Double Bow
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- Apr 29, 2005
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After hitting Cabot for #46 on my W48, I decided that I wanted to revisit the Twins. I hadn't been up there since June and since Tom (of Tom & Atticus fame) had said the night before that the weather as supposed to be good on Sunday, it semed like a good choice.
I drove up to the end of the road, past 7 Dwarfs and parked to the side. No one else was there. I thought I remembered this route fairly well from my previous time doing these in winter. Granted, at that time I wasn't leading the charge. I followed a snowmobile trail to Haystack Road and made it to the summer trailhead in under half and hour as I was trying to make decent time on the easy terrain.
Heading in, the trail was moderately broken. Certainly people had been in recently but the trail was far from "packed". Still, I was wearing my snowshoes so I was doing my part to pack it down a little. As usual, I followed the "herd path" and avoided the first two crossings. It seemed others were a little unsure of the route so there were a few variations on that theme.
I reached the third crossing and it was very easy. The snow and ice had firmed up nicely. Now across, I put up the bars on my snowshoes, adjusted layers, and prepared to start climbing in earnest. It was a beautiful bright day and I was anxious to get up on the summit and see what I could. The climb, as usual, was a good workout. I was very happy that one patch I'd remembered as being especially icy and difficult to get up was now covered in a deep drift of snow and while not easy, it was much easier to get up it.
On North Twin now, I went out to the viewpoint and took some great pictures. It was just amazing how, even though I couldn't see super far away, the views were still inspiring. Short break later, I headed off toward South Twin. The col was very snowy and there was very little trace left of previous travellers. Still the woods were beautiful.
Before long, I popped up on South Twin and really soaked up the view. There was a slight wind but nothing too bothersome. I really didn't want to leave. This is one of my favorite summits. Still, I wanted to get home for dinner since Shamie was flying out the next morning so I had to get moving.
Back on North Twin, I ran into some one, a skier who asked me if I was on VFTT. I told him who I am and he identified himself as "Bob T" on here. Hi Bob! He asked me how long it took me to go out and back as he was contmplating whether to continue on or turn back. I looked at my watch and saw it was 3pm. I told him it took me 1.5hrs to go out and back. He decided to continue on and I raced down as best I could.
Back at the second crossing, I saw Bob's ski tracks going across and I figured I'd give it a shot, never having done that section of the actual trail. Boy was I glad I went that way! It was so flat, so smooth, so much easier!! From now on, unless the crossings look bad, I'm sticking with that route. Back out at the summer trailhead I crossed the bridge and noticed Bob's tacks going down to the side and off on a trail I hadn't seen. Another mini-adventure! I followed it and it brought me back out to the place I call "The Ritz". Check my photos. Then boom I was back at my car less that two hours after leaving the summit of North Twin. Very happy. Made it home in time. Yay!!
Here are some pics!
I drove up to the end of the road, past 7 Dwarfs and parked to the side. No one else was there. I thought I remembered this route fairly well from my previous time doing these in winter. Granted, at that time I wasn't leading the charge. I followed a snowmobile trail to Haystack Road and made it to the summer trailhead in under half and hour as I was trying to make decent time on the easy terrain.
Heading in, the trail was moderately broken. Certainly people had been in recently but the trail was far from "packed". Still, I was wearing my snowshoes so I was doing my part to pack it down a little. As usual, I followed the "herd path" and avoided the first two crossings. It seemed others were a little unsure of the route so there were a few variations on that theme.
I reached the third crossing and it was very easy. The snow and ice had firmed up nicely. Now across, I put up the bars on my snowshoes, adjusted layers, and prepared to start climbing in earnest. It was a beautiful bright day and I was anxious to get up on the summit and see what I could. The climb, as usual, was a good workout. I was very happy that one patch I'd remembered as being especially icy and difficult to get up was now covered in a deep drift of snow and while not easy, it was much easier to get up it.
On North Twin now, I went out to the viewpoint and took some great pictures. It was just amazing how, even though I couldn't see super far away, the views were still inspiring. Short break later, I headed off toward South Twin. The col was very snowy and there was very little trace left of previous travellers. Still the woods were beautiful.
Before long, I popped up on South Twin and really soaked up the view. There was a slight wind but nothing too bothersome. I really didn't want to leave. This is one of my favorite summits. Still, I wanted to get home for dinner since Shamie was flying out the next morning so I had to get moving.
Back on North Twin, I ran into some one, a skier who asked me if I was on VFTT. I told him who I am and he identified himself as "Bob T" on here. Hi Bob! He asked me how long it took me to go out and back as he was contmplating whether to continue on or turn back. I looked at my watch and saw it was 3pm. I told him it took me 1.5hrs to go out and back. He decided to continue on and I raced down as best I could.
Back at the second crossing, I saw Bob's ski tracks going across and I figured I'd give it a shot, never having done that section of the actual trail. Boy was I glad I went that way! It was so flat, so smooth, so much easier!! From now on, unless the crossings look bad, I'm sticking with that route. Back out at the summer trailhead I crossed the bridge and noticed Bob's tacks going down to the side and off on a trail I hadn't seen. Another mini-adventure! I followed it and it brought me back out to the place I call "The Ritz". Check my photos. Then boom I was back at my car less that two hours after leaving the summit of North Twin. Very happy. Made it home in time. Yay!!
Here are some pics!
