| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
South Twin Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Beaver Loop XC ski trail, Gale River Road, Gale River Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, Twinway |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Tuesday, January 17, 2023 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Good amount of ice in Beaver Brook parking lot. Just be careful pulling in and out.
I assume they’re still collecting the $5 fee to park there. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Ice - Breakable Crust, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Mud - Significant, Snow - Spring Snow, Slush |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
All easy to rock hop. I’m 220 with all my gear, so I didn’t necessarily trust the ice bridges today. Someone who is not currently sentenced to Fat Camp might have better luck than me. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Hooooooooooo boy. Here we go:
- Beaver Loop X-C Trail: a few blowdowns that are either directly in the trail, or laying across it. Some have been delimbed, others not. They are anywhere between 2-6’ off the trail. If and when we do get snow to cover the low ones, the higher ones are going to be super awkward. That trail looks like it’s been wrecked.
- Gale River Trail: two significant blowdowns with in the first .1. Both lying directly in the trail, neither delimbed. Herd paths starting around them. Again, will be awkward if/when we get snow to start covering them. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
N/A |
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 | Bugs: |
N/A |
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 | Lost and Found: |
N/A |
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|
 | Comments: |
Talk about a tale of two hikes today. The bottom part of this hike is a crapfest of suckbag trail conditions, which is on par for this winter. Higher up? Finally actually feels like winter.
I wore snowshoes from car to summit, and then down to the end of the steeps on Gale River.
- Beaver Loop X-C Trail: wanted to be the responsible winter hiker and wear my snowshoes on the X-C trail. The “ski” trail has about 1-2” of snow with an ice crust on it. Snowshoes are completely useless, as there’s not even a semblance of ski tracks at all.
- Gale River Road: Snowshoes actually weren’t bad here. Some loose powder underneath the ice crust, but nothing that spikes couldn’t handle. Road is still closed to sled traffic, so nothing to worry about there.
- Gale River Trail: Really bony down low (all the way to about 2700’). Probably should have taken off my snowshoes, but they were already on my feet, and well…we all know how that goes. Once you start actually going up, the snowpack level (and more importantly, snow texture) makes snowshoes the obvious choice. On my way up, I added to a nicely forming snowshoe track. Unfortunately, on the way down, it looked like one or two people had decided to bareboot it up all the way to the Hut, so it got chewed up pretty good.
- Twinway: This section of trail is about as prime as it’s ever going to be. Trail is filled in completely except for just a couple small areas. Snow is firm, but not icy. Soft, but not that you’re sliding. The perfect snow for mountaineering snowshoes. Made (relatively) quick work of this section. Probably the easiest it’s ever been for me.
Overall, much different conditions from Garfield just a few days ago. Definitely still multi-traction season until we get more snow… |
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 | Name: |
Chef |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2023-01-17 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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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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