Bondcliffs Part 2, September 2011

Went back to the Bondcliffs in mid September with my brother in law. A cold front came through and dipped the temperatures. It was a few weeks after the devastation of Hurricane Irene. This area got hit hard, knocking out some bridges and washing out some of the trail. We went to the AMC office in Lincoln to get up to date trail info and were given the go ahead that the trail was passable. We started out from Lincoln Woods Trailhead and had to deal with a little sludgy trail conditions. By the time we hit he Bondcliff Trail, it was getting cooler and the sun was peaking out a little. When we reached about the halfway point, it started to sleet. What was really cool was on our way up Bondcliff, we met a female hiker that was coming down Bondcliffs after finishing her 48 4000 footers in The Whites. It was cool seeing someone complete it. The rest of the climb was much easier than it had been a couple of months earlier in the 90 degree heat. When we came out above treelike, we could see snow and ice on Franconia Ridge and Mt Washington. Rime Ice was on the alpine trees around us and it was really cold. The winds hit 50-60 mph along the ridge. The rest of the hike to Guyot was pretty tough with the wind. We got to Guyot and set up camp on the same tent pad Wak and I had set up previously. We crashed early and slept through the night, even though the caretaker had warned their were bears in the area. We headed out in cool temps in the morning and had some ice on the rocks around the Guyot/ Twinway intersection. The ridge over to South Twin was awesome. Moose tracks were everywhere and we tracked one for a couple of miles that seemed to be walking north on the trail. We got to the top of South Twin and spent some time on top the crowded summit. We hung out at Galehead before heading down the Franconia Brook Trail to Lincoln Woods Trail and finished the hike earlier than we had wanted but the weather was going to go downhill. Great hike, much better in the cooler temps. The air was really clear from the ridge tops.

I had bought a new Sea to Summit Rain Cover and was hoping to get to use it. I used it on the ridge because of the high winds and blowing snow and ice. I eventually had to take it off because when we went over the ridge to Mt Bond, the winds peaked out at about 50-60 mph. I was using my Double Rainbow as cold I had ever used it and it went fine. It got down into the 20's. There was very little condensation left on the inside, nothing a shammy couldn't take care of. Great trip. Way too short.
The Bonds September 2011

Sean and Chaco

Bondcliff, Garfield in back