Hale, North Twin, South Twin, Guyot, Zealand 06/18/2005

[Dugan]

via Hale Brook Trail to Hale Fire Warden Trail, to herd path/bushwhack up Little River to North Twin Trail. North Twin Trail to North Twin Spur to Twinway to Zealand Trail. Side trips of Bondcliff Trail to Guyot and spur trail to Zealand summit.

Participants: NH_Mtn_Hiker, Cantdog, Dugan two and four-legged
Conditions: wet, wetter, pond-like, and streambed

First, a thank you to Frodo and DMS for their helpful information on the Fire Warden Trail.

We met at Haystack Rd in case it had been opened since the forest road closure page was last updated. As of yesterday, it was still gated. We drove over to Zealand Rd. Nh_Mtn_Hiker wisely decided to do the morning car shuttle from Zealand trail head to Hale Brook trail head. Though the forecast didn't look good, I held out hope that there would be clearing in the afternoon. We got ready in a light rain, donned rain gear for us and our packs, and headed out up Hale Brook Trail.

Little did we know this was to be the dryest trail of the day. Though I felt slow from a too-big breakfast, we made the summit in 80 minutes. Trail conditions were excellent, thanks in part to NH_Mtn_Hiker who cleared away what branches he could. We reached the summit, which was socked in. We saw a young man, who was one of the few people we saw all day. We spread out to look for the Fire Warden Trail. We all found little trails headed west to northwest off the summit, but NH_Mtn_Hiker soon found the correct way.

We headed down the "abandoned" Hale Fire Warden Trail. With the overgrowth of wet ferns, we were all quickly quite wet, despite the rain gear. It was here that I began to give up on the idea of dry feet. We followed the trail down to Little River, where we elected to follow a herd path/bushwhack (which led to a philosophic topic I'll post elsewhere) upstream to the third crossing of North Twin trail. We could see significant damage to the trees, perhaps from the flooding this spring. We managed the crossing nicely, with NH_Mtn_Hiker and Cantdog repositioning a few stones to help keep feet dry. Safely on the other side, we took a break for snacks and to optimistically remove rain gear. I also took my boots off and wrung water out of my socks. This stretch from Hale summit to North Twin Trail took much longer, time-wise, than I'd expected.

We headed up North Twin. My breakfast had finally settled in and I felt like my usual self as I steamed up the hill. On the way up we had a tiny bit of sunlight and a small patch of blue sky. I hoped this was a sign of things to come, but it was not to be. We got to the overlook and had a spectacular view... of the mist 30 feet away. We continue along over to South Twin, which was chilly and socked in. And continued along to Guyot. Along the way, we found a 20' stretch of trail which had no standing or streaming water. We took advantage of this for a lunch break.

We continued along to the junction of Twinway and Bondcliffs. Here we saw a group of five with an Alaskan Malamute and Border Collie. Except for the hut, this made for a total of just six people we saw all day in the usually popular area. The mist thinned enough to have views over to Guyot. Cantdog joined this trip - 18+ miles and 4 4k footers, because she needed Guyot for her Y list. Seems a little like the long way 'round. On the way, I misstepped into a puddle (hoping at this point to keep my feet merely wet and not soaked), and found that NH_Mtn_Hiker was close behind as I heard him laugh as I cursed. We got to the summit but it was too chilly for the
obligatory summit photo. Dugan the pooch had a little confusion regarding the rock jumbles on Bondcliff Trail, but decided to pick his way through.

We headed back down to Twinway. Along the way I stopped to again make the same misstep and curse. We got to Zealand spur and headed over to Zealand summit. I swallowed some snacks, and again we were off. The first mile down to the hut was a pretty change in scenery. Different plants than we'd been seeing, including a shrub with purple blossoms. The last mile to the hut killed me. I finally got out my hiking poles to ease the weight from an uncomfortable knee. NH_Mtn_Hiker waited for me at Lend-a-Hand and suggested going out over Hale. I refrained from stabbing him with my hiking poles.

Here - a big thank you to Cantdog and NH_Mtn_Hiker for forcing Dugan to cross a narrow but fast flowing stream. It wasn't wide, but he is not a jumping kind of dog. I hate to force him to do anything, but there really wasn't a choice here. It was deep and fast enough to be dangerous.
Cantdog and I pulled and encouraged from the front, while NH_Mtn_Hiker pushed from the rear. I don't know what we could've done if the current swept him from his feet. I think it's time to consider a harness and rope for a Brutus the Newf type belay system, just in case.

Soaked, covered with mud, we stumbled up onto to the porch of Zealand hut. NH_Mtn_Hiker stayed with Dugan while I made a side trip to the bathroom. Upon taking my rain jacket off, yup, I was wet everywhere. We gobbled some cocoa banana bread, while Dugan had more cookies. We quickly headed out. My knee was very grateful for the sidewalk-like Zealand Trail. We caught up to Cantdog, who had a moose encounter. This trail was very nice, good views of ponds, well maintained. A little dryer than Twinway, though that hardly mattered since we all had squelchy feet. Somewhere along the way I'd entirely given up on non-squelchy feet, and mostly slogged
through puddles. On steps where there wasn't a puddle, I could see water ooze out of the boot. Since Cantdog was clearly moving faster than me, I gave her my car key so she could begin to warm herself and the car.

NH_Mtn-Hiker and I made it out to the lot about 5 minutes after Cantdog, at just past 9 pm. NH_Mtn_Hiker is in an excellent group participant. Though he clearly could've gone faster, and I urged him to, he remained back with me while I moved slowly because of my knee. Throughout the hike, he was very conscientious of the welfare of the group, and of keeping the group together. We saw no incidents or evidence of car break-ins at the lot. Rather than breaking down Dugan's crate, Cantdog drove NH_Mtn_Hiker back to his car using my car. It was easy to see why he wanted to be the morning shuttle. We, especially the pooch, were all quite a mess by the end.

Cantdog came back for me and thank the deities she remembered my dry shoes and socks from NH_Mtn_Hiker's car. we were both soaked. We toweled off as best we could and hopped in the car to get Cantdog back to her car in Concord. Memo for next hike: leave dry pants and underwear in
the car, along with a dry shirt. On the way out, we saw a moose on the road. He ambled up the road for a bit, then headed into the woods.

All in all, though it was WET, this was a good hike and one I'd do again. I'd love to see it on a blue sky day with views. Also, I suppose I should keep carrying a knee brace, just in case. Dugan the pooch acquitted himself incredibly well. He was still alert and interested even at the end, though he has yet to get up today. He had a much easier time today than he did on the shorter and easier Garfield-Galehead loop a couple of weeks ago. I think the rain kept him cool, and with all the on trail beverages available, he could drink whenever he wanted.

 

[Dugan]

Almost forgot, overall, trail conditions were good. The trails were very wet, as one must expect with an all day rain. There were a few blow downs here and there, nothing that couldn't be easily gotten through or around.

 

[NH_Mtn_Hiker]

The math:
18.6 or 18.9 miles, depends whose math you like best.
6100 ft elevation gain, assuming the Hale Fire Wardens Trail ends at 2100' about .2 miles in from the first crossing of the Little River on the North Twin Trail.
13 hrs 5 min. total trail time (ttt)

Nh_Mtn_Hiker wisely decided to do the morning car shuttle from Zealand trail head to Hale Brook trail head.

Let's see, do I want to shuttle a "big and furry", although terribly cute, dog in my car before or after he hikes nearly twenty miles in the rain and mud? Hummm, I'll have to think that over.

The upper portion of the Hale Brook Trail had a few blowdowns that will require something more than my little Gerber saw.

We headed down the "abandoned" Hale Fire Warden Trail.

It may be "abandoned" but it's clearly not forgotten. This trail was easily in better shape than the North Twin Trail. Even though it's a little overgrown with ferns and weeds, it has easy to moderate grades, has few blowdowns, it's very easy to follow (even without blazes), and it passes through a beautiful Birch Forest. This trail is a Jewell in the WMNF. (But it's abandoned, so you shouldn't hike it.)

Though I felt slow from a too-big breakfast,

Oh Gee!, that's too bad. I had two granola bars for breakfast.

The section along the Little River between the first and second crossing on the North-East bank, (winter snowshoe, ski bushwhack route) has suffered serious blowdown, err flood-down damage.

The North Twin Trail above the third crossing had several blowdowns as well as having several sections of the trail bed washed out. It's still hikeable but some maintainance is clearly in order.

The Twinway was as I expected, good shape, but wet.

Zealand summit.....ummmm, nuff said.

NH_Mtn_Hiker waited for me at Lend-a-Hand and suggested going out over Hale. I refrained from stabbing him with my hiking poles.

It was just an idea.

NH_Mtn_Hiker stayed with Dugan while I made a side trip to the bathroom.

Dugan did a good job of keeping-an-eye on me while you were away and sucessfully kept me out of trouble.

Though he clearly could've gone faster, and I urged him to, he remained back with me while I moved slowly because of my knee.

What else can I say....I'm a sucker for a "Damsel in Distress".


Overall it was an excellent hike with excellent hiking partners on what could have been an just another gloomy, rainy, Saturday.

Oh...by the way, I saw the same moose on the way out...and a fox

 

[hikerfast]

sounds like a fun and challenging hike. poured on me on the pemi canoeing saturday, i thought of you guys. you should definitely go back up there and see the views when it is nice out.

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

Mt. Hale summit magnetics

Nice route! When I visited Hale's summit late Sunday afternoon, I checked the magnetism on a grid pattern with my compass, and sure enough, I did get bogus readings on the south side of the rock pile, about 90 degrees off to the west. Readings north of the rock pile and elsewhere seemed to be fine. So, those fire tower remnants must be pretty strongly magnetized? Will bring a strong magnet to test that hypothesis on next trip.

 

[Dugan]

How wet was it?

It was sooo wet that I was curious how much extra water I hauled around in my boots. They weighed about 4.5 pounds post-hike, and now that they're dry (3 days later), about 2 pounds. A difference of approx. 2.5 pounds for the pair equals a little over 1 pint of water per boot. Not that I would consider my boots a water source, mind you....