The Twins and Galehead, 1/18/2009

[LRiz]

Firstly, I'd like to thank Bill and Diane for kindly letting me use some of their photos for this trip report. Given the snowy conditions, I believe that all of us experienced camera difficulties during this hike...

The sky was overcast and grey, the temperatures surprisingly cold, the snow... falling ever-steadily around us as we readied our gear and prepared for the long day ahead. Even though the conditions were far from ideal, we were a hardy bunch and refused to let the weather dampen our spirits... as is clearly evident from the weath of positive energy radiating from the pre-hike shot below :



Leaving the Seven Dwarfs motel behind us, we put on our snowshoes and made our way towards the North Twin trailhead - approximately 1.5 miles away via an easy road walk. Fortunately, Jeremy's tracks from the day prior were still slightly visible underneath the blanket of fresh snow, which made for particularly speedy going (perhaps the fastest of the day). I became unusually excited upon reaching the trailhead itself, much to the bemusement/confusion of the others in our party. Eric remarked that he'd never seen anyone so happy to have arrived at... well, the starting point.

"...but this means we're just 4.3 miles away from the summit!" I replied with gusto. It must have been the caffeine.

In anticipation of the climb ahead, we all took a short break to delayer (or I suppose layer up in the case of some ) and then proceeded up the trail. Cath took the lead, keeping us along the left side of the river to avoid the first two water crossings. I, too, stayed towards the front and was thrilled when she pointed out the start of the Firewarden's trail to me. Although there were a few (very minor) tricky spots to navigate, we all managed to make it to the notorious third Little River crossing in one piece...



...at which point Andy charged ahead and made it across with ease. Luckily, the ice capping the river was strong and held firm - We all crossed without incident.



Upon regrouping briefly on the other side of the river, Andy took the lead once again. Looking ahead, it was apparent that Jeremy's trail breaking efforts from the previous day had... entirely drifted in. We knew at that point that it was going to be a long, steady slog up to the summit of North Twin. Ah well, nothing that this little trail breaker can't handle . Fueled by multiple caffeine GU/Clif/Powerbar shots, I bounded up to the front and started climbing at a relatively decent clip. As I'm sure I've mentioned in prior trip reports, I do enjoy breaking trail because it enables me to build both strength and endurance. I maintained the lead for quite a while, alternating on and off with Steve for a few of the trickier sections (his giant Tubbs were no match for the steeps, in comparison to my MSRs which would slide rather embarrassingly downwards with every step that I took). The wind was roaring ferociously above the treetops, and I had a feeling that the conditions would be harsh on the mostly exposed summit of North Twin. Indeed, they were. Yet even without views, the rugged beauty of the desolate landscape - bare, almost to the point of feigning lifelessness, and utterly drained of color - was simply striking:



As bitter as the conditons were, we still managed to group together for a summit shot:

[LRiz]

Eager to preserve warmth, we soon set off towards South Twin... again, more trail breaking! The route between the peaks was especially tough to follow, since the blazing was sparse and mostly hidden beneath the snow - Cath was an absolute lifesaver (a human GPS, I tell you). Navigating through drifts that were at times several feet deep, we opted to take turns breaking out the trail... but fortunately, as the tree cover increased, we found ourselves protected from the formerly harsh winds. The trees themselves were stunning - their branches thickly coated with a plastering of brilliantly white snow:



Once the summit of South Twin was in sight, I took the lead again... only to be trapped by a particularly malevolent drift. It was quite the spectacle - I was buried up to my chest in snow, and it took a considerable amount of effort for me to wriggle my way out. Slowly, we pressed on...



...and summited! It was Diane's 47th winter 4,000 footer - Congratulations! Eric was particularly jubilant:



Down, down, down we went... running and sliding and (on occasion) falling as we barrelled towards our final target - Galehead Mountain. Right below the hut, we bumped into Steve, Jason, and Sasquatch. After stopping briefly to chat, we proceeded to the porch, dropped our packs, and headed up the Frost trail. Diane and Bill, having already bagged Galehead on a previous trip, stayed behind and took a nice lunch break. The fact that we were ascending a lovely, broken out trail (thank you Caveman and group) made for an extremely easy climb, and enabled us to stop at the outlook and take in the pretty views towards the hut:



It was a little after 3:00 by the time that we regrouped. I was treated to a little bit of rusty nail, which I'd never tried before (), and then we began our descent down the Gale River trail... more trail breaking. We were all starting to tire at this point, and the descent itself went on seemingly forever. Upon reaching the Gale River trailhead, I was delirious - with exhaustion or happiness, I do not know. Eric, like Jeremy a week prior, had hoped that the AMC hiker shuttle was still in operation. It was tough to break the news to him:



1.9 miles to go. Road walking, groomed trail... a breeze. Two GU shots later, I was flying.

It had been a remarkable day. When can we do it again?!

[Kevin, Judy and Emma]

We're tied with winter 4ks. I took me a little longer than it's taking you, but then, I have a granddaughter almost your age!

I'm heading there Saturday. I hope it didn't drift back in behind you!

KDT

[TrishandAlex]

Congrats! You'll be finished within a month, easy.

[1HappyHiker]

Congratulations on scoring a winter-48 “hat trick”, by bagging 3 peaks on a single outing!!

[ColdRiverRun]

Originally Posted by TrishandAlex

Congrats! You'll be finished within a month, easy.

That's why this goal should start with the 67!

Follow the yellow snowshoes with your eyes and ears open and avoid the yellow snow and you'll be all set for more than just this winter.

Helpful hint: If you happen to drop comments like how attractive older men are especially around Drew you probably get offers to carry your whole pack on days your not feeling to good!

Man, I have to kick it in if I'm going keep up with the over caffeinated coeds and simple Cavemen around here. Only 17 peaks so far this winter compared to 42 at this time last year. That is if you count 26 Catskill peaks as mountains.

Oh, and I second that you also have to do the Pittsfield peak snowshoe marathon, right Drew....

[rocket21]

Great trip report! It's amazing how quickly a trail can be reclaimed by the snow!

[Sasquatch]

Great to bump into you guys,even better to have the trail up S Twin broken!

[jjo]

Excellent pics and TR....Nice job

[una_dogger]

Awesome and You Go, Girl! #30! Woot!



Don't ya just love North Twin?? I'm partial to winding through the woods -- love those green tunnels.


When and where do you plan to finish!!!??? Time to start thinkin' about that, don't ya know...

[pks4000]

Nice work on the trip and report.
Seems like you give all the credit to the caffeine and Shots So Ill give you some applause!