| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Southwest Twin Mountain, South Twin Mountain, North Twin Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Lincoln Woods Trail, Franconia Brook Trail, bushwhack, Twinway, North Twin Spur, North Twin Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, November 11, 2017 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
we had a car spotted at the north twin trailhead on haystack road and started the hike at lincoln woods. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Black, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Wet Trail, Ice - Breakable Crust, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Leaves - Significant/Slippery |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
numerous notable crossings today. all ok with care either negotiating icy rocks or finding slighly submerged stepping stones. good boots and gaiters recommended. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
some blowdown on all trails. twin spur and north twin trail had a number of larger duck unders/stepovers. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
lincoln woods trail was a fast walk with partially frozen ground, a dusting of snow and some crusty ice. more of the same on franconia brook trail. some tricky water crossings to negotiate, but otherwise smooth sailing. after crossing red rock brook (toughest of the day) we continued to about 2000ft and started our bushwhack up the southwest ridge of southwest twin. nice open woods and glades with an inch or two of snow on the ground until about 3000ft when evergreens took over. nothing was too bad for a bit, but then we hit stretch after stretch of thick snow covered spruce and blowdown and our progress slowed to a crawl (sometimes quite literally). above 4000ft it was totally relentless until we finally got some good woods shortly before the recognized highpoint of southwest twin.
leaving the summit towards the twinway the woods were often better, but still fairly difficult in sections. finally as we climbed up towards the twinway things opened up and not too long after we reached the trail. the bushwhack took about 6 hours which was significantly longer than any of us had expected. on the twinway we had fresh snow with some recent tracks up to the blown off ledges of south twin. the views were stunning, but owing to the cold and wind and the fact that we were pretty wet from the long bushwhack we didn't linger.
more quick going over fast snow covered trail to north twin. the descent was fairly straight forward with continued snow cover and minimal ice to start. more crusty ice farther down along with some sections of running water. we switched on headlamps about 2/3 of the way to the little river the crossing of which was surprisingly straight forward with a good rock hop route others had used earlier today. from there it was a straight forward walk out to the car on haystack road. overall a challenging day that felt a lot like a cold one in january, but for the minimal snow depth. |
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 | Name: |
bryan, Nordic Gal, zporterColdRiverCampCook, Becca Munroe |
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 | E-Mail: |
bryancuddihee@yahoo.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2017-11-11 |
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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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