| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Zealand Mountain, Mt. Guyot, West Bond, Mt. Bond, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Zealand Trail, Twinway, Zealand Spur, Bondcliff Trail, West Bond Spur |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, October 24, 2026 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
The upper lot was full when we arrived a bit before 7. Once we left after 5pm, the upper lot had opened up and the lower lot was quite full. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Wet Trail |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
All easy rock hops. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
There's a blowdown on Zealand Tr around 0.7 or so from the parking lot. It's an OK stepover. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Didn't see any today. Carry water for your pooch beyond Zealand. |
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 | Bugs: |
Basically none. How pleasant to be on Zealand peak without all of the flies that are usually there!! |
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 | Lost and Found: |
There was a croc left hanging along Zealand Tr less than 0.5 miles in from the parking lot. |
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 | Comments: |
It was a gorgeous day and conditions are good! We saw very trace snow, like winter is saying it's coming, but definitely not arrived. We carried microspikes but never considered donning them (instead of lamenting the extra weight, I considered them an insurance policy -- if I hadn't had them, clearly I would have needed them!). At the start of the day, frost covered everything in the open swamp area on Zealand trail; gorgeous! Smaller water collections were frozen over with a thin sheet of ice. There was also a lot of pleasant frozen mud that crunched underfoot along Zealand Tr. But by the end of the day, the frost and ice had thawed. Many people were laying in the warm sun, on rocks and bridges.
We saw a good number of people and heard that the hut was full for the night. I have a feeling the Guyot campsite will also have been quite full based on the number of people I saw headed in that direction. Who can blame them, with the beautiful sunny skies, calm wind, and clear views of a fall day!
Interesting siting: a spruce grouse not far off from the summit of Guyot. We suddenly heard a lot of flapping (we had startled it) and looked over to see it having flown up from the ground onto a branch. Some gray jays also made an appearance a little further along Twinway after that.
And on person notes, these were 23, 24, and 25 for my son's 48. He hadn't expected to get the 25th, but with gentle nudging from mom, we did it and made it out before dark (we had our headlamps, just in case, but had hoped to not have to use them). I, meanwhile, was happy to bag some October peaks (a month in which I haven't done much hiking, but am coming to really like). But even more, it felt great sharing my favorite peaks with him. Love this hike! |
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 | Name: |
OfTheWoods |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2026-10-25 |
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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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