Outdoor Diversion: Zealand/Bonds Traverse in December

Summits: Zealand (4,260'), Guyot (4,580'), West Bond (4,540'), Mount Bond (4,698'), Bondcliff (4,265')

Trail route: Zealand Road, Zealand Trail, Twinway, Zealand Spur, Bondcliff Trail, West Bond Spur, Lincoln Woods Trail

Trail conditions: Snow of varying depths from a couple of inches to over a foot with deep drifts on Guyot,

Weather: Cold and cloudy, windy and snowy at higher elevations

Total miles: 23.5

Total time: 13:55

The Zealand/Bonds traverse is always an epic hike but this time of year can be a challenging adventure. The weather forecast was looking favorable but with 23.5 miles of unknown trail conditions I knew this was going to be a formidable hike. I would be joining Guy, Jolaine, Jill, Scott and Lisa for this long hike today.

The Zealand Road is closed so I drove to the winter parking lot and met the others there for a 5:30 AM start. Based on trail reports we decided to not take snowshoes. We put on headlamps and began the 3.5 mile road walk just after 5:30. We hadn't gone far when we began to experience hidden ice below the fresh snow. It was time for the microspikes and they stayed on for the rest of the hike.

It was daylight when we reached the trailhead. A familiar face, Rachel and her crew caught up to us and passed us on their way to doing the same traverse. It was a good hike in to Zealand Hut. After a short break at the hut we began the hike up Twinway. The snow increased with elevation gain. On the way to Zealand Mountain there was up to 18" of snow. Snowshoes could have been used but microspikes were fine too without any postholing.

We arrived at Zealand Mountain summit, took a very short break and were on our way. It was getting colder but no wind, yet. Up on Mount Guyot the weather got wintry real quick. It was very cold and windy with deep snow drifts along the trail. We moved fast over the exposed summit and got back down below treeline out of the wind.

We dropped our packs at the West Bond spur trail and headed for the summit. Once we got to the top it was cold again and it was another short break before heading back to our packs. The next stop was the summit of Mount Bond. The sun was breaking through the clouds while me made the descent off Bond and then the ascent to Bondcliff. This would be our last significant up of the day.

There was spectacular views from the summit of Bondcliff enhanced by the clouds and sun setting low in the late afternoon sky. After some photos we started our nine mile hike down and out to Lincoln Woods. A couple of miles down from the summit of Bondcliff we put on our headlamps. It was three more hours of hiking out in the darkness.

As always it was great to see the the suspension bridge over the East Branch of the Pemigewasset River! The end of this long hike was on the other side of this bridge. This was a very exhausting hike today with lots of loose snow. Snowshoes could have been used between Zeacliff and Mount Bond but microspikes also worked well, I was glad to have not had the snowshoes on my pack today.

It was good to get these summits done in December and I was glad to have some good company. I need Zealand one more time and the Bonds two more times to grid them out. Congratulations to Jill for gridding out these summits today, she has now hiked them in every month of the year!

Enjoy the photos and videos!