Hiking in the White Mountains: North Twin

Showing posts with label North Twin. Show all posts

Midnight Express . . . Flume to Willey

Date of Hike: 7/21/18

Lincoln Woods Trail: 1.4 miles / Osseo Trail: 4.4 miles / Franocnia Ridge Trail: 5.0 miles / Garfield Ridge Trail: 6.6 miles / Frost Trail: 0.8 miles / Twinway 0.8 miles / North Twin Spur: 2.6 miles / Twinway: 2.0 miles / Bondcliff Trail: 0.8 miles / West Bond Spur: 1.0 miles / Bondcliff Trail: 3.0 miles / Twinway: 4.3 miles / Lend-A-Hand Trail: 5.4 miles / Twinway: 0.4 miles / Zealand Trail: 0.3 miles / A-Z Trail: 2.7 miles / Mount Tom Spur: 1.2 miles / Willey Range Trail: 3.5 miles / Ethan Pond Trail: 1.5 miles
Total Miles: 48.85 (17,210 feet elevation gained) AMC White Mountain Guide Online

Trip Report:
- Friday night at 9:30PM I moseyed my way up to Mount Flume from Lincoln Woods. I wanted to reach the summit just before midnight before taking off at midnight for a 100K route through the heart of the White Mountains.
- The hike up Flume went well and I was not alone as I would pass by a half dozen other hikers along the way, these would be the last people I would see until dawn!
- I reached Flume's summit around 11:50 and took a break while looking up at the stars shining brightly high above me. After ten minutes of relaxing and organizing my gear I started my adventure.
- It was rough going during the night heading over Franconia Ridge, I wasn't moving as fast as I had planned and then the Garfield Ridge, my old nemesis, destroyed me during the wee hours of the night, needless to say it became apparent really quickly that I might have to revamp my route and mileage.
- Even with the slower than expected pace I was still having an enjoyable nighttime hike, especially above treeline where the stars and Milky Way looked spectacular. During one of my breaks on North Lafayette, I saw a shooting star fly across the sky to the northwest. I also spied a few planes high in the sky, flying east/northeast, maybe they where flying to Europe??!!
- Some of the other highlights as I made my way across Garfield Ridge were the sounds of dozens of frogs as I made my way past Garfield Pond, stargazing for a few minutes from the summit of Mount Garfield, and carefully making my way down the waterfall section of the trail just below the Garfield Campsite, which luckily was easy since it's been an incredibly dry summer, still it was quite the adrenaline rush dropping down that section of trail.
- The rest of the night hiking went ok, after a few hours I started looking forward to not having to go by headlamp as the final few miles leading up to Galehead Hut and the summit weren't too exciting. After a short stop at Galehead Hut I was able to ditch my headlamp at 5AM as I started my way up South Twin.
- I reached the summit of South Twin just as the sun was rising up behind the Presidential Range, another really cool sight to see. South Twin usually has a pretty constant stream of hikers on it's open summit so it was nice to have the top to myself and enjoy the peace and quiet.
- From South Twin I made and out and back of North Twin before heading over to the Bonds. From here on out I would be seeing more and more hikers, starting along the Twinway near Guyot and every five to ten minutes as I made my way to West Bond, Bond, and Bondcliff before turning around and heading back to the Twinway.
- It was still early in the morning when I dropped below treeline towards Mount Zealand around 9AM. I had until 5PM to reach Ethan Pond trailhead off 302, earlier I texted Whitney for a car pickup, deviating from my intended route, so I had the whole day to make it there.
- I made good time to Zealand and then down to the hut, where I bought a piece of chocolate cake and relaxed before heading up to Mount Hale via Lend-A-Hand Trail. This would be one of my last big climbs of the day, luckily the Lend-A-Hand Trail has mostly easy to moderate grades with good footing, there are two short steep rugged bursts over the last mile but that's it for the tough stuff.
- It was an easy out and back from the hut to Hale. Once again, I took a break and had some food and refueled while preparing my gear for the climb out of Zealand Valley to the Willey Range along the A-Z Trail. This would be my last big climb of the day, and just like hiking up to Hale most of it was along easy to moderate grades with great footing before getting steeper and more rugged for the last three quarters of a mile. The A-Z Trail between Zealand Trail and Willey Range Trail is lightly used so I had this 2.7 miles all to myself. However, once I gained the ridge it was a totally different story, hikers everywhere!
- I was a bit perplexed as to why so many hikers were out on this viewless range on a perfect above treeline day. I must have see 50 hikers between Tom-Field-Willey, no wonder why the trail is severely eroded in a few spots, none worse than just below Mount Willey, it's a disaster! I carefully picked my way down this eroded mess, I was over forty miles in so it was a minor miracle I didn't slip and fall back on my butt at least once, victory!
- Once past the steep eroded part, the trail finally moderates and the footing quickly gets much better as the Willey Range Trail terminates at the junction with the Ethan Pond Trail (A.T.). From here I slow jogged down to the trailhead where trail magic was going on for thru-hikers. The smell of food on the grille was too overbearing and made me very hungry, so instead of waiting for Whitney there I headed to down the road to the 302 junction. Since I finished at 3:15PM, I had a long wait before my ride would come, I spent the time stretching for a good twenty minutes, telling SoBo hikers there's trail magic right up the road, and almost dozing off while I sat on the side of the road.
- Whitney and Sarge came by around 4:45PM and we then retrieved my Jeep at Lincoln Woods before heading back to Gorham where I stuffed my face with food!
- It was a great 17 hour and 45 minute adventure in the heart of the White Mountains, and with some minor tweeking (start at dawn from Flume), I'll come back in the future and complete my intended 100K route 24 hour route. :)

Map of my route for the night/morning/day

Elevation over distance profile

View from Frost Trail Outlook, the hut, and heading up the Twinway

Sunrise from South Twin :)

South Twin Summit at daybreak

Looking towards Guyout and the Bonds

Pemi Wilderness as seen from North Twin. Shadows quickly retreating as the sun rises

Mount Bond and West Bond as seen from Mount Guyot

Redrock Ravine as seen from West Bond

Bondcliff

West Bond, Owl's Head, and the Franconia Ridge as seen from Mount Bond

Bondcliff Ridge

Bondcliff and Hellgate Ravine

Slides of Hellgate Ravine, close up of the new slide!

Mount Guyot

Hiking along the Twinway

Lend-A-Hand Trail, summer vs. winter!

Hiking near Zealand Pond

Mount Tom Spur

Hiking along the Willey Range Trail

Webster Cliff as seen from Mount Willey

The eroded Willey Range Trail

Sweet Views Saturday . . . Galehead, South Twin, & North Twin

Date of Hike: 2/17/18

Beaver Brook X-Country Ski Trail * Gale River Road: 1.2 miles / Gale River Trail: 4.2 Miles / Garfield Ride Trail: 0.6 miles / Frost Trail: 0.8 miles / Twinway: 0.8 miles / North Twin Spur / 2.6 miles / Twinway: 0.8 miles / Garfield Ridge Trail: 0.6 miles / Gale River Trail: 4.2 miles / Gale River Road & Beaver Brook X-Country Ski Trails: 1.2 miles
Total Miles: 16.2 (4,711 feet elevation gained) Garmin Forerunner 920XT

Trip Report:
- Saturday was a beautiful day for some big views in the White Mountains. I decided to head to South Twin to take in the close up views into the Pemi Wilderness, along with excellent views of the Presidential Range and a majority of the 4,000 foot peaks, as well as far off views of the Green Mountains lining the horizon to the west.
- Todd joined me for the hike, we started at 8am from the Beaver Brook Picnic area and hooked onto the Beaver Loop cross country ski trail taking it counter clockwise until the large campsite (#3) on Gale River Road, from here we had a short few tenths of a mile road walk to the Gale River Trail.
- The Gale River Trail is mostly known for being a time warp, meaning it seems to go on forever to nowhere! It's not too exciting, the first couple of miles are relatively flat, then it starts easily gaining elevation, before finally becoming steep over the last half mile until it gains the Garfield Ridge. The highlight of the trail used to be two water crossings along the relatively flat stretch, but these were beat up during the 2011 storm and the trail was eventually re-routed. The good news about this re-route is the jumping off point for Hawthorne Falls along Garfield Stream is easily distinguished.
- We made quick work of the Gale River Trail and the short stretch of Garfield Ridge Trail to the Galehead Hut, where we took a break in the sun on the hut's porch before making a short out and back to Galehead's Peak. The sun was out in full force, and even though the temperatures were in the teens it was easy to stay warm since the wind was non-existent.
- Next up was the steep 0.8 mile 1,150' ascent up too South Twin, one of my favorite climbs and a top ten huffing & puffing heart-rate-pounding bursts to a peak. Luckily, in the winter the odd sized rocks and roots are all buried so it's almost easier, but the extra winter gear in the pack cancels that out. The good news, all the extra effort to get up to South Twin's summit is well worth it. We were greeted with excellent views in every direction. (see images below).
- After admiring the views, Todd and I headed over to North Twin for some more good views and an extended break to put on dry layers and eat some food. At the summit of North Twin we met a man who just completed his Winter 48 - 4,000 footers, congrats to him, he picked a perfect day for a finish!
- After our break we headed back over to South Twin to enjoy some more views before starting the long hike back down to Beaver Brook Picnic Area. Along the way we ran into Franco, it was great to bump into him again on the trails and catch up, I'm sure I'll see you again on the trails in the future, Franco!
- We finished around 2PM and by 3PM I was playing Frisbee with Sarge in the yard. :)

Galehead Hut and South Twin from the Frost Trail Outlook

Galehead Hut

Mount Garfield and Franconia Ridge as seen from South Twin

Presidential Range

Looking out to North Twin

On South Twin looking at the bare summit of the Guyot's

Zoom in of the Presidential Range

Galehead, Garfield, Lafayette, Lincoln, Liberty, Flume, and Owl's Head from the North Twin outlook

View from the North Twin Spur

Heading back to South Twin

Mount Zealand

Looking over to West Bond

Frisbee fun with Sarge!

Sticks...yum!

Forgiving Trails . . . For the Most Part . . . Twins - Zealand - Hale (Little River Valley Loop)

Date of Hike: 6/11/17

North Twin Trail: 4.3 miles / North Twin Spur: 1.3 miles / Twinway: 5.0 miles / Lend - A - Hand Trail: 2.7 miles / Mount Hale Trail AKA Fire Warden's Trail: 2.5 miles / North Twin Trail: 1.0 miles
Total Miles: 16.8 (5,700 feet elevation gained)

Trip Report:
- After back to back weekends of punishing my body, Grand Canyon R2R2R (45 miles, 10,500' elevation gain) and Mount Adams Vertical Day (31 miles, 15,000' elevation gain), to go along with a sore knee, I looked to tone it down a bit over more forgiving terrain. With this in mind, I headed to do one of my favorite loops into and above the Little River Valley over North Twin, South Twin, North Guyot, Zealand, and Hale.
- The hike starts and ends at the North Twin trailhead on Haystack Road. The first few miles of the hike is mostly level with excellent footing along the North Twin Trail as it parallels the Little River. There are three water crossings, the first two of which I bypassed. If it was the end of the day I would have done the crossings but I wanted to keep my feet dry so I just stayed on a well beaten herd path to the last crossing which was easily rock hopped.
- After the final crossing, the North Twin Trail becomes a grind, it's rough in spots and gets very steep for about a mile and a half, but the struggle is well worth it as there is an exceptional outlook about a quarter mile from the summit looking down into the Little River Valley and the Twin Range. There is also another phenomenal outlook at the summit overlooking the Pemigewasset Wilderness.
- From North Twin's summit I hooked onto the North Twin Spur Trail over to South Twin. This is a pretty tame down and up of about 1.3 miles over good footing with a gradual grade. I tested out my knee and felt pretty good, the more I could open up my stride the better it felt, the smaller strides where I had to "tap dance" along the minimal rocky sections put strain on my ligaments so I was careful to back off when any aching occurred.
- Soon enough I summited South Twin Mountain, which has one of the best views around and rivals almost all other 4,000 footers. Usually there are a handful of hikers milling around the summit enjoying the 360 degree views, but I had it all to myself since it was still early in the morning, score!
- The wind was whipping, constant 30 mph with 40-45 mph guts, which was refreshing as there was a heat wave that stalled over the mountains, and all of New England in general. It was around 9:30am and it was already 60 degrees above 4,500 feet!
- After taking in the views for a couple of minutes I banged a left onto the Twinway heading along the ridge towards Mount Guyot for a couple of miles. After an intial semi-steep and rocky drop, the trail becomes gradual with good footing and well placed bog bridges. At this point the temperature was starting to rise quickly and become more humid, but luckily the wind was still blowing strong making for still comfortable conditions in the woods and even better conditions out in the open near the Bondcliff Trail junction, where there are killer views of the Bonds, Twins, Garfield, and Franconia Ridge across the valley.
- Once cresting North Guyot I would be in the woods for almost the rest of the morning. The drop down into the Guyot / Zealand col is pretty nasty and rugged, and on days where it is hot and humid the rocks become "greasy," attention to foot placement is important as the risk of a twisted ankle and slipping rises sharply under these conditions. Luckily, once reaching the col the climb back up to Zealand's summit is short and not too difficult, and the trail becomes much easier once passing Zealand's summit area.
- As I headed down to Zealand Falls Hut I finally started crossing paths with several hikers, probably three dozen or so, the hut sees a lot of hiker traffic so I wasn't surprised to see numerous hikers out and about. Along the way I stopped at the Zeacliff outlook and enjoyed a quick view of Carrigian Notch dominating the valley.
- At the hut I refilled on water and then headed up the Lend-A-Hand Trail to the summit of Mount Hale. I really enjoy this trail, it's well blazed, easy to follow, has good footing with easy to moderate grades the whole way. It took me just under an hour to reach the not so exciting summit, where I snapped one pic of the summit cairn and then immediately headed off into the woods and onto the Mount Hale Trail, AKA Fire Warden's Trail.
- The Fire Warden's Trail was abandoned close to forty years ago but is still easy to follow and has very forgiving footing. It travels through a beautiful Birch glade which in the fall during foliage, or in the winter after a fresh snowfall is stunning to travel through.
- The old trail ends along the herd path that I traveled earlier in the morning where I bypassed the first two crossings of the Little River.
- From this point I had a mile to go to the trailhead, a few tenths of a mile along the herd path and about 0.75 miles along the North Twin Trail. It was now about 12:30PM and very hot, but after spending a time in Arizona hiking in the desert, this was a piece of cake to deal with!
- Back at the car I cleaned the layer of bug spray off of me before heading back home to enjoy a cold refreshing beer :)

The North Twin Trail, first couple of miles is nice and relatively flat. After the last crossing of the Little River, it becomes more eroded and steep.