| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Zealand , NH |
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 | Trails: |
Zealand Trail, Twinway, AT |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, February 28, 2026 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow - Spring Snow |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Nicely bridged |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Big tree down on zealand road |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
KOLE! I almost stole your vest. It’s a good thing. Your mom came out and grabbed you before I did! |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
We had set out to do an out and back Zealand to Bonds (ZBD) traverse, and Saturday was looking like the perfect day. 35° and sunny. Downright hot! Unfortunately, the weather changed overnight and so we decided to make it more of a TBD-ZBD.
Coming into the trailhead this morning we saw Jeff B! What a nice surprise! Pretty soon another gentleman, 5 lives, join us at our cars and we started up the road. Jeff peeled off at Hale.
Going in it was very sunny, but as we started to approach Zeacliff, we started to hear the forecasted winds a-whistlin”. As we were approaching the summit, we saw Five Lives coming back, citing white out conditions, high winds, and very low temps. We decided to go on to the summit and make a gametime decision. As we were almost there, who should arrive behind us, but Jeff B! We went out to the summit together and talked about our next steps. I decided turning around was no big deal (NBD). The other cutie agreed, and we decided to turn around because I don’t need yet another summit selfie (so thirsty!). Upon our return, the trail was hard to find in the open areas as the snow had completely blown over our tracks in just a few minutes. I also got a little bit of an ice cream headache from the freezing cold windchill 🤣
All in all it was an incredible day, trails are well packed, bare booters are still out there trying to do OAB ZBDs with no snowshoes, and we got in a good 19ish miles lol
If I may digress a little bit about the bare booting this season. This is not the season to be bare booting. If you are bare booting when you clearly need snowshoes, you’re kind of taking advantage of all of the work that everyone else is doing to try and keep the trails in shape, and then you are obliterating them. For me, it’s an integrity issue. Maybe reflect a little bit and figure out why the trails look so good for you, it’s because all of us are out there with snowshoes. It’s giving I-have-five-single-season-winters-under-my-belt-but-I’m-cheating-on-my-spouse-energy.
I spent the week up north in various locations! I like to float around. Lots of colds ALSO floating around this week after school vacation week! You might want to get tested. These things have a way of following you home. |
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 | Name: |
Two wicked cuties |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2026-02-28 |
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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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