North Twin Mt - 08/13/2005

[Sasquatch and ZeusMoose]

Date(s) Hiked: [08/13/2005]
Trails(s) Hiked: [North Twin trail]

Total Distance: [8.6 miles]

Difficulty: [Moderate]

Conditions: [good]

Special Required Equipment: [trekking poles]

Trip Report: [ZeusMoose and I got an early start on a Saturday morning. we were at the trail head about 645AM and were ready to go about 7 am. The first stretch was a little dark due to overhanging trees and clouds still in the sky from the storms the night before. It was pretty mild at the bottom and you could tell it was going to be sticky as the day wore on.
The trail is well maintained was fairly good footing but the steady climb up had us in a sweat with the warm weather. We broke thru to the outlook at about the 4 mile mark and some nice views of Hale and Tom, Field and Willey. Sporadic views were to be had of the rest of the Pemi as the clouds were moving in and out . We saw Carrigan and the Bonds but only fleeting shots. We went on to the summit and took our obligatory note of time (2:45) and some pictures and went to have a snack over by the lookout . As we approached the lookout, we were exposed to the full force of the wind. Where we had an occasional breeze on the way up and a 10 MPH breeze over at the lookout and the summit (down in the trees), we now had the “origin” of that wind staring us in the face! It was about a 40-50 MPH wind and it was blowing all sorts of clouds around! It was pretty cool to see and very refreshing as we dried off rather quickly. We stuck around in hopes of being able to see Garfield and Lafayette, as well as South Twin. We were able to see over to Galehead Hut and Mt Galehead but that was about it. We ducked behind a rock for a peanut butter sandwich “brunch” . We met a father and son pair at the outlook and the father had announced to us that this climb represented his 48th peak! We offered our hearty congratulations and took some pictures for him and his son (assumed) to commemorate the day. He replied in kind so we both had some picures. South Twin opened up for us and almost the top of Garfield, but it seemed like the clouds and wind would be there for a while. It was good to have an extra shirt to put on at the top.

We started our descent after about 30 minutes on the top and were soon passed by the father and son team also using the North Twin trail. Up to now they were the only other group of people we had encountered. On our way down we passed several groups of hikers who were up for the day and only a couple of groups that were headed over to Guyot. We completed our journey at about 12:30 for a total time of 5 hours hiking the 8.6 miles. We had the remainder of the day to relax at our cabin in Lyman and enjoy the views of Moosilauke. A great day for sure. By the way, it’s always good to bring extra clothes and jackets up to the Whites, even if it’s hot at the start, it can change in a heart beat up top.


Sasquatch and ZeusMoose ]

[MichaelJ]

We were up on Garfield on Saturday. The wind let up quite a bit later in the day; we summitted around 11:00 and the sun was out, the low clouds had cleared up, and the wind dropped to about 10-15. I'm sorry you missed the views! It's rather backwards for the Whites to be clouded in the morning and clear in the afternoon - usually afternoon is when the storms come!

But I'm glad you had a great hike, and thanks for sharing your trip report with us!

[Sasquatch and ZeusMoose]

If we could have seen the top of Garfield, we would have waved! :P Seriously, I didn't mind the views or lack therof. It's all part of the way the Mts are which is why hiking is almost always great no matter what the weather (within reason of course).
Thanks for the reply.

Sasquatch