poison ivy
Well-known member
It was a sunny day in New Hampshire on Sunday, right until reaching the Franconia Notch Parkway. There, the sun disappeared in a bank of white clouds and was not seen again until we were heading home from our hike of North Twin. Undaunted, Dave and I set out on the North Twin Trail to tackle my 47th peak (and Dave’s 7th) at around 9 a.m.
The trail starts out nice and smooth so we made quick time to the first crossing of the Little River. Although there were plenty of rock tops sticking out of the water, I couldn’t find enough in the middle of my channel to suit my short girl‘s stride. After about five minutes of trying, we decided it would be better to forgo the first two crossings by taking the bushwhack along the east bank.
The bushwhack was a pleasant little jaunt through the woods, though it seemed longer than I expected. There is a well-used campsite with a bench and giant fire ring right next to the river… though I’m not sure if it’s a legal spot, it sure did look like a nice place to spend the night. We soon arrived at the third river crossing and found it easy to rock hop along to the western bank. Once there, it started to sprinkle and we cursed our decision to believe the weather predictions and leave our raingear at home. Fortunately, we had enough cold weather gear to make up for it.
As the trail swings away from the river, it certainly steepens but isn’t particularly difficult. We had a large number of mushrooms to examine on our way to the summit and caught glimpses of scarlet maple leaves and yellow birch leaves above our heads and beneath our feet. As we gained altitude, the tree tops became increasingly covered with rime ice and gusts of wind doused us with icicle showers, which were much preferred to the rain.
We reached the ledge with the northern view at noon -- only to see a long white cloud before us, no views from the top for us. In five minutes more, we reached the North Twin summit cairn, took a quick couple of pictures and headed back down the trail. It was a little challenging heading down the rocks, which were wet from the rain and covered with wet leaves, but we made it without any significant falls. We arrived back at the trail head at 3 p.m. after a six hour hike and celebrated my 47th peak with cups of hot chocolate. Carrigain here I come!!
Without any views, we didn't take a whole lot of pictures, but they are here if you're interested.
- Ivy
The trail starts out nice and smooth so we made quick time to the first crossing of the Little River. Although there were plenty of rock tops sticking out of the water, I couldn’t find enough in the middle of my channel to suit my short girl‘s stride. After about five minutes of trying, we decided it would be better to forgo the first two crossings by taking the bushwhack along the east bank.
The bushwhack was a pleasant little jaunt through the woods, though it seemed longer than I expected. There is a well-used campsite with a bench and giant fire ring right next to the river… though I’m not sure if it’s a legal spot, it sure did look like a nice place to spend the night. We soon arrived at the third river crossing and found it easy to rock hop along to the western bank. Once there, it started to sprinkle and we cursed our decision to believe the weather predictions and leave our raingear at home. Fortunately, we had enough cold weather gear to make up for it.
As the trail swings away from the river, it certainly steepens but isn’t particularly difficult. We had a large number of mushrooms to examine on our way to the summit and caught glimpses of scarlet maple leaves and yellow birch leaves above our heads and beneath our feet. As we gained altitude, the tree tops became increasingly covered with rime ice and gusts of wind doused us with icicle showers, which were much preferred to the rain.
We reached the ledge with the northern view at noon -- only to see a long white cloud before us, no views from the top for us. In five minutes more, we reached the North Twin summit cairn, took a quick couple of pictures and headed back down the trail. It was a little challenging heading down the rocks, which were wet from the rain and covered with wet leaves, but we made it without any significant falls. We arrived back at the trail head at 3 p.m. after a six hour hike and celebrated my 47th peak with cups of hot chocolate. Carrigain here I come!!
Without any views, we didn't take a whole lot of pictures, but they are here if you're interested.
- Ivy
