Summits: North Twin Mountain (4,761'), South Twin Mountain (4,902'), Galehead Mountain (4,024')
Trail route: Little River Road, Haystack Road, North Twin Trail, Twinway, Garfield Ridge Trail, Gale River Trail, Gale River Loop Road
Trail conditions: Trail started hard-packed first 2 miles then soft packed thereafter
Weather: Cold temps but comfortable, cloudy sky with snow flurries
Total miles: 15
Total time: 8:30
There was a window of opportunity in the weather for a day of hiking between frigid temps yesterday and a Nor'easter tomorrow. There was four of us that needed the Twins and Galehead. I would be joining Scott, Lisa and Jim for this hike. The forecast for today was cold but tolerable temps and snow flurries.
We met at Beaver Brook XC ski trails for a car spot then drove to Seven Dwarfs Motel in Twin Mountain to start our hike. I deposited ten dollars in the mailbox for parking and we started our hike down Little River Road. We crossed a privately owned trail open for hikers to Haystack Road leading to North Twin Trail.
We started our hike bare booting and carried snowshoes and microspikes. It wasn't until we crossed the Little River until we put on snowshoes for the upward climb that started here. There was a group of familiar hikers that came up behind us and then took the lead packing down the trail nicely for us. Thanks to Eric, Capt Chris, Gwenn and Kathy!
The 2.4 miles up to North Twin from here always seems like the most difficult section of this hike to me with it's relentless upward climb. Today felt even more difficult since it was only my second time in snowshoes this season. We tagged the summit of North Twin and continued our hike without a break as there were no views to justify stopping.
It was a good hike over to South Twin and once again there would be no stopping. There were no views today and the temp had dropped with a cold breeze blowing creating quite a chill on the exposed summit. The steep descent on Twinway with very soft snow resulted in a glissade with snowshoes most of the way down this 0.8 mile drop.
When I reached the bottom of the steep drop my thigh muscles were starting to cramp. I inched my way up the short steep ledge just before Galehead Hut. We dropped our packs at the hut and began the ascent to the final summit of the day, Galehead Mountain.
I took it rather slow and easy up to the summit of Galehead to give my legs a bit of a rest. A couple of summit pics and we headed back down. We reached the hut and took a break for something to eat and a short rest before our final long descent. It is 6+ miles more miles of hiking from here.
It was nice to see the parking lot after the long hike out. A combination of wearing snowshoes and soft snow conditions made this a tough hike for me today. I was glad to get this hike done for January and have now completed Round 9 of the 48 4,000 footers!
Enjoy the photos!
Road walk
Heading up to North Twin
Easy under blowdown
Little River
Thick snow bridge on the Little River
Eric and his group about to pass us
I've met Eric several times on trails throughout the White Mountains
Nicely packed trail
No views today
On the summit of North Twin
On the way to South Twin
Crossing an open area
A look back at North Twin
South Twin up ahead
Summit is in sight
On the summit of South Twin
Frosty summit sign
Descending Twinway
Arriving at Galehead Hut
On the summit of Galehead
Found the Galehead summit stick
Galehead Hut down below from the outlook
A look back at South Twin
A look back at Galehead
About to begin the long walk out on Gale River Trail for another 5+ miles
A look up at where we were
Carefully crossing this bridge on snowshoes
Root tree
Solid snow bridge over last water crossing
No shuttle bus today
Road walk
On the Beaver Brook cross country ski trail
Back at the Beaver Brook parking lot to end the hike after 15 miles
Having Fun in the Great Outdoors!
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