I originally planned to hike this weekend as a spectator only, but just this week decided to sign up for Mt Bond. Leading up to the event there was no trip info posted by the peak coordinator, so I decided to show up on the summit at noon and see if I could help. I brought a flag just in case it was needed.
I met the Hale crew in the parking lot at Zealand Rd and was on the trail at 8:05. I passed the Zealand crew at the hut. There were fantastic views from Zeacliff, and as soon as I got out of the trees on Guyot I could see the West Bond flag right in front of me. I was running late so I hurried up Bond without stopping to admire the view or taking the binoculars out of the pack to look for more flags.
I got up to the summit of Bond at 12:05 to find no flag and no crew or peak coordinator. The clouds were low but I could see in all directions. I stood up a dead tree I found on the summit and secured it with rocks, then stuck my flag on a couple branches sticking out. I used the saw on my pocket knife to cut off some sharp branches to keep the flag from getting damaged. By the time I had the flag up at 12:15 the clouds had decended and there were no views at all except for the occasional opening where I could see as far as Bondcliff for a minute. The wind was whipping and I was getting cold, so I called it off at 1:30. I got lots of compliments on my mast from the 15 or so people that passed through the summit while the flag was flying.
