| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Zealand Mountain, Mt. Guyot, West Bond, Mt. Bond, Bondcliff, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Zealand Road, Zealand Trail, Twinway, Zealand Spur, Bondcliff Trail, West Bond Spur, Lincoln Woods Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Thursday, January 4, 2024 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
No parking issues at either LW PL or 302/Zealand PL. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Black, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow/Ice - Postholes, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
The Lincoln Woods trail crossing of Franconia Brook was a bit dicey--had to put the spikes back on for it. A bit surprising as all the stream crossings up in the mountains on trails were not a problem. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Some of the lower parts of the Bondcliff trail were virtual stream, with terrible erosion. But nothing short of a re-route would solve the problem, so not really a maintenance issue. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Found a black glove on the Bond Cliff Trail, email me if it's yours. |
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 | Comments: |
Rick and I were the only guests at Zhut Tuesday night, so it was quieter, but colder, than normal. Barebooted to the hut. Wore spikes from the hut to the Bond/Bondcliff col., then put spikes on again shortly before the Hillary step (the Hillary step was mostly rock, with a little bit of ice on some of the steps). Kept the spikes on for the upper half of the Bondcliff trail, then went back to bareboots for the duration of the hike (except for the crossing of the Franconia Brook). I thought the hike was going to be easier than on previous winter traverses, but it was not. The ice/rock conditions greatly slowed us down--it took us 12 hours from hut to LW PL, whereas as few winters ago the same traverse only took me 9 hours with snowshoes, on a well packed-out snow sidewalk trail. But it is done, which completed my sixth round of the NHW48, and checked off the ZBs for my first over-75 NHW48 list. We met five people on the hike, one single and two couples. The second couple that passed us just before Camp 16 were finishing their first NHW48--congrats. At the W.Bond Junction we offered Sheryl a ride back from my car at Rt 302PL to her car at LW, if she wanted to traverse through to R302, and summit Mt. Zealand. She took us up on the offer, but unfortunately we were quite slow getting out (due to our lack of agility dealing with the ice/ rock conditions I guess) . But fortunately the speedy (relative to us) couple that passed us going down Bondcliff, notice Sheryl waiting at my car and gave her a ride back to hers. Thanks so much folks! No views Wednesday , but still a wonderful day in the mountains. |
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 | Name: |
RonK |
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 | E-Mail: |
r.kusner@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2024-01-04 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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