| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
North Twin Mountain, South Twin Mountain, Galehead Mountain, Mt. Garfield, NH |
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 | Trails: |
North Twin Trail, North Twin Spur, Twinway, Frost Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, Garfield Trail, herd paths |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Thursday, January 5, 2012 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Icy but quite usable parking area in front of the gate at the Garfield entrance to Gale River Road. Parking at the cul de sac of Little River Road worked well although the road is unsanded. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Unpacked Powder, Ice - Blue, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes, Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Avoided first 2 crossings of Little River, third worked well by going up stream and arcing across using ice and rocks. Others were rock steps/ice bridges but last/lowest Gale River crossings involved a short wack into the woods using a path prior hikers had developed. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
No significant problems. Garfield Ridge could use some brushing in places. Garfield has a major blowdown down low but its been well trimmed and is an easy to get over. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Pepper and Cinnilla had fun. Pepper (Vaseline) and Cinnilla (Mushers Wax) had their paws treated and while they iced up some and on Pepper's legs, it didn't seem to bother them. There is still some patches of water on the North Twin, Garfield Ridge and Garfield trails they could use to drink or they could get their paws wet. Pepper used his sweater; Cinnilla needed none, although both got covered in fresh snow at times. |
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 | Bugs: |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
We could have used snowshoes on the North Twin Trail through to the upper Garfield, but Georg barebooted all day while two of us used Hillsounds and a third 6 pt crampons.
There was 3-6" of new powder snow on these trails over a base of significantly more snow than I've seen anywhere else. It was great fun going down slope in this snow, especially from S. Twin to the hut. There were no views through the clouds and snow but the woods were a winter wonderland. We may have even seen bear prints on N. Twin.
In contrast, the Garfield trail is mostly a bony mix of ice, thin snow and frozen ground, more typical of the trails this year. The road is a mix of frozen grit and ice.
We had a cold wind on S. Twin and Garfield so we didn't linger on either. We started the day seeing off 3 intrepid ladies, Trish, Alex & Sage as they headed up Garfield. We had a few chilly fingers at times, and ended the hike in headlamps This was an excellent adventure with wonderful companions, Georg, Per & Cinnilla, Gordon and of course Pepper Depper. Thanks Georg for organizing it. |
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 | Name: |
Pepper and Me |
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 | E-Mail: |
windriversjohn at gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2012-01-05 |
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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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