South Twin

vftt.org

Help Support vftt.org:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Greenpoint

New member
Joined
Jan 28, 2014
Messages
25
Reaction score
0
Location
Massachusetts
Weather permitting, I'm hoping to hike up to South Twin on Sunday May 13th by way of Gale River Trail and Garfield Ridge Trail. I'm not prepared to hike in the snow so I need to know if anybody is going up that way soon or has gone recently? Are the trails snow free? Maybe it's still too early but I'm getting restless for some hiking. Thanks ahead for any input.
 
Its good of you to ask as I expect a lot of folks will get the spring hiking fever this week. Hard to guess trail conditions this time of year. Its highly likely barring a sustained record stretch of hot weather between now and then that your intended hike is going to be a exercise in futility that will end short of the summit. Even if you do try it you potentially are going to make a mess of the trail and the hiking community will curse you and others hiking without snowshoes.

How do I make this prediction? There was fresh snow on the summits yesterday morning (5/1) with a deep snowpack in the woods around 4000 feet (48" at Gray Knob on Mt Adams on April 28th). Access to Gale river trail is via a seasonal Forest Service road that most likely will not be open yet as the frost is not out of the road. That means a couple of miles extra walk from RT 3. Gale River trail is on a north slope so the slopes are under trees and is not getting bright sun and therefore at some point the wet muddy trail is going to turn into wet sloppy snow turning into post holing. In order to burn this snow off, we would need unusually warm conditions and that frozen snow would need to turn into water which would cause near record flooding.

Do everyone a favor and consider some hikes farther south or some of the trails that have good southern exposure and open slopes so that have higher possibility of having melted out. Since I live up north I cant give you any southern NH summits off hand but expect others will. My go to early season hikes in the Whites are both in the Conway area South Moat and Kearsage North both tend to melt out early but also have stretches of potential icy stretches and the dreaded "monorail" (a large lump of wet ice in the center of the trail with deep snow to either side). Of the two, South Moat has a lower chance of monorail as the slopes are mostly open all the way to the summit. Keep an eye out for Welch Dickey reports. It is lower elevation and had good exposure. It also is incredibly popular and has been "hardened" somewhat from mud season by effectively paving it with rocks.

One other thing to consider is that if you are an early bird hiker, the snow pack may have solidified overnight meaning you will not posthole in the morning but as you are heading down that nice solid snow will get weak and then you will start postholing making your trip out a potential nightmare.

Keep an eye out on the various trail conditions sites, TrailsNH and New England Trail Conditions. Trails are melting out day by day so consider hiking on a Sunday so you can see reports from the day before. Just because there isn't a report on the particular mountain you want to hike consider other nearby peaks that have similar exposure. A good fill in for South Twin is Garfield.
 
Last edited:
And if the snow is gone by then, the crossings will likely be very high. I would second finding a new hike or a later date.
 
You will want snowshoes for South Twin for a while still. Maybe by Memorial Day you can do without. The point at which you put them on/take them off may rise between now and May 13th but there will come a point where you will want / need them. I went mid-April (South, North and Galehead) and wore snowshoes most of the day... from almost the summer Gale River Trail trailhead. The Twinway looked like early March - 4-5' of snow and paved like a sidewalk.

Tim
 
Do everyone a favor and consider some hikes farther south or some of the trails that have good southern exposure and open slopes so that have higher possibility of having melted out. Since I live up north I cant give you any southern NH summits off hand but expect others will.
The Belknaps are still a mud and water fest with substantial ice on north-facing slopes. I've seen some nice pictures from the Blue Hills...
 
I think everyone's crystal ball gets muddy two weeks out. I expect Lincoln Lafayette will be zoo this weekend. Two bad the solution to the parking situation doesn't appear to have been dealt with.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for all the input. With the temperature here in Massachusetts at 90 degrees, it's hard to imagine snow anywhere in the region. I'll rethink my plans and look for something more southerly and maybe not as high in elevation. Thank again.
 
Zealand (2637') is almost 1200' lower than Galehead (3800')... so if Zealand is not to your liking, Galehead is not likely to be either. Good conditions at Zealand are not necessarily indicative of good conditions at Galehead.

Tim
 
Mt Washington State Forest in the Berkshires is my go-to from snow free hiking in April & May.

https://www.mass.gov/locations/mount-washington-state-forest

I broke my snow shoes about 6 weeks ago and have been going to a lot of alternative areas (I live in NE CT) and I second that recommendation. I did Round/Frissell/Brace a few weeks ago, the Macedonia Brook Loop Trail and an awesome trip to the "Gunks" for Millbrook Mt and Gertrude's nose. That area (Western CT, SE NY) is snow free, has some good hiking and at least for me is about the same ride (or shorter) than when I go to the Whites. I miss the "big boys" in NH too but they're a long way from Summer conditions.
 
Top