An Epic Day in the Clouds: Tackling the Bonds

Sometimes the views don't make the adventure. That was certainly the case for my brothers and I as we set out on a 15.4 mi. trek on Sunday to knock out four official NH 4000 Footers (Zealand, Bond, Bondcliff, and West Bond) as well as Mt. Guyot.

Our journey started from the Zealand Falls Hut where we had arrived the night before for a two-night stay after hiking in over Mt. Hale. During breakfast, we were anxious to hear the latest weather report from the Mt. Washington Observatory to see how bad the outlook was for the day. We knew from checking forecasts prior to hiking into the land of no cell service that Sunday was looking sketchy with some moderate to heavy rain and strong winds expected. We were happy to hear the hut croo say that the heaviest of the rain wasn't expected until the evening. We decided we had the window of opportunity we needed to get in all the peaks, so we finished up breakfast and set off from the hut around 8 a.m.

We could see the clouds starting to thicken in the sky as we stepped out of the hut and took in one of the few good views of the day. The sun was still showing through and cast a wonderful light on the first signs of fall down in the valley. From there, we began the steep trek up the Twinway Trail. Going in this direction, we were headed southbound on the Appalachian Trail and gaining a lot of elevation over not a lot of mileage. We passed several thru-hikers headed for Crawford Notch along the way. It was a steep, (dry) rocky climb for most of the way until we came to the crest of the Zealand ridge and headed for the Zeacliff viewpoint. We got there just in time to take in our last view of the day with the White Mountains stretching out all around us and the clouds gathering with ever increasing speed.

Our best view of the day from Zeacliff

From the viewpoint we continued on the Twinway Trail along the ridge now gaining elevation at a much gentler pace. The trail had smooth easy footing by way of bog bridges, smooth rock faces and single track dirt runs for a good portion of this section before becoming increasingly steeper and rockier as we headed up to the side trail for the summit of Zealand.

It was at this point that the winds also picked up as well, causing us all to add an extra layer to battle the gusts that would be bothering us for the rest of our trip. The clouds also descended upon us as well and became part of our path the rest of the way out and back.

Ladder heading up the Twinway Trail to Zealand (Photo credit: Paul Vinson)

The final climb up to Zealand was probably the easiest ascent of the day, both because of its gradual elevation gain and it was the point our legs were at their freshest. The side trail to the summit was well marked with a small cairn and a sign on a tree pointing us the right way. Going the direction we were headed you can't miss it. We quickly headed over to the summit to bag peak number one for the day, and then it was on to Guyot.

From the summit of Zealand the trek picked up in strenuousness as it was a steep drop off the summit followed by a steep climb up to Guyot, almost like hiking along the letter "V." There were points along this section we had to get on all fours to clamber up rock slabs and keep our balance along sections of the trail that were just rocks piled on more rocks.

When we broke the treeline at the Guyot summit, we were finally hit with our first truly strong gusts and wet weather of the day. As we turned left to head down the rough, rocky start of the Bondcliff Trail, we were bombarded by winds so strong that we couldn't hear each other without shouting even when standing side-by-side. We couldn't tell if the water smacking us was rain or just the moisture in the clouds whipping by, but either way, we would be getting damp the rest of the way.

Once we got back into the trees the descent was quick down past the Guyot campsite and trailhead for West Bond (we decided to save that for our return route). The climb up to our high point of the day, the summit of Mt. Bond, was a gradual rocky approach, now a little slippery with rain starting to fall. The winds on the summit of Bond were stiff and made our stay up there brief. The mix of the wind and rain made the chills set in quickly whenever we took a respite above treeline, so we tried to save most of breaks for warmer, more wooded sections of the trail.

My older brother, Paul, descending Mt. Bond onto the Bondcliff ridge

Once over Bond we steeply descended onto the Bondcliff ridge, coming out of the trees onto a very slippery, rocky welcome to full exposure. Everything on the ridge was well soaked from the rain and winds. We had to keep our tired minds focused on following the cairns and finding good footing, but we all slipped and stumbled a few times. Luckily, none of us got any injuries along the way.

My brothers working their way along the ridge

The thick cloud cover hid the iconic cliff of the Bondcliff summit well, and we falsely hoped we had reached the summit several times, only to see another, higher section of the ridge appear before us. After three or four false summits, we were finally rewarded with a view of the cliff on our right and climbed up onto the summit to cap the furthest point of our adventure.

This is as close as we were getting to the cliff with those winds! (Photo credit: Paul Vinson)

 On our way back to the Zealand Falls Hut, all of our trails were now soaked and sopping wet. The side trip to West Bond was a quick twenty minutes each way, and the winds on its exposed summit were probably the harshest we felt during the entire trek. We trudged over slippery boulders, thick mud, deep puddles, and ever increasing rain until we finally returned to our starting point at the hut, ducking under the porch just as the clouds really let loose a downpour. All told we completed this hike in 15.4 unbelievable miles in 9 hours and 45 minutes, crossing the 5 mountains along the way a total of 9 times. We arrived back at the hut a mere 15 minutes before dinner service, soaked from head to toe.

With the mix of the terrain and the weather, this was the most challenging hike I've taken on in my quest to summit all of the 4000 footers, and I am so happy my brothers were part of this chapter. I wouldn't have picked this day to hike these mountains solo, but the three of us now have an amazing story of unbelievable accomplishment we will most certainly look back on every time we get together.

Photo credit: Paul Vinson