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Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks Bondcliff, Mt. Bond, West Bond, South Twin Mountain, Galehead Mountain, NH
Trails
Trails: Lincoln Woods Trail, Wilderness Trail, Bondcliff Trail, Twinway, Frost Trail, Twin Brook Trail, Franconia Brook Trail
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: Plenty of parking at Lincoln Woods. 
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Dry Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Unstable), Snow/Ice - Postholes 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment:  
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: All crossings except for Redrock Brook were rock hoppable, sometimes stepping in an inch or two of water. At Redrock Brook I did not see a good route in the immediate area so I just took off my boots. The cold water felt nice. 
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: There were several large blowdowns here and there but only one along Franconia Brook Tr made us stray from the beaten path. The upper section of Bondcliff Tr has been recently brushed. 
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes: I would not recommend taking a novice or out of shape dog (or human)on this loop. Marlie did very well leading me all the way to the summit of West Bond and across several brooks. Lots of water at lower elevations and snow and puddles along the ridges for dogs but as the snow melts that will change. Last June I had to keep her on a leash as there were so many people between the campsite and the two huts. Not the case this time.  
Bugs
Bugs: It the morning there were numerous cobwebs across the trail. More annoying than anything. In the afternoon the bugs started coming out. None were biting at higher elevations but the mosquitoes and black flies were hungry along the Franconia Brook Tr. 
Lost and Found
Lost and Found: Lots of wrapper corners. I wish people would be more careful with these or figure out how to open a package without tearing off the corner. 
 
Comments
Comments: As Pepper and me stated it was an awesome day to be out on these peaks. We must have just missed each other. I left Lincoln Woods just after 5am and arrived at the summit of Bondcliff at 8:30am. We then crossed over Mt Bond and made our way to West Bond and arrived at 10am. There were only a few small patches of ice before Mt Bond and then a thin rotting monorail from Bond to West Bond. It was shortly after the Guyot Campsite Spur that we saw or first people of the day.


Once we were on the Twinway the monorail was deep 2-3 feet in spots but about 1 foot on the average and stretched, intermittently, the entire length. We headed down off of South Twin around 11:30am and refilled our water at the hut. There was no one around. We had seen the caretaker heading up to South Twin. He told us that they were expecting an helicopter to drop off supplies later.


We then headed up to Galehead Mtn and took another rest at the outlook. At about 1pm we headed down the Twin Brook Tr and around 1:30pm we could hear the helicopter. There was no caretaker yet at 13 Falls Campsite or anyone camping. We then made the long 8 mile flat walk back to Lincoln Woods, keeping a pace just fast enough to stay ahead of the bugs. 27 miles 13 hr 5 min.  
Name
Name: IQuest 
E-Mail
E-Mail: iandanner at hotmail dot com 
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2011-05-26 
Link
Link: https:// 
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