Herd Path Questions For North And South Twin

[DayTrip]

My next hike is going to be North and South Twin and I've been following the trip reports for the past week or so. They all mention a "herd path" or "following the snowmobile trails" to the trail. I assume this is off of Little River Road by Seven Dwarfs? Have never hiked in from there so I had some questions:

1)AMC 4,000 Footer Guide says parking available at Seven Dwarfs. Do you pay? AMC 4,000 Footer Guide has a phone number to call for permission. Also, I recall a thread about parking at the end of this road and whether or not it was OK. Based on recent NETC reports apparently it is? If anyone has the link to that thread it would be appreciated. Was having trouble locating under "Little River Road", "parking" and some other terms.

2)Is this herd path easy to follow in winter? Sounds like the Twins and Hale (Firewarden) are done from here so I assume it will have a good track unless there is a big storm. Does anyone know the length from where you would park on Little River Road to trail head? It sounds like it is about 1.2 miles versus 2.5 mile road walk on Haystack Road so it is a big savings.

3)Should it not have a visible track I assume it just follows the Little River to Haystack Road? Is the river open enough at this time of year to follow or is it covered up with snow? AMC guide mentioned crossing on a snowmobile bridge so I assume there are no tricky crossings to negotiate.

4)AMC 4,000 Footer Guide says the bushwhack on North Twin Trail that skips first two river crossings can be a crusty and tricky side hill walk. I've done this in summer and remember it being pretty flat overall. Is that section really tricky in winter or is Guide exaggerating?

Any info that could be shared would be helpful. Links to previous threads are fine if info hasn't changed. Thanks.

 

[andrewb]

1- I think 7 Dwarfs looked closed for the season last weekend. In any event, just keep driving past it and park at the end of the road, minding not to block access to the bridge. I had no problem last Saturday, must have been 8 cars there in total.

2- The herd path is all I have ever taken over the years, I estimate it's less than a mile to the summer trailhead.

3- Yes use the nice bridge right next to parking, then it's all over land--- easy to follow parallel to the river.

4- The guide is pretty much accurate, as there is a sidehill to negotiate on the bushwhack between crossings. I have never NOT taken the bushwhacks so it's not really that bad. The exact route changes from storm to storm, depending on how the first breaker decides to go ... on that note, the current broken trail goes on a loop or two but will take you where you need to be.

 

[thegibba]

You park at the end of little river rd. Leave room for plows or whatever to turn around and don't block the bridge. You don't pay a thing.

You go over the bridge from the parking area. Immediately to the left is a pretty obvious herd path. This follows the river more or less but brings you to the bridge right at the summer trailhead. When i was there last year i saw tons of no trespassing signs along the side of the herd path. When you exit the herd path cross the bridge to your left and you will be at the summer trailhead.

I didn't do this my first time. If you take the sno mo trails, take a left at the first intersection (est 1/4 mile or so beyond the bridge at the parking area). This is haystack rd. follow this to Summer Trailhead. The lack of signs made this kind of a PITA. Especially since i hadn't been here before. I took the herd path on the way back. Walking on sno mo trails is garbage IMO. much easier to walk on an established trail.

 

[Lefty E]

Have done the herd path and snow machine trail to make sure I knew where I was going if I wanted to do either...would stick with the herd path.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Here is a map of the Twins following the snowmobile trail: http://caltopo.com/map?id=7G56
Here is a map of Hale via FWT following the old North Twin Trail: http://caltopo.com/map?id=5J3H

Tim

 

[JustJoe]

It's a little better than a herd path.

 

[DayTrip]

Thanks for the info guys. Looks pretty straightforward. Now all I need is some decent weather Sat or Sun.

 

[RoySwkr]

The so-called herd path (to the trailhead) is the old Little River RR grade, which was the official route of the North Twin Trail before Haystack Road was extended

Whether the RR grade or the snowmobile trail is better depends on whether the RR grade is broken out

 

[BobC]

I think you're right and it's about 1.2 miles to the summer trailhead.

As for the herd path along North Twin trail that skips the first two river crossings, I've only been on it in winter as far as the Firewarden's trail but it's not tricky up to that point; there was one spot where some of us hiked up and over a little rise that was tricky due to some ice (this was a couple of weekends ago), while one of us stayed lower and closer to the river.

 

[Raven]

I think you're right and it's about 1.2 miles to the summer trailhead.

As for the herd path along North Twin trail that skips the first two river crossings, I've only been on it in winter as far as the Firewarden's trail but it's not tricky up to that point; there was one spot where some of us hiked up and over a little rise that was tricky due to some ice (this was a couple of weekends ago), while one of us stayed lower and closer to the river.

I was out here yesterday. The old North Twin Trail is now broken out well from the end of Little River Road to the summer trailhead. That's a 15 minute walk. The NTT is now broken to the summit including the bypass of the two crossings. The third crossing is well bridged. As I write, there is freezing rain coming down on top of a few inches a ice which fell last night. Not sure how that will affect things.

The North Twin Spur to South Twin was not broken and was fully filled in.

The former Fire Wardens Trail to Hale looked well broken out at the start. No one had been up North Twin since the new snow.

 

[DayTrip]

Thanks for the update Raven. I missed my "window" last Sat due to the bad weather and won't have a shot to get up there until middle of next week at earliest. Hopefully the track holds up.

As far as the spur, isn't that section notorius for very deep snow and drifts? Would it be worth packing my 36" snowshoes to make breaking the trail easier? I sink in big time in my trail snowshoes. It is fairly comfortable grades until the last section of the cone so I'm thinking it may be a good idea unless someone gets through there first.

 

[madmattd]

As far as the spur, isn't that section notorius for very deep snow and drifts? Would it be worth packing my 36" snowshoes to make breaking the trail easier? I sink in big time in my trail snowshoes. It is fairly comfortable grades until the last section of the cone so I'm thinking it may be a good idea unless someone gets through there first.

I was up on the Twins Monday (just before the latest snow) with some others from here. The only drifted sections were near the col and the regular ~25" snowshoes were more than adequate for all of us. Unless it got really badly filled in (Raven might be able to shed light on how bad it was), I wouldn't bother with the big boys for that short stretch when they'll be in the way the rest of the day.

 

[Raven]

I was up on the Twins Monday (just before the latest snow) with some others from here. The only drifted sections were near the col and the regular ~25" snowshoes were more than adequate for all of us. Unless it got really badly filled in (Raven might be able to shed light on how bad it was), I wouldn't bother with the big boys for that short stretch when they'll be in the way the rest of the day.

I agree. I wouldn't carry long shoes for the amount of use they would likely get. I was holing post holing in my shoes in spots from the soft snow, but I still wouldn't bother with them.