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Ski
Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks Bondcliff, Mt. Bond, West Bond, Mt. Guyot, Zealand Mountain, NH
Trails
Trails: Lincoln Woods Trail, Bondcliff Trail, West Bond Spur, Twinway, Zealand Spur, Zealand Trail, Zealand Road
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Sunday, January 1, 2012
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes: Zealand Road closed. good maintained parking at the zealand winter lot and lincoln woods.  
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Ice - Black, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Ice - Blue, Snow - Drifts, Ice - Breakable Crust, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment: Light Traction 
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: the water crossings were all ok. some sketchy snow/ice bridges on the first significant crossing on the bondcliff (formerly wilderness) trail and over whitewall brook near zealand hut. the two lower black brook crossings were open and easy rock hops and the upper two crossings were solidly snowbridged.  
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes: removed a few leaners and blowdowns along the route. one real big one down on bondcliff trail (former wilderness section) along with the typical stepovers.  
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes:  
Bugs
Bugs:  
Lost and Found
Lost and Found:  
 
Comments
Comments: lincoln woods trail had a rough hardpacked surface of snow and ice. once across franconia brook the track smoothed out significantly. the snow got progressively softer in the broken track heading up bondcliff.


once on bondcliff the snow got sticky often over an icy base and remained sticky with increasing depth up to bond. there was a good broken track from bond to guyot and the west bond spur was particularly hard packed.


some drifting around guyot then the twinway was nicely packed out to zealand. zealand to zeacliff well packed as well then quite hard packed with decreasing depth down to the hut.


good snow on zealand trail initially with a fair amount of ice interspersed down low. will be interesting if it gets real cold soon. zealand road was quite icy and may become a real sheet after the next hard freeze. the ice decreased on the paved section of the road with mostly crusty snow to the highway.


we wore microspikes the whole day and they were ideal given the well broken and solid trail conditions. we carried crampons and did not need them (though once things really freeze up again they may be useful) and based on previous reports and conditions encountered on hikes earlier this week we left the snowshoes in the car and didn't regret it. had i brought them i would have used them between bond and guyot (and maybe beyond), but they weren't necessary today.


an absolutely fantastic day for the traverse. we hiked into the clouds on bondcliff and then enjoyed an amazing undercast from bond and west bond. winds were pretty minimal and didn't really pick up until the roadwalk at the end of the day. felt a lot more like april than the first of january. awesome day out. thanks cynthia.

 
Name
Name: bryan 
E-Mail
E-Mail: bryancuddihee@yahoo.com 
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2012-01-01 
Link
Link: https:// 
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