grouseking
Well-known member
The plan for me was to hike the Twins on Saturday the 4th, but my body had a different idea. I knew that when I stepped foot onto the trail that this was not going to be the average hike for me. I already felt tired, and even though my legs are quite strong, they felt very weak that day. I take a new medication for high blood pressure...its a water based pill, and ever since that started, I have been sweating profusely, no matter what I do, like for example, sitting in an air conditioned car. So I should have known this wasn't going to be an easy hike for me. But I prepared like normal, with one addition, I brought a filter.
Like I said earlier, as soon as I set foot on the trail, I felt quite tired, but I was hoping that I could just warm up and shake it off as the first two miles of the North Twin trail are rather easy. To make things easier, the stream crossings were straight forward (unlike last time, when I was wading through waist deep water) so that made things go by quite fast. In fact, we had covered the 2 miles and three crossings in about 50 minutes, and I wasn't feeling it too bad.
Little River
After that, the climb got very interesting. I immediately hit a brick wall, no matter how steep the incline. I told Dad to go ahead because I was feeling like I was keeping him waiting, and I just wanted to keep at my own pace. Plus there were other fairly large groups close by, so I never felt like I was in danger if anything were to happen to me.
So there I was, feeling like I had never hiked a 4k before...one foot in front of the other, slowly, but surely making my way up, taking big swigs of gatorade and then water whenever I needed it. I knew very soon that I wouldn't make it to South Twin, but North Twin is an excellent consolation prize, and I figured it might be less crowded anyway, so I became content with my decision. That made the climbing a bit easier, as an 11.2 mile day was suddenly chopped to an 8.6 mile day, with a huge break in between waiting for Dad to score South Twin.
I took it slow heading up the rest of the way, not wanting to pass out as I was extra dehydrated. At one point I stopped and took an extended break, and wondered if I would ever attain the summit ridge. Then I stood up, and of course, within 2 minutes of climbing, the trees suddenly got much shorter and I was in the final stretch of the climb! Suddenly I got my legs underneath me and was able to sustain a steady climb without having to take a break, minus the spruce grouse that dove at my head when I wasn't paying attention! Finally, around 11:30, I rounded the last corner and found myself on the major viewpoint just below the summit. Joy!
I told Dad my decision not to hike over to South Twin...I only had one water left at that point and I'd have to ration it the best I could until I got back to the Little River where I could do some serious filtering. Plus I have already hiked the Twins, so its not like I haven't seen the views before. It just gives me a reason to go back!
I spent about 3 hours on the summit, nearly 2 of them I was all by myself....not bad for a weekend! While up there I took lots of pictures....here are a couple...
Western Pemi
Galehead Hut
Hazy, but impressive view of Carrigain Notch
Beautiful Mid Summer Day
Mt Washington out of the haze
After Dad got back, we hung out for a little longer, and then trekked our way down, taking about 1 hr 45 min to get back to the Little River. It was a nice meandering pace that was good for Dad's knees, and good for my partial dehydration. I filtered up some water, and then we were on our way. I wanted to check out the "bushwhack" along the other side of the river so I did that while Dad took the main trail. It was definitely the easiest bushwhack I have ever done...and despite its meandering character, I only arrived 2 min later than Dad at the end. After that it was a short and sweet trip back to the car, and then a drive into Lincoln for some G and H. THank god for that pizza place!
All in all, great hike. Maybe I'll do a new mtn someday, but I'm enjoying myself too much right now to really care about the list.
http://grouseking.phanfare.com/album/373566#imageID=23411970 Pics in entirety
grouseking
Like I said earlier, as soon as I set foot on the trail, I felt quite tired, but I was hoping that I could just warm up and shake it off as the first two miles of the North Twin trail are rather easy. To make things easier, the stream crossings were straight forward (unlike last time, when I was wading through waist deep water) so that made things go by quite fast. In fact, we had covered the 2 miles and three crossings in about 50 minutes, and I wasn't feeling it too bad.
Little River
After that, the climb got very interesting. I immediately hit a brick wall, no matter how steep the incline. I told Dad to go ahead because I was feeling like I was keeping him waiting, and I just wanted to keep at my own pace. Plus there were other fairly large groups close by, so I never felt like I was in danger if anything were to happen to me.
So there I was, feeling like I had never hiked a 4k before...one foot in front of the other, slowly, but surely making my way up, taking big swigs of gatorade and then water whenever I needed it. I knew very soon that I wouldn't make it to South Twin, but North Twin is an excellent consolation prize, and I figured it might be less crowded anyway, so I became content with my decision. That made the climbing a bit easier, as an 11.2 mile day was suddenly chopped to an 8.6 mile day, with a huge break in between waiting for Dad to score South Twin.
I took it slow heading up the rest of the way, not wanting to pass out as I was extra dehydrated. At one point I stopped and took an extended break, and wondered if I would ever attain the summit ridge. Then I stood up, and of course, within 2 minutes of climbing, the trees suddenly got much shorter and I was in the final stretch of the climb! Suddenly I got my legs underneath me and was able to sustain a steady climb without having to take a break, minus the spruce grouse that dove at my head when I wasn't paying attention! Finally, around 11:30, I rounded the last corner and found myself on the major viewpoint just below the summit. Joy!
I told Dad my decision not to hike over to South Twin...I only had one water left at that point and I'd have to ration it the best I could until I got back to the Little River where I could do some serious filtering. Plus I have already hiked the Twins, so its not like I haven't seen the views before. It just gives me a reason to go back!
I spent about 3 hours on the summit, nearly 2 of them I was all by myself....not bad for a weekend! While up there I took lots of pictures....here are a couple...
Western Pemi
Galehead Hut
Hazy, but impressive view of Carrigain Notch
Beautiful Mid Summer Day
Mt Washington out of the haze
After Dad got back, we hung out for a little longer, and then trekked our way down, taking about 1 hr 45 min to get back to the Little River. It was a nice meandering pace that was good for Dad's knees, and good for my partial dehydration. I filtered up some water, and then we were on our way. I wanted to check out the "bushwhack" along the other side of the river so I did that while Dad took the main trail. It was definitely the easiest bushwhack I have ever done...and despite its meandering character, I only arrived 2 min later than Dad at the end. After that it was a short and sweet trip back to the car, and then a drive into Lincoln for some G and H. THank god for that pizza place!
All in all, great hike. Maybe I'll do a new mtn someday, but I'm enjoying myself too much right now to really care about the list.
http://grouseking.phanfare.com/album/373566#imageID=23411970 Pics in entirety
grouseking
