LRiz
New member
Firstly, I'd like to thank Bill and Diane for kindly letting me use some of their photos for this trip report. Given the snowy conditions, I believe that all of us experienced camera difficulties during this hike...
The sky was overcast and grey, the temperatures surprisingly cold, the snow... falling ever-steadily around us as we readied our gear and prepared for the long day ahead. Even though the conditions were far from ideal, we were a hardy bunch and refused to let the weather dampen our spirits... as is clearly evident from the weath of positive energy radiating from the pre-hike shot below
:
Leaving the Seven Dwarfs motel behind us, we put on our snowshoes and made our way towards the North Twin trailhead - approximately 1.5 miles away via an easy road walk. Fortunately, Jeremy's tracks from the day prior were still slightly visible underneath the blanket of fresh snow, which made for particularly speedy going (perhaps the fastest of the day). I became unusually excited upon reaching the trailhead itself, much to the bemusement/confusion of the others in our party. Eric remarked that he'd never seen anyone so happy to have arrived at... well, the starting point.
"...but this means we're just 4.3 miles away from the summit!" I replied with gusto. It must have been the caffeine.
In anticipation of the climb ahead, we all took a short break to delayer (or I suppose layer up in the case of some) and then proceeded up the trail. Cath took the lead, keeping us along the left side of the river to avoid the first two water crossings. I, too, stayed towards the front and was thrilled when she pointed out the start of the Firewarden's trail to me. Although there were a few (very minor) tricky spots to navigate, we all managed to make it to the notorious third Little River crossing in one piece...
...at which point Andy charged ahead and made it across with ease. Luckily, the ice capping the river was strong and held firm - We all crossed without incident.
Upon regrouping briefly on the other side of the river, Andy took the lead once again. Looking ahead, it was apparent that Jeremy's trail breaking efforts from the previous day had... entirely drifted in. We knew at that point that it was going to be a long, steady slog up to the summit of North Twin. Ah well, nothing that this little trail breaker can't handle. Fueled by multiple caffeine GU/Clif/Powerbar shots, I bounded up to the front and started climbing at a relatively decent clip. As I'm sure I've mentioned in prior trip reports, I do enjoy breaking trail because it enables me to build both strength and endurance. I maintained the lead for quite a while, alternating on and off with Steve for a few of the trickier sections (his giant Tubbs were no match for the steeps, in comparison to my MSRs which would slide rather embarrassingly downwards with every step that I took). The wind was roaring ferociously above the treetops, and I had a feeling that the conditions would be harsh on the mostly exposed summit of North Twin. Indeed, they were. Yet even without views, the rugged beauty of the desolate landscape - bare, almost to the point of feigning lifelessness, and utterly drained of color - was simply striking:
As bitter as the conditons were, we still managed to group together for a summit shot:
The sky was overcast and grey, the temperatures surprisingly cold, the snow... falling ever-steadily around us as we readied our gear and prepared for the long day ahead. Even though the conditions were far from ideal, we were a hardy bunch and refused to let the weather dampen our spirits... as is clearly evident from the weath of positive energy radiating from the pre-hike shot below
:
Leaving the Seven Dwarfs motel behind us, we put on our snowshoes and made our way towards the North Twin trailhead - approximately 1.5 miles away via an easy road walk. Fortunately, Jeremy's tracks from the day prior were still slightly visible underneath the blanket of fresh snow, which made for particularly speedy going (perhaps the fastest of the day). I became unusually excited upon reaching the trailhead itself, much to the bemusement/confusion of the others in our party. Eric remarked that he'd never seen anyone so happy to have arrived at... well, the starting point.
"...but this means we're just 4.3 miles away from the summit!" I replied with gusto. It must have been the caffeine.
In anticipation of the climb ahead, we all took a short break to delayer (or I suppose layer up in the case of some
) and then proceeded up the trail. Cath took the lead, keeping us along the left side of the river to avoid the first two water crossings. I, too, stayed towards the front and was thrilled when she pointed out the start of the Firewarden's trail to me. Although there were a few (very minor) tricky spots to navigate, we all managed to make it to the notorious third Little River crossing in one piece...
...at which point Andy charged ahead and made it across with ease. Luckily, the ice capping the river was strong and held firm - We all crossed without incident.
Upon regrouping briefly on the other side of the river, Andy took the lead once again. Looking ahead, it was apparent that Jeremy's trail breaking efforts from the previous day had... entirely drifted in. We knew at that point that it was going to be a long, steady slog up to the summit of North Twin. Ah well, nothing that this little trail breaker can't handle
. Fueled by multiple caffeine GU/Clif/Powerbar shots, I bounded up to the front and started climbing at a relatively decent clip. As I'm sure I've mentioned in prior trip reports, I do enjoy breaking trail because it enables me to build both strength and endurance. I maintained the lead for quite a while, alternating on and off with Steve for a few of the trickier sections (his giant Tubbs were no match for the steeps, in comparison to my MSRs which would slide rather embarrassingly downwards with every step that I took). The wind was roaring ferociously above the treetops, and I had a feeling that the conditions would be harsh on the mostly exposed summit of North Twin. Indeed, they were. Yet even without views, the rugged beauty of the desolate landscape - bare, almost to the point of feigning lifelessness, and utterly drained of color - was simply striking:
As bitter as the conditons were, we still managed to group together for a summit shot:
