4,265 ft | Bond | 3 routes
As of September 9, 2026
Trail conditions on Bondcliff are currently rated Difficult. It's 42°F (feels like 34°F) with SE winds at 9 mph. The shortest of 3 listed routes is Z-Bonds Traverse: 18.9 miles point to point with 3,805 ft of elevation gain, taking about 9-14 hours. Bondcliff (4,265 ft) is #30 of 48 on the NH 48 list. See the hour-by-hour Bondcliff weather forecast for summit temps, wind chill, and the best hiking window.
Bondcliff weather forecast
Hourly summit temps, wind chill & freezing level, trailhead to summit
Feels like 34°F
Recent Precipitation
Rain: 0.39" (24h) · 0.43" (48h)
~2.4°F drop per 1,000ft
Conditions summary as of September 9, 2026
Bondcliff is dealing with wet, muddy trails from recent moderate rainfall combined with a deteriorating forecast bringing heavy rain and strong winds through Wednesday and Thursday. The exposed cliff-edge summit, while brief, becomes hazardous with high winds and wet rock, and the multi-day forecast shows little improvement until Friday when skies clear but temperatures drop.
Expect a noticeable temperature drop of only a few degrees from trailhead to summit, but wind speeds increase dramatically from ~20mph at the trailhead to 45-47mph near treeline and the summit, making wind chill the primary concern above 4,000ft; layer with a windproof shell for the summit push even though air temperatures alone seem moderate.
Best Hiking Window
Early Friday morning (September 11) offers the best window, as rain tapers off and skies turn overcast with lighter winds, though temperatures will be cooler with lows near 32°F
Last synthesized Sep 9, 8:20 AM
Planning a hike here this week?
Trailblazer adds the full 7-day summit forecast, the best day to go for every peak, and conditions for each route up.
Trail: Bondcliff Trail, Twinway, Gale River Trail, Gale River Rd
Conditions: Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Mud - Minor/Avoidable
“Day 2 early start for sunrise. Was planning on West 1st but it was very foggy so headed to Bond instead. Wet muddy in the usual spots. Wasn’t looking good as the clouds were boiling, did have a nice undercast with Carrigain poking out from the clouds. Just as I arrived the sun started to appear, rising thru the clouds, truly an amazing experience! Stunning 360 of colors off the clouds. No one else around, I had it to myself. Very windy & cool here as I made my way to Bondcliff, very dry. Beautiful views as always, windy so I found a sheltered spot for coffee and breakfast. I love it here in the early morning, an amazing place. Dropped pack to West, no issues, lots of flyers but none biting. Very peaceful. Back to pack up as it was early, and start the long hike out. 1st time up to South this way, much better than the day before. 1st .6 miles on Gale River wet & slippery, once past junction it started to dry. Very fast out. 50 yards from the lot as I was celebrating a great trip a root jumped up & sent me sprawling. Nothing injured except my pride. 1.3 road walk to finish an amazing trip! This Grids out August”
Trail: Zealand Trail, Twinway, Zealand Spur, Bondcliff Trail, West Bond Spur
Conditions: Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable
“What a great day for this hike starting from Galehead Hut. Mostly sunny, comfortable temps and great views all around. Trails are in good shape mostly dry but there are intermittent avoidable goopy spots here and there. It was great to chat with many of the hikers on the trail including Andy who finished his 48 over 75 years old on Bondcliff. It was a long day but a lot of fun with great company including special guest hiker (now team member) Sadie who we met at the shelter and got her 20th with these five peaks. Hiker of the day was Kwi-Hui who finished her 48 over 70 years old on Zealand. Congratulations Trail Mother.”
Trail: Zealand Trail, Twinway, Zealand Spur, Bondcliff Trail, West Bond Spur
Conditions: Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable
“This was a last minute pivot to get these on a good weather day for G2. The trails were nice and dry and the rocks were grippy which helped me make good time all the way to Bondcliff. I saw a handful of happy hikers making their way from overnights at Guyot. The slog back up Bond was very sloggy as the sun was out and it was HOT. Once I made it back to that summit I cooled off and was able to cruise on back to Guyot. It was nice to meet Chris and Jeff in person - thank you for stopping to introduce yourselves. :) I met a few NOBOS on my journey back to the hut. The rain started while I was on the Twinway headed back and was a pretty strong downpour. I didn't even bother with a rain jacket because it felt so nice to get cooled off. The rain turned the trail into a stream with a lot of standing water and wet rocks. The descent down the hut was slower due to the pouring rain. Once I got to the hut the rain had pretty much stopped and much of Zealand trail looked dry. Maybe the rain was just over me? That would be about right. So glad to have gotten these done on a mostly lovely weather day. It was well worth the 1:30am wakeup. I forgot how much I really do love starting super early for a nice long day.”
Tap a day header to expand to 3hr or hourly detail
Today Sep 9 | Tomorrow Sep 10 | Friday Sep 11 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AM | PM | night | AM | PM | night | AM | PM | night | |
| Temperature & Wind | |||||||||
| Weather | cloudy | rain | rain | fog | cloudy | cloudy | cloudy | sunny | sunny |
| Temp °F hi / lo | 53° 52° | 57° 53° | 60° 56° | 55° 54° | 54° 46° | 45° 36° | 38° 34° | 46° 40° | 49° 43° |
| Chill °F | — | — | — | — | 35° | 23° | 23° | 31° | 34° |
| Wind mph | 20 | 31 | 48 | 38 | 39 | 31 | 17 | 19 | 21 |
| Gust mph est. | 32 | 50 | 67 | 61 | 62 | 50 | 27 | 30 | 34 |
| Precipitation | |||||||||
| Precip in (rain/snow) | - | 0.1 | 0.9 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Freezing ft | 13,059 ft | 13,748 ft | 12,392 ft | ||||||
| Conditions | |||||||||
| Cloud cover | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 53% | 100% | 100% | 5% | 6% |
| Vis mi | clear | 5 | <0.1 | <0.1 | clear | clear | clear | clear | clear |
| UV | 2 | 3 | — | 5 | 6 | — | 5 | 6 | — |
Tap a day header to expand AM/PM/Night detail
| Elevation | Today Sep 9 | Tomorrow Sep 10 | Friday Sep 11 |
|---|---|---|---|
| lo/hi °F · wind mph & dir · chill °F | |||
| Summit 4,265 ft | 52/53° 20 | 54/55° 38 | 34/38° 17 |
| 4,100 ft | 52/53° 19 | 55/56° 37 | 35/39° 16 |
| 3,300 ft | 52/53° 15 | 59/60° 30 | 38/43° 13 |
| 2,500 ft | 53/55° 11 | 62/64° 23 | 40/48° 8 |
| Trailhead 2,000 ft | 54/56° 9 | 64/66° 20 | 41/50° 7 |
4 more days of forecast — plan around the weather window, not just tomorrow.
Conditions synthesized from: NWS Higher Summits Forecast, NOAA Open-Meteo, Mount Washington Observatory, NETC Trip Reports, NOHRSC Snow Depth, Mt. Washington Avalanche Center, USGS Stream Levels, OpenWeather Air Quality.
AI-generated from public data. Always verify conditions before heading out — backcountry weather can change quickly.
Dramatic cliff face with spectacular views. One of the most photographed summits in the Whites.
Elevation
4,265 ft
Range
Bond
Rank
#30 of 48
Difficulty
Very Difficult
Coordinates
44.1406, -71.5409
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1 incident on file · drawn from NH Fish and Game releases and regional reporting
75-year-old male hiker from Falmouth, Maine
David Humphrey, age 75, set out on May 4, 2014 from Crawford Notch intending to hike 21 miles over multiple 4,000-foot summits in a single day, equipped only for a day hike with no overnight gear. He encountered up to two feet of snow, ice, and rain, became wet, cold, and fatigued, and called 911 at 9:30 p.m. after being stranded on Bond Cliff summit overnight. He was rescued by Conservation Officers and a U.S. Army National Guard helicopter on May 5 and suffered symptoms of hypothermia.