bryan
New member
date: 9/21/13
trails: lincoln woods trail, franconia brook trail, bushwhack, west bond spur, bondcliff trail
conditions: lincoln woods and franconia brook trails were generally dry and in good shape. some minimal mud in places. we followed franconia brook trail to hellgate brook then left the trail and followed the brook up towards the ravine. we crossed the brook a number of times looking for the best going. some old roads and the occasional herd path helped out though the woods were never difficult. we eventually found a good herd path on the north side of the brook and followed it for a distance before it petered out. this was not far from where we started up the slopes of west bond to intersect the runout of the southern most of the slides on this side of the mountain. if viewing the slopes from bondcliff this is the long gravelly looking slide farthest to the left/south. the lower portion of the slide was comprised of mostly loose dirt and rock with a strip of ledge running up the middle. given the dry conditions the ledges made for good travel. i would probably avoid them when wet. the slide narrowed and we passed through an area of thick spruce/fir growth before popping back out onto the upper portion of the slide which was mostly comprised of ledge that again was dry and provided good going. when we reached the top of the slide we crossed over to our right for a short distance through thick growth to a parallel slide which allowed us a bit more open vertical before hitting the woods and bushwhacking up to the ridgeline a bit below the secondary summit of west bond. woods were scrappy with some blowdown. the ridgeline over the secondary bump had nice going then the woods got thicker as it dropped down and climbed towards the true summit. we then picked up a herd path and followed it to the summit of west bond. the west bond spur was nice and dry as was the bondcliff trail over bond and bondcliff. lower bondcliff trail had some significant mud pits, but was otherwise in good condition though it seems to be suffering from erosion issues in a number of places. water crossings were all ok today.
equipment: nothing in particular.
conditions: about this time last year jeremy and i met nice and early at lincoln woods planning to do this hike. the forecast for improving conditions had not materialized so we called it off and hiked elsewhere. finally a year later we took another shot and got a pretty perfect day for the bushwack/slide climb. the woods in the hellgate drainage were beautiful and recent weather conditions left the slide nice and dry which made travel really enjoyable. the views back to bondcliff and other peaks in the pemi were spectacular. a beautiful day to be on the bonds. thanks to jeremy for a great hike.
bryan
[email protected]
trails: lincoln woods trail, franconia brook trail, bushwhack, west bond spur, bondcliff trail
conditions: lincoln woods and franconia brook trails were generally dry and in good shape. some minimal mud in places. we followed franconia brook trail to hellgate brook then left the trail and followed the brook up towards the ravine. we crossed the brook a number of times looking for the best going. some old roads and the occasional herd path helped out though the woods were never difficult. we eventually found a good herd path on the north side of the brook and followed it for a distance before it petered out. this was not far from where we started up the slopes of west bond to intersect the runout of the southern most of the slides on this side of the mountain. if viewing the slopes from bondcliff this is the long gravelly looking slide farthest to the left/south. the lower portion of the slide was comprised of mostly loose dirt and rock with a strip of ledge running up the middle. given the dry conditions the ledges made for good travel. i would probably avoid them when wet. the slide narrowed and we passed through an area of thick spruce/fir growth before popping back out onto the upper portion of the slide which was mostly comprised of ledge that again was dry and provided good going. when we reached the top of the slide we crossed over to our right for a short distance through thick growth to a parallel slide which allowed us a bit more open vertical before hitting the woods and bushwhacking up to the ridgeline a bit below the secondary summit of west bond. woods were scrappy with some blowdown. the ridgeline over the secondary bump had nice going then the woods got thicker as it dropped down and climbed towards the true summit. we then picked up a herd path and followed it to the summit of west bond. the west bond spur was nice and dry as was the bondcliff trail over bond and bondcliff. lower bondcliff trail had some significant mud pits, but was otherwise in good condition though it seems to be suffering from erosion issues in a number of places. water crossings were all ok today.
equipment: nothing in particular.
conditions: about this time last year jeremy and i met nice and early at lincoln woods planning to do this hike. the forecast for improving conditions had not materialized so we called it off and hiked elsewhere. finally a year later we took another shot and got a pretty perfect day for the bushwack/slide climb. the woods in the hellgate drainage were beautiful and recent weather conditions left the slide nice and dry which made travel really enjoyable. the views back to bondcliff and other peaks in the pemi were spectacular. a beautiful day to be on the bonds. thanks to jeremy for a great hike.
bryan
[email protected]
