North Twin

[Heather]

Has anyone ever done this and skipped (any or all) the brook crossings (N. Twin trail). This is one of the few peaks my lil sis and her b-friend have left, would like to get it done sometime soon, but I remember the crossings being a pain in the summer so I can imagine them being painful this time of year. I know they do not want to go at it from other (galehead , S. twin) direction due to a bad experience on that trail last summer.

Thanks a bunch

Heather

 

[poison ivy]

There is a fairly well-defined bushwhack around the lower two crossings... don't think there is a way to avoid the third one though.

- Ivy

 

[Mike P.]

I guess the only way to avoid the three crossings is not to cross over the bridge at the very beginning. That said, the trail below the first crossing is an old logging road & easy walking the bushwhack to avoid the first two is well defined (as far as bushwhacks go) & with sandals you could just walk through the higher crossing after Mother's Day. (bring a towel to dry cold feet & assuming it's not so high to be potentially deadly, unlikely will los snowfalls unless you go the day after a 2"+ rain event & with melting snow)

Staying on the western side likely would be an ugly bushwhack for anyone but regular off-trail hikers & unknown if any smaller brook crossings over there.

In April & early May, the snow & ice you will find between 2500 - 4700 feet on the North Twin Trail are likely worse than any summer conditions you'll find on Galehead & the Twin way unless you like rotting snow, wearing snowhoes & crampons.

With the roads closed, if you take the 7 Dwarf's approach you're already on the East bank of the river so even taking the established bushwhack you'll have the third crossing Or you walk up the longer approach via the Forest Road.

For Gale River & the Twinway, the winter approach is from the Beaver Brook X-C area, a much shorter approach than walking either road to the summer trailheads.

 

[RoySwkr]

With the roads closed, if you take the 7 Dwarf's approach you're already on the East bank of the river so even taking the established bushwhack you'll have the third crossing Or you walk up the longer approach via the Forest Road.

When I start (or finish) at 7 Dwarfs I cross to the W side right away on a snowmobile bridge

Staying on the western side likely would be an ugly bushwhack for anyone but regular off-trail hikers & unknown if any smaller brook crossings over there.

It appears from the map that there is a substantial side stream:
http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=19&n=4899971.00007948&e=296943.999885184&datum=nad83

Now if you have a GPS and like to explore, there's a route I've always wanted to try. FS maps show a logging road on the W bank to about where the red X is on the map which may mean a bridge over the side stream, which would be a short bushwhack to the North Twin Trail. Finding the logging road again on the way back would be trickier which is why I say GPS.

 

[erugs]

I'm at work now and don't have my old 1947 (yes, it is older than I am) AMC guide here with me, but my memory tells me that the trail used to go straight at the third crossing. If so, I wonder if any of that old trail is still there. I might be wrong about that as I've been away from that old map for awhile. I'd love to go exploring, Roy, but don't have a GPS. My methodology for those cold stream crossings is grin and bare it (pun intended) and a little yoga theory -- this step is okay and the only one I have to worry about right NOW, but that doesn't always work very well.

 

[dr_wu002]

I'm at work now and don't have my old 1947 (yes, it is older than I am) AMC guide here with me, but my memory tells me that the trail used to go straight at the third crossing. If so, I wonder if any of that old trail is still there. I might be wrong about that as I've been away from that old map for awhile. I'd love to go exploring, Roy, but don't have a GPS. My methodology for those cold stream crossings is grin and bare it (pun intended) and a little yoga theory -- this step is okay and the only one I have to worry about right NOW, but that doesn't always work very well.

The first part of the trail from the first crossing is part of the original Firewarden's Road which goes up to Hale. It's impossible to miss and as worn and well travelled as any old trail is. From the junction of the Firewarden Road (the grade comes in quite prominently on your left) it turns more into an old logging road which is real easy to follow. There are a few points where you might have to look for a second but that's it. Otherwise it's easier to follow than some trails. Once you pick up the official trail again (you'll notice that the RR Bed crosses and recrosses Little River and doesn't necessarily follow the route of the N. Twin Trail) you'll quickly get to the 3rd crossing. It's not really all that difficult and there is a rocky island of sorts in the middle.

The RR Grade continues on for about a mile or so to the South deeper into Little River Valley. There are apparently remnants of the old trail that went up S. Twin in there.

Old Map.

-Dr. Wu

 

[Heather]

Thanks !
So crossings 1 & 2 easy to skip, # 3 suck it up and get to the other side !

Now all we need is a nice (at least not raining) day.

Heather

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Thanks !
So crossings 1 & 2 easy to skip, # 3 suck it up and get to the other side !

Now all we need is a nice (at least not raining) day.

Heather

One tip on the third brook crossing - as you start across, angle a bit to the left (upstream). Usually there's a sand bar about 2/3 of the way across, and the water is shallower from there to the bank. It's not obvious when you start across. And of course, sandbars shift from year-to-year, so YMMV.

 

[MichaelJ]

One thing that nobody really emphasized is the "once the roads open" part. Haystack Road is often one of the very last forest roads to open in the spring, as the roadbed will be too soft to safely travel, even long after the snow and ice are gone.

 

[nartreb]

one-stop source for N Twin Trail info including the 7 Dwarves alternate approach, bushwhacking around the first 2 crossings, and a link to road status.

(As MichaelJ mentioned, Haystack Rd usually stays closed well into June, so consider the 7 Dwarves approach).

the trail used to go straight at the third crossing. If so, I wonder if any of that old trail is still there.

If by "straight" you mean due west, that's what Topozone shows (ie, what an old USGS survey shows, probably 10-20 years old). I sure as hell couldn't find any trail there last winter, at least, not where the 3rd crossing was shown as having been (which is further north than where it is now).

 

[dr_wu002]

[ If by "straight" you mean due west, that's what Topozone shows (ie, what an old USGS survey shows, probably 10-20 years old). I sure as hell couldn't find any trail there last winter, at least, not where the 3rd crossing was shown as having been (which is further north than where it is now).

I'm going by memory now... but, I believe at the third crossing, the RR Grade comes in from the west to the east side (while you cross from east to west side). From there, the RR Grade continues south for another 2 or 3 miles, eventually recrossing Little River before ending near the headwall of Guyot. Somewhere in there (Little River Valley) there is remnants of at least 1 old trail if not 2 that went to South Twin.

While you're walking in on the North Twin Trail (before the 3rd crossing) it's interesting to watch the RR grade. Sometimes you're on it while sometimes it's on the opposite side of the river.

-Dr. Wu

 

[nartreb]

I'm going by memory now... but, I believe at the third crossing, the RR Grade comes in from the west to the east side (while you cross from east to west side). From there, the RR Grade continues south for another 2 or 3 miles, eventually recrossing Little River before ending near the headwall of Guyot. Somewhere in there (Little River Valley) there is remnants of at least 1 old trail if not 2 that went to South Twin.

That'd be the Little River Trail that goes up to the ridge near Guyot, according to the
1941 map

I vaguely remember somebody bushwhacking a similar route last summer and posting about it here, but now I'm going by memory.