| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Zealand Mountain, Mt. Guyot, Mt. Bond, NH |
|
 | Trails: |
Zealand Trail, Twinway, Zealand Spur, Bondcliff Trail, West Bond Spur |
|
 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, May 25, 2024 |
|
 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Zealand Road is open and all of the potholes (in the paved portion) are present and accounted for. The gravel portion is, as always, less of a slalom course. The completely awesome USFS has closed the Zealand Trailhead in order to make us some new bathrooms (I heart you!). Parking is available starting about 200’ before the actual trailhead and extending down the road on one side. When I got back around 2pm there was a solid 0.4 miles of cars parallel parked there! Eek! |
|
 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
|
 | Recommended Equipment: |
|
|
 | Water Crossing Notes: |
The water crossing above the Zealand Hut is a straightforward hop, now. |
|
 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
The Zealand Trail has textbook-perfect drainages, and no blowdowns. (I see you NHAndy, and I think that you are fab-u-lous!!)
Twinway has 4 minor stepovers.
West Bond Spur has signs of recent saw work (thank you!)
Bondcliff Trail is good to go.
I bumped into Eric (Backcountry USFS Ranger for the Pemi) as he was attempting to brush in a fire ring with scorch marks right at the Zeacliff outlook. Heartbreaking. There was another one in one of the overflow campsites near Guyot - I tried to brush that one but wasn’t able to make much of an impact. Sigh. |
|
 | Dog-Related Notes: |
I saw a few - it was a perfect day for them. |
|
 | Bugs: |
Yep. But the wind and the picaridin for the win!! |
|
 | Lost and Found: |
|
|
|
|
|
 | Comments: |
I dragged my friend MT on his first summit sunrise; we watched from Zeacliff. I think that he liked it! There were five of us for sunrise, and that was just the beginning of the crowds. After sunrise we headed to Zealand, and after that I headed to the Bonds and MT headed back to tag Hale.
I didn’t see anyone until West Bond, and then it was a steady stream of trail runners, backpackers and day hikers. I can’t believe that I didn’t bump into Rick Simmons but I left Bond by 9am so I was probably ahead of him! One of the backpackers told me that Guyot was full on Friday night!
Just as Rick reported, today there was also almost no snow on the trails. Between his report and my report you can now safely leave the traction at home if you are hiking a ZBonds traverse!! Yay!!
I skipped Bondcliff because I am terrible at Gridding and would rather viewbag LOL! (396/576) |
|
 | Name: |
Bikecamphikegirl |
|
 | E-Mail: |
|
|
| Date Submitted: |
2024-05-25 |
|
 | Link: |
 https:// |
|
|
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. |
|
