Galehead Mountain

Trail: Little river rd/ XC ski path, north twin trail, twinway, twin brook trail, Garfield ridge trail, gale river trail, beaver brook XC ski trail

Conditions: Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts, Snow - Wet/Sticky

“Point to point and snow shoes door to door. Soft / semi consolidated snow throughout the entirety of the hike, before south twin there is a stretch where spruce traps could be an issue, this part of the trail filled in from wind before our arrival to break through, past south twin peak there were drifts heading down towards twinway where still exposed. Heading to Galehead by twin Brook trail was heavily snow weighted trees which there was some good time heading to & from summit, spent navigating the branch tunnels. Coming down nothing notable, Garfield ridge/ gale river trail/ beaver brook XC trails all were soft pack… towards end snow was getting sticky. Bring the spikes in case but nothing other than snowshoes makes much sense out there. Great time & windy day with some gridder friends😁👏 Have fun & be safe, happy hiking 🥾”

Trail: North Twin Trail, North Twin Spur, Twinway, Frost Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, Mount Garfield Trail

Conditions: Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts

“Bare boots for the first couple miles road walking and starting up North Twin, then snowshoes for the rest. Trail is nicely packed up to North Twin. Hiking up to South Twin from North, there were some drifts and evidence some people had fallen into spruce traps. Broken trail but loose snow on Twinway descending from S Twin. Didn't look like anyone else had been up Galehead, I broke it out but definitely lost the trail a couple of times so it's a little sloppy. Garfield Ridge Trail after Gale River Trail junction was gnarly: deep snow and lots of trees bowed into the trail covered in heavy snow and ice. Descent on Mt Garfield trail beautifully packed out and chill.”

Trail: Little River Road, herd path, Haystack Road, North Twin Trail, North Twin Spur, Twinway, Frost Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, Garfield Trail, snowmobile trails

Conditions: Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts

“Had a nicely broken trail to north twin then headed over to south with a mostly discernible path under the last snowfall. Only strayed off the trail a couple of times until coming out of the trees on south twin when I discovered some delightfully deep spruce wells. I made sure to follow the wind drifted trail after that. Didn't see any recent tracks towards Guyot. Broke through the somewhat deep and drifted trail down to the hut. Met one hiker headed up so that section has at least two tracks to follow. Frost trail to Galehead has a well-broken trench although it's a bit thick in places. Galehead trail is very well-traveled. Once on the Garfield ridge trail things changed. Fortunately two folks and a dog had broken trail headed towards me but despite their efforts it was still a bit of a carwash: lots of branches/trees festooned with snow made for the toughest conditions of the day. Once at the campsite it was back to smooth sailing. No sign of any activity towards Lafayette. Garfield trail down to the trailhead was well-broken. Then a long bit on the groomed snow machine roads under the moon. All in all a great winter loop.”