Date of Hike: 5/27/13
North Twin Trail: 4.3 miles / North Twin Spur: 1.3 miles / Twinway: 6.2 miles / Lend-a-Hand Trail: 2.7 miles /
Mount Hale Fire Warden's Trail 2.5 miles / North Twin Trail 1.0 miles
Total Miles: 18.0 (5,300 elevation gain)
Trip Report:
- Last year on Memorial Day weekend I was jumping in the East Branch of the Pemi River near Stillwater Junction deep in the Pemigewasset Wilderness. This year there would be none of that as rain, sleet, and snow came to the White Mountains over Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I waited out the storm, enjoyed reading the hikers on two facebook 4,000 footer hiking pages overreact to the weather, and planned my hike for Monday. I decided a Twins - Zealand - Hale Loop was a perfect hike to play in the mud, water, and snow!
- I arrived at the North Twin trailhead just after 8 a.m., it was already in the low 40's, the sun was out, and the wind was calm. I was surprised to see six other cars at the trailhead this early but was happy to know there would be other people out there.
- There are three crossings of the Little River before the trail starts to ascend to North Twin. Usually at this time of year I would do all the water crossings but since they were running high and it was the beginning of the hike I decided to take the herd path bypass and only deal with the final crossing. However, there was a hiker who was doing all three crossings, good for him!
- When I got to the third crossing I ran into a group of around seven, most of which were taking off their boots and wading across, none of them seemed really thrilled to be doing this. I just hopped across getting half of my trail runners wet....The hikers probably rolled their eyes when I did this as they stood there freezing their feet off!
- Next the fun began, the trail was a wet muddy mess transforming to snow and running water and then all snow above 3,500 feet. I took one nasty slip and smashed my left hand on the ground, my left hand which was holding my trusty old camera 'FrankenCamera'. This time there would be no fixing FrankenCamera as the lens popped out and nothing I did was able to fix it. So I was now using camera #2.
- I was pretty amazed at the snow on the trail, it was heavy spring snow and the warm temps were melting all the snow off the ferns creating a rain shower in the trail. I was soaked by the time I got to the outlook just below the summit. The wind was whipping pretty good, probably around 20-25 mph so I took a few pictures and kept on moving up to the summit and over to the summit outlook.
- There was about three to four inches of snow on the trail but no other tracks so it was pretty fun trudging through the North Twin Spur Trail between North Twin and South Twin. The rocks and roots were hidden so it was an ankle buster minefield.
- The temperatures were in the 40's but with the wind and the rain shower from the trees I had to keep on moving to stay nice and warm so I didn't linger long on the summit of South Twin.
- The hike over towards Guyot was more of the same, a little less snow but a couple of blowdowns and some slippery bog bridges under the snow.
- When I popped out into the scrub near the Bondcliff trail junction I was treated to amazing views, unfortunately camera #2 had froze up so now it was onto camera #3, my Apple Phone.
- The wind was still whipping at a decent rate so I couldn't really enjoy the views for too long before heading over to Zealand Mountain.
- The hike down and up to Zealand Mountain was a lot wetter as the snow was started to melt and create puddles under it. I was soaked and just kept on trucking and not stopping until I made it to the summit. I took a break at the summit to eat lunch and put on my winter mittens. Up until this point I had my regular mittens on but they were soaked and my hands were freezing. I waited for my hands to warm up and took off down towards Zeacliff and then to the Lend-a-Hand Trail Junction.
- I finally ran into the first hikers since the last water crossing of the Little River over six miles ago. I ended up coming across over a dozen hikers in a short amount of time all heading to Zealand.
- The trail quickly went from snow to mud and standing water. The lower I dropped the warmer it got and by the time I reached the Lend-a-Hand Trail I was in a short sleeve shirt.
- The Lend-a-Hand Trail started off dry for about the first quarter of a mile but then became wet and muddy with snow up higher. There was only and inch or two of snow, much less than on the Twinway so it was easier to navigate.
- I made good time up to the summit where there were a few other hikers relaxing and taking in the views...of a pile of rocks, Hale isn't really the most exciting of summits! I didn't stay long on the summit, maybe ten minutes at most to refuel before I headed down the abandoned Fire Warden's Trail. The Fire Warden's Trail is a great old trail that sees a lot of use and in my opinion is much more enjoyable than the Hale Brook Trail. It was very muddy with some boot sucking mud like an Adirondack trail but was a joy to hike down as the Birch glades are beautiful. I took a fall on my butt and was full of mud but loved every second of it.
- When I hit the North Twin Trail I dipped my muddy feet in the Little River which was cold but refreshing. I made it back to the car shortly before three and changed out of the muddy mess I had become before heading back home excited that I'll be back in a couple of days with my friend Tom Diaz from our days at 'The College of the Quinnipiac University'!!
Started 8:20 a.m. / North Twin Summit 10:10 a.m. / South Twin Summit 10:40 a.m. / Zealand Summit 11:45 a.m. / Hale Summit 1:55 p.m. / Finished 2:50 p.m.
North Twin Trail: 4.3 miles / North Twin Spur: 1.3 miles / Twinway: 6.2 miles / Lend-a-Hand Trail: 2.7 miles /
Mount Hale Fire Warden's Trail 2.5 miles / North Twin Trail 1.0 miles
Total Miles: 18.0 (5,300 elevation gain)
Trip Report:
- Last year on Memorial Day weekend I was jumping in the East Branch of the Pemi River near Stillwater Junction deep in the Pemigewasset Wilderness. This year there would be none of that as rain, sleet, and snow came to the White Mountains over Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I waited out the storm, enjoyed reading the hikers on two facebook 4,000 footer hiking pages overreact to the weather, and planned my hike for Monday. I decided a Twins - Zealand - Hale Loop was a perfect hike to play in the mud, water, and snow!
- I arrived at the North Twin trailhead just after 8 a.m., it was already in the low 40's, the sun was out, and the wind was calm. I was surprised to see six other cars at the trailhead this early but was happy to know there would be other people out there.
- There are three crossings of the Little River before the trail starts to ascend to North Twin. Usually at this time of year I would do all the water crossings but since they were running high and it was the beginning of the hike I decided to take the herd path bypass and only deal with the final crossing. However, there was a hiker who was doing all three crossings, good for him!
- When I got to the third crossing I ran into a group of around seven, most of which were taking off their boots and wading across, none of them seemed really thrilled to be doing this. I just hopped across getting half of my trail runners wet....The hikers probably rolled their eyes when I did this as they stood there freezing their feet off!
- Next the fun began, the trail was a wet muddy mess transforming to snow and running water and then all snow above 3,500 feet. I took one nasty slip and smashed my left hand on the ground, my left hand which was holding my trusty old camera 'FrankenCamera'. This time there would be no fixing FrankenCamera as the lens popped out and nothing I did was able to fix it. So I was now using camera #2.
- I was pretty amazed at the snow on the trail, it was heavy spring snow and the warm temps were melting all the snow off the ferns creating a rain shower in the trail. I was soaked by the time I got to the outlook just below the summit. The wind was whipping pretty good, probably around 20-25 mph so I took a few pictures and kept on moving up to the summit and over to the summit outlook.
- There was about three to four inches of snow on the trail but no other tracks so it was pretty fun trudging through the North Twin Spur Trail between North Twin and South Twin. The rocks and roots were hidden so it was an ankle buster minefield.
- The temperatures were in the 40's but with the wind and the rain shower from the trees I had to keep on moving to stay nice and warm so I didn't linger long on the summit of South Twin.
- The hike over towards Guyot was more of the same, a little less snow but a couple of blowdowns and some slippery bog bridges under the snow.
- When I popped out into the scrub near the Bondcliff trail junction I was treated to amazing views, unfortunately camera #2 had froze up so now it was onto camera #3, my Apple Phone.
- The wind was still whipping at a decent rate so I couldn't really enjoy the views for too long before heading over to Zealand Mountain.
- The hike down and up to Zealand Mountain was a lot wetter as the snow was started to melt and create puddles under it. I was soaked and just kept on trucking and not stopping until I made it to the summit. I took a break at the summit to eat lunch and put on my winter mittens. Up until this point I had my regular mittens on but they were soaked and my hands were freezing. I waited for my hands to warm up and took off down towards Zeacliff and then to the Lend-a-Hand Trail Junction.
- I finally ran into the first hikers since the last water crossing of the Little River over six miles ago. I ended up coming across over a dozen hikers in a short amount of time all heading to Zealand.
- The trail quickly went from snow to mud and standing water. The lower I dropped the warmer it got and by the time I reached the Lend-a-Hand Trail I was in a short sleeve shirt.
- The Lend-a-Hand Trail started off dry for about the first quarter of a mile but then became wet and muddy with snow up higher. There was only and inch or two of snow, much less than on the Twinway so it was easier to navigate.
- I made good time up to the summit where there were a few other hikers relaxing and taking in the views...of a pile of rocks, Hale isn't really the most exciting of summits! I didn't stay long on the summit, maybe ten minutes at most to refuel before I headed down the abandoned Fire Warden's Trail. The Fire Warden's Trail is a great old trail that sees a lot of use and in my opinion is much more enjoyable than the Hale Brook Trail. It was very muddy with some boot sucking mud like an Adirondack trail but was a joy to hike down as the Birch glades are beautiful. I took a fall on my butt and was full of mud but loved every second of it.
- When I hit the North Twin Trail I dipped my muddy feet in the Little River which was cold but refreshing. I made it back to the car shortly before three and changed out of the muddy mess I had become before heading back home excited that I'll be back in a couple of days with my friend Tom Diaz from our days at 'The College of the Quinnipiac University'!!
Started 8:20 a.m. / North Twin Summit 10:10 a.m. / South Twin Summit 10:40 a.m. / Zealand Summit 11:45 a.m. / Hale Summit 1:55 p.m. / Finished 2:50 p.m.
North Twin Trailhead
North Twin Trail
First Crossing of the Little River
Hiker making his way across
If you find this tree bang a left to head up the the Fire Warden's Trail
Second Crossing of the Little River
North Twin Trail
North Twin Trail
Third Crossing of the Little River
North Twin Trail
North Twin Trail
Approaching the summit of North Twin
North Twin Trail
Mount Hale
Zealand Mountain
Mount Tom, Field, and Willey
North twin Trail Outlook
South Twin
North Twin Summit Area
Mount Hale, Garfield, Lafayette, and Lincoln in some light clouds
North Twin Spur
North Twin Spur
North Twin Spur
North Twin Spur
North Twin Spur
South Twin
Mount Washington
Guyot
North Twin Spur
North Twin Spur
Rime Ice on the South Twin Summit
Twin Range to Guyot
Zealand Mountain
North Twin from South Twin's Summit
South Twin Summit
South Twin Summit
South Twin Summit, Mount Garfield, Lafayette, and Lincoln
Mount Lafayette and Lincoln
Franconia Ridge
South Twin Summit
Twin Range and Guyot
Mount Guyot, Bond, and Carrigain
Twinway
Twinway
Mount Guyot
Twinway
Owl's Head and the Franconia Ridge
Twinway
Pemi Wilderness
Twinway
Zealand Mountain Summit
Twinway
Mount Tom with the Presidential Range behind it
Whitewall Mountain
Carrigain Notch
Mount Tom, Field, and Willey
Mount Hale from the Twinway
Twinway
Rock hop crossing #2 above Zealand Falls
Rock hop crossing #1 above Zealand Falls
Lend-a-Hand Trail
Lend-a-Hand Trail
Lend-a-Hand Trail
Sputnik?
Approaching Mount Hale's Summit
Mount Hale Summit Rock Pile
Lend-a-Hand Trail
Fire Warden's Trail
Fire Warden's Trail
Fire Warden's Trail
Fire Warden's Trail
Mud!
Beautiful, man you were flying!
ReplyDeleteHiking fast (to stay warm) and taking pictures was the theme of this hike!
DeleteThanks Anonymous!
Hey there, planning the same hike in June actually June 17th...how difficult is the FWT to follow? I have heard mixed reports and not sure if I want to take this on or just car spot at Hale? any info would be great
ReplyDeleteHi Jes,
DeleteThe Fire Warden's Trail is well traveled and very easy to follow. It is prettier trail than Hale Brook, passing through some beautiful birch glades. It can get muddy in spots but nothing too bad. The only difficult thing is knowing where the beginning of the trail is. It's easier to find off the summit of Hale - If you come up from the Lend-a-Hand trail it will be on the left in the middle of the summit opening, there's a narrow path through the fern trees for about twenty feet and then the path takes a right and it's easy to follow from there. If trying to find it from the bottom, it's off the herd path that bypasses the Little River crossing of the north Twin Trail. It's located between the first and second crossing. There's a narrow tree with no branches on it in the middle of the herd path (pictured in this blog post). At this tree take a left up an embankment (sometimes there is a small pile of rocks at the bottom of the embankment) the embankment is small, only about ten feet and you take a left at the top(it'll feel like you're heading backwards) and travels up a ramp like path...then eventually turns and heads up Hale.
Hope this helps, let me know how it goes! You can email me at cdailey@hpearce.com if you have any other questions about this or anything else!
-Chris
Hard to believe that's the same place I was yesterday! Perfect day (and you still beat me by 20 minutes up...). Great pics of the water crossing - helped to know that was coming, though it was a little lower. As always great pics!
ReplyDeleteKen Williams
Thanks Ken! Glad to hear you guys had a perfect weather and views day up in the Twin Range! Hope you get to do more great weather hikes this fall!
Delete