Seven Dwarfs, old North Twin Trail, North Twin Trail, North Twin Spur, Twinway, Frost Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, Gale River Trail, 14 miles, 3900'+, 9:00
24-Jan-2009
An assortment of hikers from RoT arranged to meet at Beaver Brook at 7am. Included were BikeHikeSkiFish, Bob&Geri, J&J, AndyF, Steve, Getawaygirl, Mad River, OldMan, and Jeff. Kevin and Emma went out of Seven Dwarfs ahead of us with the intention of being caught. We piled all the packs into Mad River's truck, and when the cab was full of people, the rest of us piled into Bob & Geri's SUV for the short ride to 7Ds. At 7:20, we were underway. AndyF suggested following the old North Twin trail and it was here that we stopped and put on snowshoes. It was possibly this decision that pushed us ahead of Kevin and Emma as we hadn't caught them by North Twin. The old North Twin trail was well-packed as it followed the Little River's west bank. Occasional glimpses of blue sky showed overhead, through open woods and clearings, complimenting the views of the Peak Above The Nubble as we hiked into the box canyon formed by Hale, Zealand Ridge and the Twins. About 40 minutes later, the old North Twin trail deposited us on Haystack Road next to the bridge by the summer trailhead.
Now on the "new" North Twin trail, we continued along the east side of the river, skipping the first two crossings. The third crossing was solidly bridged and all crossed without difficulty. With the trail beginning to pitch upward, we adjusted layers and began climbing. To this point, there were maybe 2-3 inches of new snow, but as we climbed through 3700 feet the new snow depth increased to 8 inches with occasional deeper drifts. AndyF took the lead doing most of the trail breaking work. Just below the North Twin knob (viewpoint), we stopped to dress for the exposed section above. The summit was in the bottom of the clouds and there were filtered views over to Hale and Zealand.
After a necessarily brief stop at the outlook, we pushed on to the summit and summit view point. At this point, we agreed to split into 3 groups (4 if you count Kevin and Emma who had not yet been seen.) Bob & Geri turned around here and returned to 7Ds. Two groups continued on, the first being me, OldMan, Andy, and the three Js: J&J and Jeff, and the second being Mad River, Getawaygirl and Steve.
Bob & Geri would meet up with Mad River's group on their way back, and inform them we were now continuing in two groups. The first group only had cars at Beaver Brook, while the second group had cars at both locations, and so there weren't any logistical reasons to remain in one large group. We set off for South Twin, following the wind-blown remains of a snowshoe track. Down low in the scrub, it is easy to see how one could lose the trail, but visibility was fine and though we were given to an occasional pause, a few glances around would spot the likely way to go. OldMan Ed had a GPS track from last summer as a backup and it confirmed we never really were off course. After scrambing over a few steep and drifted sections, the rocky cliff of South Twin appeared before us. Coming out of the trees, the wind was once again cold. I had to zip the 'pit vent on my shell before the winward side of me froze. A very brief stop for the views, a quick summit photo, and we ducked down the Twinway towards the hut. Once into the trees, we split up a bit for the butt slide down to the hut. Along the way we encountered Farmer Bob, Rocks-n-Rolls and Hiker Bob. With the butt sliding, we made it to the hut in under 15 minutes.
At the hut, we sat in the sun and ate our lunches. Well, AndyF preferred to tag Galehead before eating, so he went up while we ate, and he watched our packs while the rest of us went up. It was the most-comfortable leg of the day. As usual, the sun shown down on the hut, and the Frost Trail to the summit is in the lee of the moutain all the way. Back at the hut, the Twins-only gang reappeared, followed shortly by Mad River, Getawaygirl and Steve who were behind us. Wet gloves and hats were exchanged for dry ones, and shortly past 2pm, we set off for the home stretch. The Garfield Ridge Trail and Galehead Trails were packed like a concrete sidewalk, but we remained in our snowshoes. At the viewpoint by the Gale River, where the trail flattens out, we passed Hiker Bob who was contemplating skiing the rest of the way out. When we came out on Gale River Road, the snowmobile police were hanging out and we chatted briefly. They mentioned they had seen Kevin and Emma near 7Ds. We turned right on Gale River Road, and then followed it to the left. There are small US Forest Service signs pointing the way to Beaver Brook. Turn right at camp site #3 and left towards the rear and you'll be on the Beaver Brook XC trail system. Stay to the left to follow it back to the parking area.
Limited photos (due to cold) here
Tim
24-Jan-2009
An assortment of hikers from RoT arranged to meet at Beaver Brook at 7am. Included were BikeHikeSkiFish, Bob&Geri, J&J, AndyF, Steve, Getawaygirl, Mad River, OldMan, and Jeff. Kevin and Emma went out of Seven Dwarfs ahead of us with the intention of being caught. We piled all the packs into Mad River's truck, and when the cab was full of people, the rest of us piled into Bob & Geri's SUV for the short ride to 7Ds. At 7:20, we were underway. AndyF suggested following the old North Twin trail and it was here that we stopped and put on snowshoes. It was possibly this decision that pushed us ahead of Kevin and Emma as we hadn't caught them by North Twin. The old North Twin trail was well-packed as it followed the Little River's west bank. Occasional glimpses of blue sky showed overhead, through open woods and clearings, complimenting the views of the Peak Above The Nubble as we hiked into the box canyon formed by Hale, Zealand Ridge and the Twins. About 40 minutes later, the old North Twin trail deposited us on Haystack Road next to the bridge by the summer trailhead.
Now on the "new" North Twin trail, we continued along the east side of the river, skipping the first two crossings. The third crossing was solidly bridged and all crossed without difficulty. With the trail beginning to pitch upward, we adjusted layers and began climbing. To this point, there were maybe 2-3 inches of new snow, but as we climbed through 3700 feet the new snow depth increased to 8 inches with occasional deeper drifts. AndyF took the lead doing most of the trail breaking work. Just below the North Twin knob (viewpoint), we stopped to dress for the exposed section above. The summit was in the bottom of the clouds and there were filtered views over to Hale and Zealand.
After a necessarily brief stop at the outlook, we pushed on to the summit and summit view point. At this point, we agreed to split into 3 groups (4 if you count Kevin and Emma who had not yet been seen.) Bob & Geri turned around here and returned to 7Ds. Two groups continued on, the first being me, OldMan, Andy, and the three Js: J&J and Jeff, and the second being Mad River, Getawaygirl and Steve.
Bob & Geri would meet up with Mad River's group on their way back, and inform them we were now continuing in two groups. The first group only had cars at Beaver Brook, while the second group had cars at both locations, and so there weren't any logistical reasons to remain in one large group. We set off for South Twin, following the wind-blown remains of a snowshoe track. Down low in the scrub, it is easy to see how one could lose the trail, but visibility was fine and though we were given to an occasional pause, a few glances around would spot the likely way to go. OldMan Ed had a GPS track from last summer as a backup and it confirmed we never really were off course. After scrambing over a few steep and drifted sections, the rocky cliff of South Twin appeared before us. Coming out of the trees, the wind was once again cold. I had to zip the 'pit vent on my shell before the winward side of me froze. A very brief stop for the views, a quick summit photo, and we ducked down the Twinway towards the hut. Once into the trees, we split up a bit for the butt slide down to the hut. Along the way we encountered Farmer Bob, Rocks-n-Rolls and Hiker Bob. With the butt sliding, we made it to the hut in under 15 minutes.
At the hut, we sat in the sun and ate our lunches. Well, AndyF preferred to tag Galehead before eating, so he went up while we ate, and he watched our packs while the rest of us went up. It was the most-comfortable leg of the day. As usual, the sun shown down on the hut, and the Frost Trail to the summit is in the lee of the moutain all the way. Back at the hut, the Twins-only gang reappeared, followed shortly by Mad River, Getawaygirl and Steve who were behind us. Wet gloves and hats were exchanged for dry ones, and shortly past 2pm, we set off for the home stretch. The Garfield Ridge Trail and Galehead Trails were packed like a concrete sidewalk, but we remained in our snowshoes. At the viewpoint by the Gale River, where the trail flattens out, we passed Hiker Bob who was contemplating skiing the rest of the way out. When we came out on Gale River Road, the snowmobile police were hanging out and we chatted briefly. They mentioned they had seen Kevin and Emma near 7Ds. We turned right on Gale River Road, and then followed it to the left. There are small US Forest Service signs pointing the way to Beaver Brook. Turn right at camp site #3 and left towards the rear and you'll be on the Beaver Brook XC trail system. Stay to the left to follow it back to the parking area.
Limited photos (due to cold) here
Tim
