| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
North Twin Mountain, South Twin Mountain, NH |
|
 | Trails: |
North Twin Trail, herd path, bushwhack, Southeast Slide |
|
 | Date of Hike: |
Friday, August 27, 2021 |
|
 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
I was the first car to not get an allotted spot at 8:30am. Many others parked roadside by the time I returned shortly before 6pm I believe but many allotted spots available at that point. The road in is fine. |
|
 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant |
|
 | Recommended Equipment: |
|
|
 | Water Crossing Notes: |
I took the herd path on my way in as the first crossing didn’t look immediately cross able but took the true trail on the return trip and upon looking just a tad harder they were certainly doable worth out getting your feet wet. The second crossing had a good rock hop just downstream. |
|
 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
The North Twin Trail’s blazing begins just before the first river crossing. It is blazed in yellow every so often from there. I don’t recall any blowdowns on it. Still one duck under near the start of the herd path to avoid the crossings. It’s large and will likely remain. There was another, smaller blowdown next to it this winter that has since gotten taken care of. The small pile of debris that was placed at the start of the herd path to avoid the water crossings as to say “don’t go this way: this is not the trail†is no longer there. |
|
 | Dog-Related Notes: |
I wouldn’t take one with my on this bushwhack but most hiking dogs. Plus probably handle the normal trail but I’d make sure that water isn’t high. |
|
 | Bugs: |
None |
|
 | Lost and Found: |
None |
|
|
|
|
 | Comments: |
Another great bushwhack with the old man and the saw. A huge thanks to him for his excellent company, encouragement, and navigation skills. A fantastic day to hike; sunny with not too hot temps and a good breeze.
After making my way up the trail, herd path to avoid the first two water crossings, and beginning the ascent after the third crossing, we looked for a good place to enter the woods around the last brook crossing on trail (which was dry). We decided to enter the woods shortly before it where the woods looked good. The point at which we started our bushwhack was between 2875 and 2900ft. The idea was to contour from this point into the drainage and follow that up to the slide. Naturally though, one tend to go up, and we realized we’d be following the drainage (which wouldn’t necessarily be pleasant) if we truly contoured so we made it up to about 3000ft halfway between the trail and brook (first heading southeast, then south) almost due south (just east of it) of where we started our whack. From there, we headed southwest slabbing/contouring and finally hitting the drainage at about 3150ft. The actual distance we walked on this bushwhack was a little over 1mi and between going up and down and up and down, we gained over 400ft. We went up vs down contoured vs slabbed depending on the woods but never had to go through anything too thick. Generally pleasant woods.
Gaia was helpful in finding the drainage as we passed over two (mane even three??) potential drainages in quick succession before reaching the most promising looking one which was also where Gaia said it would be. Sure enough, it was the one we wanted. It was dry to start. We started up it occasionally going into the woods to avoid blowdown clusters in it. Not sure how long this dry section lasted but I’ll estimate that it was like this for about for about 0.2mi to maybe 3300ft. Then the fun started. It started with the trickle of water and ended with us scaling up slick, slimy waterfalls. Definitely an area to exercise caution and not for the faint of heart. We took to the woods occasionally. Very slow going no matter if you were in the woods or in the water. We got the occasional glimpse of the slide ahead and slowly but surely we were getting closer to it.
Old man and the saw had heard that the drainage split and you had to take the right branch of it. We never noticed an obvious split and questioned if we’d missed it and wind up in the col instead of at North Twin but we eventually came out at the base of the slide. The beautiful but hellish drainage was done with and now we just had to make our way up the slide. The slide was primarily slab and not scree (yay!) and made for slow going and caution was taken to make sure we didn’t dislodge a nice loose boulder onto each other but definitely not as nerve wracking as the drainage. We made it to the top of the slide and then began to swim through the krumholtz. Thick and nasty. Not many have been this way. We eventually popped out into North Twin Trail a short distance from the summit.
Old man and the saw headed down after a quick hello to the summit and viewpoint on North Twin while I continued on to bag South Twin. The ridge of course was very muddy at times. I met a great group of four young folk backpacking and stopped and chatted with them for awhile. Also got to meet a few thru hikers before making my way back down to the car. |
|
 | Name: |
Liam Cooney |
|
 | E-Mail: |
liamcooney96@gmail.com |
|
| Date Submitted: |
2021-08-30 |
|
 | Link: |
 https:// |
|
|
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. |
|
