Day hiking North Twin, South Twin & Galehead Mountains

This day hike started at the parking area at the end of Little River Road in Twin Mountain. From Little River Road we took the North Twin Trail to the summit of North Twin first and then continued on to South Twin. From South Twin we took the Garfield Ridge Trail down to the Galehead Hut and from there we took the Frost trail to the summit of Galehead Mountain. After returning to the hut we continued along the Garefield Ridge Trail to the Gale River Trail and then followed that back down to the Gale River Loop Road. We follwed the road back out to US ROute 3 and then walked the road back to the picnic area where we had prevous left another vehicle.

Parking area - 0 miles - 1,620' North Twin Trail - 1 miles - 1,860' River crossing - 3 miles - 2,400' North Twin Mountain - 5.1 miles - 4,761' South Twin Mounain - 6.4 miles - 4,902' Galehead Hut - 7.1 miles - 3,760' Mount Galehead - 7.6 miles - 4,024' Galehead Hut - 8.1 miles - 3,760' Road - 12.1 miles - 1,600' Five Corners - 14.1 miles - 1,350' Total elevation change - 3,282' Trail map - 500 x 647 - 141K Trail map - 1,000 x 1,294 - 532K

This hike got off to a very slow start and almost didn't happen at all. I checked the weather at home before I left and Twin Mountain was supposed to be in the mid 20s pretty much all day with just some morning snow showers. It was pretty nice during the drive up and there was no snow at all until Franconia Notch. But then it was snowing and blowing like crazy. I crossed my fingers because the notch makes its own weather and it can be completely different a few miles away, like it was on the south side. Not this time on the north side however, it was still snowing quite a bit though not as much. And at least the wind went away.

I got to the parking lot before Alysia and sat there about 10 minutes before she arrived watching the snow come down. This was a little more than the snow showers that were in the forecast. When Alysia showed up and I went to sit in her car to talk to her I could just tell from the expression on her face that she was having second thoughts about all of this. She said she had checked the forecast and what she saw was that the temperatures would be falling and getting very cold, near 0°F, for most of the day. It was still in the mid 20s at the parking area though. We went back and forth several times. She was worried but we were already there and she really wanted these three peaks. We had been planning to get these for the past two months and we were so close today. The snow was not supposed to keep up and maybe they were wrong about the temperature drop. We decided to just start hiking and see what happens. We could always turn around and bail out. And there was even a plan B, for Mount Hale another peak she needed that was on the way and a shorter hike.

We left my car at the parking area just in case we did manage to complete the planned loop and took hers to the other trailhead at the end of Little River Road.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 Little River, snow 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Little River, snow 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Little River, snow 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Alysia at Little River

We got a late start and did not start hiking until 845. The snow let up a little and even stopped at times only to start back up again. It was an extremely light and powdery snow though. The temperature continued to drop but when we reached the turn off for Mount Hale we didn't even discuss it and just kept heading for North Twin. Alysia is such a trooper and I love hiking with her.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 Snowy road & bridge 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Huge icicles/iceflow 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Trail view 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Trail view 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Powdery snow

We crossed Little River on the snow bridge there and also stopped for a little snack before starting up North Twin. The climb got pretty steep pretty fast and we had to stop numerous times on the way up. Alysia was in the lead because I tend to go too fast a wear myself out to quickly if I lead. She was setting a pretty brisk pace herself this time, probably to stay warm, and I was very glad when she did stop.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 At the river crossing 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Alysia at the river crossing 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Little River, snow 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Little River, snow 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Trail continues up the mountain

From the river crossing to the North Twin summit took just over 2.5 hours and it was a lot of hard work. But luckily the hardest part of the day was now behind us. It was still very cloudy up there and there were no views at all. It was also very cold, only 5°F, so we did not stay long and just kept moving, setting our sights on South Twin, which of course was invisible. Just follow the trail.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 Trail view 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Trail view 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Alysia at the North Twin summit, winter peak #28 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Alysia at the North Twin summit, winter peak #28 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Bob at the North Twin summit, winter peak #44 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Alysia & Bob at the North Twin summit 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Numbers for the hike up

After only a few minutes of hiking we started seeing some breaks in the clouds and some sunshine filtering through. The clouds lifted shortly thereafter and we had nice views of North Twin behind us and South Twin ahead. It looked glorious with all of the fresh snow. And it had stopped snowing. The skies improved throughout the day but it still stayed cold and we just had to keep moving to stay warm.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 Trail view 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Alysia & very snowy trees 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Alysia, South Twin 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Alysia, South Twin 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Trail view 600 x 450   1024 x 768 South Twin summit 600 x 450   1024 x 768 South Twin summit 600 x 450   1024 x 768 A little sunlight filtering through the clouds 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Alysia, North Twin 600 x 450   1024 x 768 North Twin peeking out of the clouds 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Trail view, South Twin summit 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Trail view, South Twin summit 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Alysia, North Twin 600 x 450   1024 x 768 South Twin summit

We were not on top of South Twin very long either as there was actually a little wind up there and that just made the cold even colder. It was now down to 0°F and the windchill was probably -10 or more.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 South Twin summit 600 x 450   1024 x 768 South Twin summit 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Alysia at the South Twin summit, winter peak #29 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Alysia at the South Twin summit, winter peak #29 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Alysia & Bob at the South Twin summit 600 x 450   1024 x 768 North Twin from South Twin

We changed into snow pants and did some butt sliding down to the Galehead Hut. The trail was too steep for the sleds as they just go way too fast. It turns out that we did not use the sleds at all because of that but we did have some good, long butt slides.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 Strange formation on South Twin 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Strange formation on South Twin 600 x 450   1024 x 768 North Twin from South Twin 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Looking back on South Twin summit 600 x 450   1024 x 768 North Twin from South Twin 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Trail view

We stopped for snacks at Galehead Hut as the temperature was back up to 5F. Alysia had hot apple cider with her in a thermos and also some chocolatey, gooey brownies, which she shared. Yum! We left our packs at the hut and did the hike up to the Galehead summit without them.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 South Twin from Galehead Hut 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Galehead Hut 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Galehead Mountain from Galehead Hut 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Alysia at Galehead Hut

The hike to the top of Galehead Mountain without the packs was a lot of fun and did not take very long at all. There was a broken trail to follow which was very different from the last time I had been up there in the winter a couple of years prior when we had to break trail through deep powder to get to the summit.

There is no view at all from the summit itself but there was a very nice view just a little way off from it. We had a nice view of South Twin Mountain and also of Galehead Hut from the viewpoint.

600 x 450   1024 x 768 Alysia at Galehead summit, winter peak #30 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Alysia & Bob at Galehead summit 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Alysia at viewpoint near Galehead summit 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Bob at viewpoint near Galehead summit 600 x 450   1024 x 768 North & South Twin from viewpoint near Galehead summit 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Galehead Hut from viewpoint near Galehead summit 600 x 450   1024 x 768 South Twin from viewpoint near Galehead summit 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Viewpoint near Galehead summit

When we returned to the hut it was already closing in on 4pm and we sort of figured we would be hiking out in the dark. It was 4.5 miles from there down to the road, which we had to walk to the other trail, and then to my car at the parking area. It was supposed to be about 6 or maybe 6.5 miles. We did some more butt sledding at the top of the trail but then the steepness went away and we just had to walk, and walk... and walk. We were getting tied and it seemed to take forever. We made it to the road before it got dark but just barely. And it got a lot darker while we were walking the road. There was a beautiful, thin crescent moon hanging in the western sky after the sun set and the sky was almost completely clear. The temperature was back up to around 10F.

We never did find the side trail from the road to the other trail to the parking area and ended up back at the main highway, still a mile or so away from the parking area. Alysia was having problems with her feet so I just left her there with the backpacks and hiking the final mile to the car by myself. She said she was jumping (and yodeling?) to stay warm while I was gone. I said I was sorry to miss that. She said I didn't miss anything. :)

600 x 450   1024 x 768 A very old Appalacian Trail marker 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Snow covered shelf fungus /fairy benches 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Numbers for the day 600 x 450   1024 x 768 Sign at the restaurant

We packed all the gear into my car and then I drove her back to her car and then we headed into Lincoln to get some dinner. We got to the restaurant she wanted to go to about 10 minutes before their 8pm closing time but they sat us anyway. We were there until almost 9pm and closed the place.

It was an awesome day with a totally awesome hiking buddy. Alysia ended up getting 3 peaks for her winter list and is now up to 30 out of 48. I already had Galehead so I only ended up with 2 which brought me up to 45. I only have 3 more to go but there are only 2 weekends left and none of these can be done together so it is still doubtful I will finish this year and may only have one left for next year.

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