September 23, 2023

Start/End: Lincoln Woods Trailhead, Kancamagus Hwy

Peaks: Bondcliff (4,265'), Bond (4,698'), West Bond (4,540')

Elevation Gain: 4,955 ft

RT Mileage: 22.32 mi

Duration: 11 hours, 48 minutes

Rock Difficulty: Class 1

After Galehead the previous week, I decided to close off summer 2023 with another hike in the Pemi Wilderness. I had a choice between getting Owl's Head out of the way now or procrastinating it and bagging the Bonds instead, and I chose the latter.

Waking up at 3:45 AM, I was able to leave the house by 4:10. I arrived at the trailhead at 6:10, and was on the trail by 6:20. After crossing the suspension bridge, the first 4.8 miles were on the Lincoln Woods Trail, an old railroad on the west side of the river. This part went by very quickly, and by 8:00 I was at the base of the Bondcliff Trail. After a brief initial section, the trail began to ascend at a more gradual slope.

There were a total of four major stream crossings on the trail, all on the same stream. The first, and hardest, crossing came 1.3 miles in, and the second brought the trail back over another half mile in. After another half mile, the third crossing presented itself, and the trail steepened significantly afterwards. The first views of Bondcliff presented themselves at around 3,000 ft, and fall colors were in full swing above that elevation.

After the fourth and final stream crossing, the trail flattened out again as began to traverse the southeast slopes of Bondcliff. After another 1.3 miles, the trail gained Bondcliff's south ridge and steepened for the final 0.3 miles to the summit. I broke treeline on the ridge at 10:35 and summited ten minutes later.

After spending around 25 minutes on the summit of Bondcliff, I began to make my way across the ridge to Bond. The ridge between the two peaks was super cool, very similar to the Franconia Ridge but with way fewer people. After 0.9 miles on the ridge, the trail finally began ascending to the the summit of Bond. This was the steepest part of the hike, gaining 600 feet in 0.3 miles. I summited Bond at 11:50.

I spent around 10 minutes on the summit of Bond before beginning to make my way over to West Bond. The 400-vertical-foot descent from Bond to the col was gradual and took up most of the mile between Bond and West Bond. The ascent to West Bond was short and fairly straightforward. I summited my third and final 4,000er of the day at 12:35 PM.

I spent around 10 minutes on the summit before beginning to make my way back. Summiting Bond, the highest of the three 4,000ers, for a second time wasn't as bad as I had expected, but this was counteracted by the rocky and taxing descent that followed. I took a short break on Bondcliff on the way back before beginning to make my way down the remaining nine miles at 2:30.

After dropping below treeline, the Bondcliff Trail was a fairly forgiving descent by Whites standards. I hit the Lincoln Woods Trail at 5:00. By this point, I had no energy left in the tank, so the final 4.8 miles back to the parking lot were perhaps the most tantalizing 4.8 miles of my life. I finally reached the suspension bridge which marked the end of the hike at 6:40, over 12 hours after I had started, and 4,000ers #19, #20, and #21 were in the books.