Perfect weather was in the forecast for today and I wanted to hike multiple summits. I would be joining Jill and Larry for a hike to North Twin (4,761') and over to South Twin (4,902') then descend to Galehead Hut and up to the summit of Galehead Mountain (4,024'). Our route would start on the North Twin Trail continuing on to the North Twin Spur down the Twinway Trail to the Galehead Hut then up and back to Galehead on the Frost Trail then down the Gale River Trail for 12 miles of hiking.
It was cool as we started up the North Twin Trail. We chose not to do the first two water crossings even though the Little River was very low and it would have been no problem. We continued up on the left bank and easily rock hopped the third water crossing. Shortly after this crossing we started taking off some layers as it was starting to warm up nicely. We started seeing a few hikers but would see many more along our route.
We got to the North Twin outlook and I had to add a layer due to a cool breeze. The views were spectacular. After a few photos we continued on to South Twin. It was a pleasant hike along the North Twin Spur. I could see lots of hikers on the summit of South Twin as we made our approach. We did not stay long and were soon making the steep descent to Galehead Hut.
When we arrived at the hut it was time for lunch. The sun felt good as we sat on the porch and ate our sandwiches. We left our packs at the hut for the hike up to Galehead, a short one mile round trip hike. There is an unimpressive summit cairn and no views but this had some significance for Jill. This was summit #288 and the halfway point on her quest to complete the 48 4,000 footer grid that totals 576 summits.
About halfway down we stopped briefly at the outlook then continued on back to the hut. We picked up our packs at the hut and began our final descent to the trailhead parking lot. There were many hikers on the trail now. We got to the Gale River Trail junction and managed to get by the crowd of hikers that had congregated there. There were four more miles to go to complete our hike.
This stretch of trail seems very long, which after 8 miles of hiking could be the reason. There's a lot of rock hopping on the upper part of the trail but it smooths out on the lower portion. We made good time on this trail and returned to the parking lot under warm sunshine.
We kept telling ourselves what a perfect day this was for hiking, other hikers along the way made the same comment. Plenty of sunshine, comfortable temperatures, good trails and easy water crossings made for ideal conditions. Thanks Jill and Larry for a perfect day of hiking!
Enjoy the photos!
Sunrise on the drive to the trailhead
Some white stuff on Mount Adams
Ready to go
On our way up the North Twin Trail
Easy water crossing on the Little River
Reindeer lichen
Bent tree
Mount Washington from the North Twin Trail
Indian pipe with frostbite
View from the North Twin outlook
Cannon Mountain observation tower in the distance
Galehead Mountain down below
Galehead Hut from North Twin outlook
North Twin outlook
On our way to South Twin
South Twin up ahead
Doing some ledge scrambling
Looking back at North Twin
Trees are getting smaller
View of the Presidentials from North Twin
Lots of peaks
Observation tower on Mount Carrigain
Lafayette and Garfield
Hikers on South Twin summit
Presidentials in the distance
North Twin
Mount Lafayette
Hikers can be seen on the summit of Lafayette
Descending South Twin to Galehead Hut below
Larry descending wet ledges
South Twin Mountain
View from Galehead Hut
Galehead Mountain
Leaves are changing
On Galehead for our third summit of the day
The unimpressive summit cairn on Galehead
View from the Galehead outlook
Zooming in on Galehead Hut from the Galehead outlook
Arriving back at the hut
This tree has captured this rock
Dog lichen
Easy water crossing
Cluster of mushrooms
The end of the hike after 12 miles
Having Fun in the Great Outdoors!
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