| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Bondcliff, Mt. Bond, West Bond, Mt. Guyot, Zealand Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Lincoln Woods Trail, Bondcliff Trail, West Bond Spur, Twinway, Zealand Spur, Zealand Trail, Zealand Road |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, March 5, 2017 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Near empty at LW and Rte 302. Weather thinned out the crowd? |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Ice - Breakable Crust, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Drifts, Snow/Ice - Postholes, Snow/Ice - Small Patches |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction, Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Two on Bondcliff took some care. Soft and hard ice, flowing water. Slightly upstream on 1st and downstream on 2nd. All others not a big issue. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Saw two accomplished hiking dogs at Zealand, they were doing a N-S traverse. |
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 | Bugs: |
Saw some with SSW48 and W48. It's a strange bug, not many get it. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Spikes all day. LW wide and well packed. Less traffic on Wilderness onward until Zealand. Trail easy to follow all the way in until below Bond summit. Exposed rock, hard ice, trace blown snow from Bondcliff to the scrub below Bond. Bond cliff outlook bare rock. Took spikes for 5 minutes and put them back on. A good batch of wind going across ridge to Bond. At first from the east and then NOAA was right as it turned from the NW. Really had to lean into some gust. Got off trail a bit just below Bond, we needed to do some zig zag bush wacking to build one character. Trail narrowed from here until below Guyout. Trail sometimes hard to follow, not a lot of traffic and what had been through was blown in a lot. Poked, prodded, pushed and brushed by trees. Definitely a non-puffy zoned. Some soft blown snow with short sections to 8". West Bond Spur was fresh. Our group was first out and back. West Bond snow was hard frozen for the most part with blown snow in spots. Met two hikers doing a N-S just above Guyout col. More strong wind, rock, hard ice patches, and windswept across Guyout to the Twinway. Trail narrows on Twinway after Guyout, More tree branch treatment. Met three more hikers with the two dogs at Zealand. Twinway has seen more traffic but still sections blown in. For the Zeacliif lookout to Zealand hut, a deep frozen posthole challenge. Potholing like that has got to be a hard way to go. A short stop of the hut. There was about 6 or 7 guest staying the night. From the Hut to Zealand Road hard packed snow. And then the road walk, firm snow cover, occasional ice and bare spots. Rte 302 was black and dry.
An overall great day. Blue skies. Wind and cold kept us moving a brisk pave all day. Not a lot of time to linger. Lucky enough to meet some new hikers. Turned a solo in and out from LW into traverse. |
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 | Name: |
mark |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2017-03-06 |
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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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