| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Galehead Mountain, South Twin Mountain, North Twin Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Beaver Brook XC Ski Trails, Gale River Road, Gale River Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, Frost Trail, Twinway, North Twin Spur, bushwhack, North Twin Trail, herd paths |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Wednesday, May 17, 2017 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Gale River Loop and Haystack roads are still closed. No cars at Beaver Brook XC Ski Trails or Little River Rd. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Ice - Black, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Mud - Significant, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Unstable), Leaves - Significant/Slippery, Slush |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
All water crossings were on Gale River trail were manageable, the tributaries on North Twin Trail were also manageable by rock hopping. But the Little River was Raging. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Nala had lots of snow baths and swims |
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 | Bugs: |
Tons of bugs and the ticks are out too |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
GR trail has water running through the trail, standing water, and a significant amount of mud. The partial monorail starts about 1 mile from the hut. It felt like a luxury to go to the hut for extra water.
The Frost trail was slushiest trail today. Twinway had nice postholes that made it easy to step in and spike up to South. Leaving South Twin we used snowshoes, the snow was very deep and if there was an old monorail we couldn't tell where it was with the recent snow. Route finding was a thing, but not too much of an issue. It looked like there wasn't any recent sign of activity on the Twins. There were areas of deep slush and times we as we sunk deep down and got stuck - but we had to laugh and tow each other out. We wore snowshoes for roughly 2-3 miles and we felt that it was definitely worth having them.
Leaving North Twin we could see the dirty old monorail that was mostly unstable and this is where were switched to spikes.
The tiny little tributaries on North Twin Trail that I usually step over were running through and next to the trail.
We decided it would be safer to bushwhack along Little River then to cross it - (because it was anything but little today) so we kept the river on our right and headed downstream for 3/4 of a mile and once we reached a narrow part of the river where there was less white water, we noticed a large downed tree that went from one side to the other. We stayed on the upstream side of the tree and carefully made our way across with roughly 6 inched of water above the knee. It worked! But I wouldn't recommend it.
We followed the herd paths, and then on to the NTT that was wet with water running and dry the last mile. The bushwhack was pretty straight forward and a little muddy.
All in all it was beautiful day and at times a challenging hike, but we had a positive out look and sometime that makes all the difference! Thanks to Elizabeth for another adventure. |
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 | Name: |
Rachel |
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 | E-Mail: |
ball one three one one at yahoo dot com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2017-05-17 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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