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| View to South Twin and Galehead Mountain from North Twin Outlook |
For whatever reason, the Twin Range is never on my radar when I visit the White Mountains. Maybe it's because the day that I hiked them when doing the 4,000 footer list was a total rain out. I can't recall why I decided climb a couple of extra high peaks with great vista points on a day when there would be no visibility up top, but I did. My post about that wet hike reminded me that I did enjoy the solitude of a day when nobody else was out. Still, I suppose that soggy slog of a hike engendered a somewhat indifferent feeling towards what some people call their favorite peaks in all of the Whites. For many years now I've been wanting to give them another chance.
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| Little River Torrents |
That chance came during my annual White Mountain hiking trip with brother and nephews. The young ones get to choose the peaks, and this time they chose the Twins. Since we were meeting in New Hampshire instead of carpooling, we had two vehicles on hand and decided to set up a shuttle. The logistics and time involved in so doing can sometimes be a hassle, but the two trailheads were only minutes from our base camp in Bethlehem and we set it all up and hit the trail at the respectable hour of 6:30 a.m. Only two cars were in the lot at the North Twin Trail. Overnight hut visitors, we surmised, meaning we'd probably have the trail all to ourselves.
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| Admiring clouds hovering on Mt. Washington on an otherwise cloud-less day |
Turns out we did. Barring a slightly dicey crossing of the raging Little River, we had a lonely, uneventful climb to the much-heralded vista point on the shoulder of North Twin. We took a first extended break of the day here, admiring the easterly views towards the Presidential Range. After moving out, we touched the cairn at the unremarkable, wooded true summit of North Twin and everyone but me quickly forged ahead towards South Twin. I decided to take the super short spur over to an open viewpoint ledge, which offers a great vista of South Twin, Galehead Hut and Galehead Mountain -- our next three destinations. It was worth the five minute detour, for sure.
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| Steep descent from South Twin towards Galehead Hut, Mount Garfield in distance |
We took a second extended break on the summit of South Twin, which has some of the best views in all of the White Mountains, especially those to the south into the Pemigewasset Wilderness. With good views come hikers aplenty, and we had to carve out a private space for ourselves in a corner of the rocky summit to avoid 15 or so others who steadily arrived just after we did. Next came the extremely steep descent down to Galehead Hut. It's always nice to have a hut on a hiking route as it affords a chance to fill up water bottles, catch a baked good, and/or talk with other hikers. Two of us decided to run up to nearby Galehead summit; the other two decided that the hut was a good place for a rest and a nap. I suppose that I applaud the logic behind both choices of how to best conclude a day on the 4,000 footers.
Peaks: North Twin, South Twin, and Galehead Mountain
Elevation: 4,760, 4,902, and 4,024 feet (Gain: 3,748 feet)
Distance: 11 miles point to point
Route: Traverse; North Twin Trail, North Twin Connector, Twinway, Frost Trail, Gale River Trail
Conditions: Sunny and windy, 50 degrees F
Notable Flora/Fauna: Common Ravens
