It's a little steeper to climb the talus to the Bond-Bondcliff col. For more steep, climb directly to the W Bond summit up one of the slides like Guy Waterman did in winter.

 

[Frodo]

I think the easiest way is to avoid the ravine all together and head up (or down) via the ridge just north of the brook. It's mostly open woods until you get to about 4K then is mostly thick spruce to the summit of West Bond.

 

[rainman19]

Hellgate

Anyone taken the trail that would be interested in discussing it for a few minutes?

 

[HAMTERO]

Rainman,

If you do a search for Hellgate you can come up with a lot of info. You can also go up Redrock Brook to a slide on the North side of West Bond. There is an old RR bed on the north side of Redrock brook that is easy wacking.

What do you want to know exactly?

 

[rainman19]

Thanks

I am trying to get a better understanding of how difficult the bushwacking will be. Will it be a struggle up hellgate brook the whole way? If not, where and when does it become the most difficult. These are generic questions that I think would be best answered by phone, however, any comments are appreciated.

 

[Jazzbo]

Learn how to use search function

You don't appear to be familiar with search tools on this site. Learn how to use the search function. Search in key words like Hell Gate Brook etc will yield number of interesting TR's. Some by NHMTHiker who's TR's feature vast number of pictures are excellent and peppered with his wry sense of humer. Reviewing these will give you vastly more info on what to expect than any 15 min telecon could ever do.

 

[rainman19]

thanks...I got the information I am looking for.

One question. If it were you, would you go up the bond bondcliff col or the west bond bond col. Which is the "easier" of the two? Based on reports, I am inclined to walk up the west bond ridge.

 

[Papa Bear]

One question. If it were you, would you go up the bond bondcliff col or the west bond bond col. Which is the "easier" of the two? Based on reports, I am inclined to walk up the west bond ridge.

It depends if you like climbing talus slopes or stream beds. They both have their plus and minus.

I think the choice has a lot to do with if the hiker wants to bag Bond Cliff. It's a short jog from the col to the cliffs then back to Bond and finally to West Bond. 3 Bonds is a nice goal, but 2 (or 1) is also nice.

 

[Becca M]

just say no to the west bond ridge

A few years back I bushwhacked west down from W Bond in August. Perhaps this is the west bond ridge? I left W Bond around 3pm and was at the nearest trail around 7pm. It was HORRIBLY thick going. Maybe a slightly different heading would yield better results? YUCK!!!!

 

[Papa Bear]

Here's an unasked question: How are you getting down from Owl's Head to Hell Gate Brook?

One answer: bushwhack down the east side of Owls Head. I did this a few years back, but I didn't go where I wanted to go. I wanted to stick to the ridge line leading down from the 4025 summit (aka the "new" summit). Unfortunately the new vs the old summit had not been sorted out at that time and I started at the "old" summit, thinking it was the 4025 point on the map. But in fact it was the peak about .1 mile south. Result: I got stick in a steep drainage. See the map.

But here I am, alive and well. It was a short whack (a bit over 2 hours) and would probably have been considerably shorter if I started from 4025. This was a lot shorter and faster than going back down the slide and way around on the trails.

But one plus for this route, was the discovery I made partway down east of the old summit:

You go back some years if you remember this gem. And I bet it's still there assuming Ranger Rick hasn't found it

 

[RoySwkr]

One question. If it were you, would you go up the bond bondcliff col or the west bond bond col. Which is the "easier" of the two? Based on reports, I am inclined to walk up the west bond ridge.

I would say it depends on where you want to go next. If you're heading out N over Guyot I'd go up to the Bondcliff col as W Bond is a shorter side trip. If you are going back to Lincoln Woods, I'd go to the W Bond col then take the trail down over Bondcliff. The W Bond ridge is much thicker but half a mile shorter, take your pick. "Richards Ridge" up to Bondcliff is the thickest yet, both NHMH & I have trip reports on it.

 

[rainman19]

Many Thanks

All great suggestions. I think I will head up hellgate brook. Any thoughts on estimated time to the trail?