Creaky Knees
New member
Trail Conditions: Beaver Brook Ski Trail fine, some extended muddy/water spots on Gale River Trail. No more than a foot of snow on the trail until second water crossing. Abnormally high water due to recent rain and very warm temps on 12/28 at second crossing making crossing dangerous. Water had somewhat receded on 12/29.
Special Equipment Required: Snowshoes, pontoons and a good sense of humor.
Comments: Our target was to get both Galehead and S. Twin on a two day trip. Great Pumpkin and I had planned a late start hiking up Gale River Trail with sled to camp just before steep section. Managed the first water crossing at .25 mile on GRT. As we walked up the trail in bright sun, a 55 degree wind was blowing down the mountain making it seem like spring (also melting lots of snow). Made pretty good time hiking up to second crossing on the real Gale River where we encountered very high water and decided to attempt a .8 mile bushwhack up the west side to avoid both water crossings. Needed to go up to ridge because of steep dropoffs to river. Found evidence of prior bushwhacks with 3 pink ribbons along difficult trail - lots of moose evidence also. Decided to try to get back closer to river only to find that it was an upper tributary. Since the bushwhack had slowed us down considerably, we decided that our mission would not be accomplished on this trip and backtracked to a flat open area to set up camp for the night. Hiked back out first thing and noticed at the crossing that water had gone down significantly, but still would have made a crossing difficult. As they say - "Getting to the peak is optional, getting back to the trailhead is not"
Your name: Creaky Knees
Your E-mail address: whitemtns48 at yahoo dot com
Special Equipment Required: Snowshoes, pontoons and a good sense of humor.
Comments: Our target was to get both Galehead and S. Twin on a two day trip. Great Pumpkin and I had planned a late start hiking up Gale River Trail with sled to camp just before steep section. Managed the first water crossing at .25 mile on GRT. As we walked up the trail in bright sun, a 55 degree wind was blowing down the mountain making it seem like spring (also melting lots of snow). Made pretty good time hiking up to second crossing on the real Gale River where we encountered very high water and decided to attempt a .8 mile bushwhack up the west side to avoid both water crossings. Needed to go up to ridge because of steep dropoffs to river. Found evidence of prior bushwhacks with 3 pink ribbons along difficult trail - lots of moose evidence also. Decided to try to get back closer to river only to find that it was an upper tributary. Since the bushwhack had slowed us down considerably, we decided that our mission would not be accomplished on this trip and backtracked to a flat open area to set up camp for the night. Hiked back out first thing and noticed at the crossing that water had gone down significantly, but still would have made a crossing difficult. As they say - "Getting to the peak is optional, getting back to the trailhead is not"
Your name: Creaky Knees
Your E-mail address: whitemtns48 at yahoo dot com
