Saturday, March 9
Summits: Hale (SSW NH48), Zeacliff, Zealand, Guyot, West Bond, Bond, Bondcliff
Start: Zealand Rd winter parking
Finish: Lincoln Woods TH
Miles: 23.48
Elevation gain/loss: 6870′
I met up with my friend Eric at Lincoln Woods at 5:15am; we transferred gear and then drove the 45 minutes up to Zealand Rd winter parking lot. We started out at 6:15am; the temperatures to start were in the low 20s, with dawn light starting to peek through. After a mile of walking on the road, we paused to remove layers and headlamps. After another mile, we made it to the Hale Brook trailhead and started our first big ascent. We made it to the summit of Hale by 8:20am, though the wind had started howling as we climbed and we rushed across the socked in summit, eager to get lower. It seemed appropriate that I would finish my Single Season Winter hike of the NH48 that way – with little fanfare and deep respect for the elements.
We headed down Lend-a-Hand trail and were surprised to find it in decent condition – passable in traction, without large holes or open water. We descended for a while until we hit Twinway. We decided to fill up on water at the crossing rather than descend further to the hut, and then made our way up the 2nd and final big climb of the day. We kept it steady and methodical, and after stopping at Zeacliff where we were lucky to get a partial view, we made it to Zealand by 10:40am. The wind had died down and the temperature had risen to right around 30 degrees at the summits, making for perfect conditions.
We enjoyed our traction-only hike as we headed towards Guyot. We did layer up before popping out above treeline and were glad for it, though the wind was not nearly as fierce as we had predicted going up and over Guyot. We enjoyed smooth sailing over to West Bond and then up to Bond, and were super lucky to get expansive views of the Pemi from Guyot onward. Between Bond and Bondcliff, we removed our spikes for a while to allow better traction on all of the exposed rock. The weather was mild enough we enjoyed some time at the summit of Bondcliff, taking a few epic photos and getting my first ever ‘classic’ Bondcliff photo.
From there, we put our spikes back on and descended down towards Lincoln Woods. The lower half was very wet, with pooled water everywhere and frequent active water on and across the trail. Our feet were soaked before long but it was warm enough, we didn’t mind too much. We made it back to Lincoln Woods by 4:30pm. It was a fun day, with epic and unexpected views, including white water kayakers walking to the river just as we crossed the bridge.
