"Dropped a car at the Zealand Tr parking lot and headed for Lincoln Woods where we began our ascent at 7:15am. We were in for a long and very hot day, but were ready to tackle five peaks and see if we could beat our own time estimate of 13 hours. And we would have, too! If not for an unintentional detour. Word to the wise: when blood sugar and hydration are getting low, and you've already been on the trail for 9 hours, don't trust your memory... and there's no such thing as checking the map too many times. Lincoln Woods to Bondcliff, West Bond Spur, Twinway, then an unfortunate detour down Zeacliff (longest 1.4 miles of my life) and Ethan Pond before finally making it to the Zealand Falls Hut and taking Zealand Trail down to the car. 5 peaks, 22 miles, 14.5 hours, 1 detour, many liters of water, and a cup of lemonade... Views were spectacular, trail company was good, and in spite of the mayhem, I'd love to do this climb again with a few tweaks." — gooner • Aug 6, 2022

"Was going to stay at Zealand , but web site was down. So I dropped my overnight pach and took my day pack. Hit the trail head at 6:45 am. Got back to the hut, grabbed my pack and head lamp and headed out to the car, reaching it at 8:33. Almost 14 hours. Views were AMAZING! " — Bucky • Jul 15, 2022

"Pemi Loop. 20 hrs, 2 minutes. 4 of us. Flume was the first peak, Bondcliff the last. We also threw in Galehead and West Bond for 10 peaks total. Got some blisters out of this hike. Glad to have finally done one. " — newenglandwarrior • Jul 1, 2022

"The last peaks I needed for my September Grid. The weather wasn't as good as I was expecting it to be. I was socked in all day. I covered the 22.6 miles in 8 hours, 50 minutes. A new best time for me. " — newenglandwarrior • Sep 17, 2021

"Shooting for all 3 Bonds today. Started out from Lincoln Woods @ 6:50 AM. Relatively mild but 2-3 inches of new snow. The track on the old railroad bed was good but the snow slowed us a bit. As we climbed Bondcliff Trail, the snow went to 5-6 inches and there was considerable unconsolidated snow during the last mile and a half to the summit. Also the ridge line slopes a fair amount and the base track was poor, narrow. A lot of slipping even with the snow shoes. Near the summit we ran into deep drifts, especially those last few feet of tree cover. The best part of the hike was the sudden brilliant sunshine as we summited. So we got treated to beautiful views for about 15 minutes. Along with calm winds, it was awesome. However we were done for the day. Gazing up at Mt Bond and analyzing the hike up, we knew it was time to turn around. Too bad those 2 would have been our Winter 47 & 48. As usual, the 4.7 miles out on Lincoln Woods was an exercise in mental and physical torture. We'll be back!" — Alohabuffy • Feb 23, 2021

"Finally, a Zealand Bond traverse. Doug helped me out with the car spot the night before. Based on a recent trip report, I took a chance and left the snowshoes behind. Doug dropped me off at Zealand Rd and I started up in the dark. The trail was well tracked out by snowmobiles on the road. Along the trail, I followed an old set of tracks. I made my way past Zealand Hut and went up to check out Zeacliff. Socked in at Zeacliff today. I continued on and reached Zealand. Between Zealand and Guyot, I had to contend with some drifts but nothing to crazy. I reached Guyot and dealt with some wind. At this point, it was hit or miss with the clouds. There was an undercast beyond Garfield. I was mostly in the clear. I went over to West Bond and enjoyed the views there. Then I headed over to Bond but I opted not to stay long. I made my way down to Bondcliff. There were pockets of exposed rock along Bondcliff. I finished my January Grid on Bondcliff. I then made my way out making fast time to reach Lincoln Woods. " — newenglandwarrior • Jan 8, 2021

"Sunday started off with a climb back up to West Bond for Sunrise! After breaking camp, we hiked over to Mount Bond were we got no views! As we hiked over to Bondcliff the clouds started to part and move out. Got great views on Bondcliff to end a great weekend!," — blackwolf_03278 • Aug 16, 2020

"3 days in WMNF. First two days included a nice overnight backpack of the eastern Pemigewasset Wilderness. On day one I hiked up Lincoln Woods and over to the Bonds, then continued on to summit the rest of the high peaks on the Eastern side- Zealand, the Twins, Galehead and Garfield, before setting up camp along the ridgeline above the Franconia Brook Trail. Had great weather going over the Bonds, and had Bondcliff entirely to myself. " — wacbravo • Sep 7, 2019

"So, I started my bonds traverse at 5:45am from Lincoln Woods with the plan to hike Bondcliff, Mount Bond, and West Bond. I had hiked the first portion of this before when I hiked Owl's Head and it was as boring as I remember it to be. At the junction I took the Bondcliff trail which turned out to be another 1.8 miles of boring flat old logging roads. After that the trail takes a sharp left and you start the long steady ascent up to Bondcliff. The actual ascent is pretty gradual with a good amount of flat sections to break it up. By the time I reached the summit I have already hiked almost 9 miles. The summit of Bondcliff is pretty awesome and I refrained from taking the photo that everyone takes while they are up there, that is exactly like the photo that depicts the mountain here on peakery. It was a nice bluebird day with a gentle breeze, but I didn't stay long because after the hike I planned to drive the four hours home and I wanted to make that drive in daylight, so I continued on to Mount Bond........" — LGH-Tom • Aug 23, 2017

"Enjoying a weekend exploring the Whites. Started on trail Friday morning via shuttle (left a car at Zealand parking area). Hiked up to Garfield and the made our way back over the ridge where we spent the night at Galehead Hut before moving on the next day through the Twins and the Bonds. Woke up the next morning and started up the steep climb for the Twins, then over to the Guyot and the Bonds (amazing!) and out through Zealand. We were trying to beat a storm so we passed on Hale - made it to the car with thunder in the distance and a crack of lightening and downpour just as we shut the door! An incredible hike through some very beautiful woods." — deb-and-rob • Aug 12, 2017