Guyot and legal sites near the Bonds?

[hockeycrew]

So I’ve heard the rumors that Guyot campsite sometimes has up to 50 people in it on summer weekends. Three of my friends and I are planning a little 33 mile excursion this weekend that will take us up Willey, Field, Tom, over to Zealand, down the Bonds and then back through Thoreau Falls. We plan on leaving early Saturday and sleeping somewhere in the mountains on Saturday night.

Now I know that Guyot is the last major campsite before the wilderness. What happens if it’s full when we get there? Any options for other legal campsite once we get into the Bonds?

 

[sapblatt]

There are a few large, overfill spots near Guyot just off the Bondcliff Trail. If you are coming from the other side (Lincoln Woods) there are numerous legal sites along the Bondcliff Trail, starting pretty immediatley after leaving the Wilderness Trail. Pretty flat in the woods around there and plenty of water in the area.
Just 33 miles?

 

[Double Bow]

I wouldn't worry about not being able to get a spot at Guyot. With all the space there and the overflow, you shouldn't have a problem. We stayed there Fourth of July Weekend and it wasn't full. No one had to stay in the overflow.

 

[Puck]

I was at Guyot two sat ago. The shelter never filled up. some people wanted to get away from the crownds and immediatly set up at the over flow. Huff the care taker is very friendly and accomodating. You may need to share a platform with another party. Remember Guyot is 0.2 mi down from Bodcliff trail and it seems like 0.4 mi back up first thing in the morning.

 

[hockeycrew]

Just 33 miles?

Well usually 33 miles would be a nice day hike for me. But I have friends in tow who might want to appreciate the views and such.

We're going to be coming from the Crawford Notch side of the Pemi area (because I've done the lincoln woods thing too many times recently), so the campsites past Bondcliff might be a good option if we make good time and want to reduce the distance out the next day.

How do we recongnise the trail to legal camping on the way down bondcliffe (if we hit the stream we've gone too far )?

 

[dr_wu002]

How do we recongnise the trail to legal camping on the way down bondcliffe (if we hit the stream we've gone too far )?

Compare your current map to this one. The original trail made 8 or 9 crossings and the reroute only make 4 or 5. It's rerouted in the lower section but if you look around you'll see evidence of campsites all over. I don't know if all of them are legal (too close to the stream for instance) but there's a lot.

-Dr. Wu

 

[dug]

As far as Guyot itself never filling up, that isn't always accurate. I have walked by the overflow hours in the wee hours of the morning (I can't say where we camped ), and it looked like a refugee camp. There was probably 20 tents in the overflow. That being said, I do believe between Guyot and the overflow it will accomodate all the campers needed in the area.

The four times I camped at Guyot, it filled up twice and the others still had platforms available.

 

[the starchild]

two fridays ago there were 6 of us in the shelter and one empty platform.

labor day weekend was like being at a festival, there were dozens of people camped all over the ridge in and around the overflow area and below was beyond packed, i think there were atleast a 1/2 dozen people on the caretaker's platform!