North Twin Mountain

Trail: Frost Trail, Twinway, North Twin Spur

Conditions: Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant

“Out & back from GH hut. Up ST was a challenge, but not as bad as I feared. Descending was definitely a lot slooower for me. Really enjoyed the trip out to NT & back, with a leisurely lunch at the NT outlook waiting out the clouds to clear to enjoy the famous views there & back at ST, which was socked in when we first arrived. Spending 2 nights at the hut really worked for us, giving us all day to travel at a comfortable & companionable pace & wait out the clouds to enjoy the views. And we made it back to the hut for dinner with hours to spare :)”

Trail: Gale River Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, Twinway, bushwhack, North Twin Spur, North Twin Trail

Conditions: Dry Trail

“Today was a perfect day to tackle SW Twin. We went in from Gale River and out North Twin with a car spot. Here's how we attacked the bushwhack: -Attempted to follow David Darby's GPS tracks that others have noted. They're not perfect, but they're a great start. https://www.peakbagger.com/climber/ascent.aspx?aid=854365 -Avoided the first entry point that immediately puts you in thick trees and found a much more open one about .1 down the trail -Scott wore yellow tinted eye protection. Somehow it made parts of the bushwhack easier to see. -Hugged the left side of the first set of pines to avoid them. -Kept the southern drop just to our left after them -Fought through the thick stuff going down to the col -Made it to the true summit ok There is no obvious easy way to do this, but if you follow the above it will be less hard.”

Trail: North Twin, Twinway, Garfield Ridge, Gale River

Conditions: Dry Trail, Wet Trail, Wet/Slippery Rock, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Mud - Significant

“An OTHH hike, with a smaller than typical group. Two of us started at 7am, and we didn't see anyone else on the North Twin trail until fairly high up, when we were passed easily by a sole hiker traveling light with a small back. The other two of us started later and caught up near the top of N.Twin. We made the 1.3 mile trak over to S.Twin mostly together, and along the way we encountered a number of others doing the out-and-back from S.Twin to bag North. They tagged up on North and beat us back to South, without packs, of course, and aided by being a small fraction of the age of even the youngest (ie. less old) of us. As we made our way down off South to the hut, we encountered the usual trickle of hikers coming up, mostly laden with heavier packs. Two of us dropped packs at the hut and bagged Galehead, while the other two of us took advantage of the opportunity to get a ride back to Haystack Rd by going down from S.Twin this way. The mileage would be about the same, we wouldn't have to regain N.Twin, and we wouldn't have to cross the Little River again. It was a long enough day even without Galehead, and I had been up there enough times already. Boy, does that lower couple of miles of easy walking out on the Gale River Trail go on forever at the end of a day!”