| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
North Twin Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
North Twin Trail, bushwhack, logging road, bushwhack, herd path, North Twin Slide, bushwhack |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Saturday, September 20, 2014 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Haystack Road lot was overflowing (it didn't help that a few vehicles parked facing the wrong direction) to the other side of the bridge. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Mud - Minor/Avoidable |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Rock hoppable on the North Twin Trail today. The big tree people used on the third crossing is gone. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
No blowdowns. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
A Nalgene was lost in the vicinity of the slide. |
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 | Comments: |
Lower North Twin Trail was mostly dry and in good shape. Some fall foliage colors (quite nice along US 3 near Gale River Road).
After the first North Twin Trail crossing, we bushwhacked southwest and eventually hit the continuation of the logging road that comes in from Haystack Road (still grassy with a herd path worn in). We followed this south briefly to get around a newer stand of trees, then bushwhacked west to the slide drainage. Just prior to reaching the drainage, there appeared to be a herd path on our side of the brook, but it soon petered out. We then dropped into the drainage, which was mediocre walking (some large rocks, some blowdown), but not terrible.
The drainage opened up a bit as it turned due south. We ran into issues at the fork, though. The previously forecasted nice day was actually cloudy with mountain fog, so the slabs on the slide were wet. Left (east) was a non-starter, as it appears to be a large, steep slab. We went right (west), which I think could have been friction-climbable in dry conditions. However, the rock was extremely slippery with even the slightest bit of moisture. As a result, we bushwhacked in mediocre woods to the west of the slide until it started to widen (at which point it's not nearly as slabby). The rock is very unconsolidated, though, so we had to climb the balance of the slide with caution. Unfortunately we had no views up here due to the weather (even saw a small patch of ice!).
We hopped into the woods above the slide and basically followed the fall line for awhile in so so woods. As things started to level off, though, the woods became quite scrappy and were rather unpleasant due to being very wet (and cold air blowing in with a hearty wind). When the going was particularly thick, it seemed favoring to the left helped. We eventually popped out at the North Twin viewpoint (ie the one you can see Galehead from on days better than today).
From there, we descended a rather crowded (and eroded) North Twin Trail. |
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 | Name: |
rocket21 |
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 | E-Mail: |
rocket21@franklinwebpublishing.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2014-09-20 |
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 | Link: |
 https://www.franklinsites.com/hikephotos |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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