Hitting the Trails: 12/07/2013 North Twin / South Twin

Saturday, December 07, 2013

North Twin / South Twin

Haystack Road (what's an extra 5 miles) / North Twin Trail (with herd path) / North Twin Mountain/ North Twin Spur / South Twin Mountain (same route back)

I haven't been up on the Twins at all this year, although I've been real close several times. South Twin is one of my favorites, so I decided to check them out. My only concern was the Little River crossing and getting wet feet early on in the journey. Two of the three crossings can be avoided following a well worn herd path right before the first crossing, but the final crossing is unavoidable. (On a hot day, the water crossings are lots of fun).

The weather was cloudy with relatively mild with temperatures around 35 degrees with a forecast calling for clear skies in the afternoon. I debated taking the Seven Dwarf's Trail to get started, but in the end I went with the 2.5 mile walk on the closed Haystack Road to get warmed up.

Haystack Road was completely dry and free of any ice or snow (I should have brought my mountain bike to get to the trail head). I was planning on bagging North and South Twin and maybe Galehead, if time allowed. After a quick break at the trail head I started on the North Twin Trail. The trail was frozen mud and rocks with no trace of snow. At the first water crossing of Little River, I did not cross and followed the obvious herd path.

The herd path has a few minor water crossings including the always popular "log balance" crossing. After the herd path rejoins the trail after the second water crossing, I continued towards the final water crossing. I had been watching the river along the way, which is partially covered in ice and/or snow, but plenty of running water and slippery, icy rocks. My chances of making a clean crossing don't look great.

I arrive at the last crossing, which includes two fairly large overturned trees that provide safe passage to the opposite end which is covered in plenty of snow and ice before reaching the bank. While slowly balancing myself across one of the trees is tempting, I head further up the bank to look for place I can get across without too much water. I find a spot that has a nice chuck of solid ice and snow over the deepest path of running water, with only a couple of rocks that may be a little icy on my side of the bank. The water isn't that deep, but I really want to keep dry boots.

I carefully make my way across picking out rocks that are dry on top with no ice until I can get to the big chunk to cross the middle of the river. I made it to other side of the river then headed back along the snow covered bank to the trail on the other side. The trail starts a steeper climb and soon the ice is plentiful and I throw on my micro spikes. Most of this trek up North Twin Trail was that hybrid mix of rocks and ice, there was not enough snow to cover the bumps and there was no recent snow on the trail. A light snow shower was falling as I got to the outlook before the summit. The conditions were still pleasant for December and the sun was trying to poke through the cloud cover. I took in the views from the outlook, then headed to North Twin summit. I made another pit stop at the outlook at the summit to get a good look at Galehead and the Hut down below. I didn't think I had enough time to bag Galehead today but I would wait until I got to South Twin before deciding. The wind picked up and the temperature seemed to be dropping.

I started on the North Twin Spur Trail which had a very slick, icy patch near a few huge boulders (It was worse going down than up, but no real exposure to worry about). Most of the trail was lined with trees and covered with old, hard packed snow. The South Twin summit was visible as I got closer on a pretty gradual ascent on the trail. Once I hit the summit, the winds really picked up and the change in temperature was very noticeable as I had to pull on the hood from my shell. While the sun wasn't shining, the views were still amazing. Despite the winds, I stuck around for a while, taking it all in. I had about 3 hours until sunset at 4pm ish, so I had to get going, other wise I would have stayed even longer. Having a summit to yourself doesn't happen often, so I was in no rush to leave.

I didn't have enough time for Galehead, so I headed back the way I had come. My only goal was to be back on Haystack Road before all of the natural daylight was gone. Definitely manageable at my pace, so I took my time and kept the micro spikes on until I got back to the water crossing. This time, I almost got over without getting a boot in the water, but the GoreTex and the gaiter kept my feet dry. I was back on the road at dusk with pink clouds in the sky. The final 2.5 miles was slightly uphill, and by the end complete darkness had settled in for the night. Temperature was back down to 25 degrees at the car. Overall a great day with moderate weather. One of those rare days where I did not see another person on the trails.