Bonds, Hellgate Ravine - Friday, 7/15

Anyone interested in doing The Bonds on Friday (tomorrow) and then possibly dropping into Hellgate Ravine and bushwhacking back to the Franconia Brook trail. Anyone know how bad/good this buswhack is? Standard Route? Herd Path?

7-7:30am start.

-Dr. Wu

I'm inclined to think that you might be better off bushwhacking up than 'whacking down.

Dang, Dr! Do you always have to do these trips on a Friday?

Barbarossa said:

I'm inclined to think that you might be better off bushwhacking up than 'whacking down.

Dang, Dr! Do you always have to do these trips on a Friday?

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No, because my main objective is to get to the 3 Bonds and then possibly bushwhack. Maybe even go east towards the Alpine Zone on the eastern flank of Bond. But most likely down the ridge off West Bond. Only if some one wants to go and also has an idea of what's going on.

-Dr. Wu

I haven't done the Hellgate Brook bushwhack (from the summit of W. Bond to the Franconia Brook Trail), since 1999, but I will use my memory the best that I can…

Up high, between 4000-4500 feet it was extremely thick with spruce trees. We basically had to push ourselves thru them for about 1/2 a mile. After that, it gradually became less dense and turned to easy open woods below 3000 feet. We stayed well above the actual brook and just paralleled it the whole way down.

As for a herd path, we saw no signs of one, and I don't believe enough people do this bushwhack to ever create one.

On a scale of 1-10 for bushwhacking difficulty, I would give it about a 5.

Enjoy your trip!

Frodo said:

On a scale of 1-10 for bushwhacking difficulty, I would give it about a 5.

Enjoy your trip!

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Great! See you at Lincoln Woods -- 7:30am!?

Just kidding -- although I probably won't do the bushwhack alone... maybe go over to Guyot instead.

Still looking for partners... anyone got Friday off and wanna go for a leisurly hike in the Bonds (30 minutes/mile regardless of elevation gain)?

-Dr. Wu

You might want to PM bill bowden of this site...I witnessed him plunge off West Bond with a few pre-teens back in 2001...Given the thickness of the spruce, I thought he was crazy to take those kids down there. But he posted later, said they had a great hike, and praised the young'uns. So I guess, if they could do it, you could do it.

bigmoose said:

You might want to PM bill bowden of this site...I witnessed him plunge off West Bond with a few pre-teens back in 2001...Given the thickness of the spruce, I thought he was crazy to take those kids down there. But he posted later, said they had a great hike, and praised the young'uns. So I guess, if they could do it, you could do it.

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I can't imagine it's that bad. So long as you have a decent map and compass you're bound to hit the Franconia Brook Trail eventually!

I probably won't do the BW without a partner though. I usually need someone there to rile me up.

-Dr. Wu