Also on this trip

Trails Used

Gale River Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, Frost Trail, Twinway, North Twin Spur, North Twin Trail

Trail Conditions

Notes

The only issue of interest today was that the major crossing on the North Twin Trail is still running high. Wading across barefoot in shorts was not a problem, though. Still quite muddy in spots. Glorious day!

Parking

Started early, no issues!

Water Crossings

I took off my shoes for the big crossing on the North Twin Trail. Probably could have 'hopped it if I had waterproof boots. Refreshing!

Wildlife

A few in the parking lot, but that was it, thanks to a cool breeze.

Trails Used

Gale River Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, Frost Trail

Trail Conditions

Notes

Weather cleared up nicely, so we got great views at both the hut and the outlook near the summit of blue skies, snow-capped mountains, and a few white clouds. Quite a bit of mud throughout the trail. In the last mile or so to the hut and then to the summit, we got rained on from snow from the night before that had fallen onto the trees melted. The first 3 miles is pretty tame, not steep at all and overall smooth trail with some roots and rocks and mud. The last 2 miles to the summit, no scrambling or significant slabs, just steep stair-step type trail. No traction needed.

Water Crossings

For the very first crossing close to the parking lot, on the way to the summit, we went upstream quite a bit and rock hopped to a log. On the way, we went upstream only a tiny bit and rock hopped. For the big gigantic water crossing about 2 miles in from the parking lot, we went downstream quite a bit and one in our party was able to haul over a few logs to help reach the first rock to then rock hop. I unfortunately was the tester for one of the logs which broke so my feet got soaked. On the return trip, the remaining logs were stable and strong.

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Lincoln Woods Trail, Osseo Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, Frost Trail, Twinway, Bondcliff Trail, West Bond Spur

Trail Conditions

Notes

Awesome pemi this morning-started at 2:45 to minimize heat, bugs, and potential afternoon thunderstorms. Saw fewer than twenty hikers all day (no other trail runners), and had every summit minus Liberty to myself! Strong winds and big old clouds kept it comfortable until the eight mile run down from Bondcliff, which felt like I was running through hell it was so dang hot with minimal leaf coverage in the hardwoods. Leave the spikes at home! There was one stretch of stubborn unavoidable snow just before breaking treeline on Guyot. It only lasted five minutes. It was reported that the Zealand-Guyot stretch is still deep and nasty as of this morning. Top of Garfield and West Bond essentially all melted out. Get it before the LW closure!!!

Parking

Tons of space today

Water Crossings

Easy rock hops

Wildlife

Early start and elevated winds kept all the nasty buggers away. There were lots of regular old flies along the ridge in the woods but they were minding their own business!

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Gale River Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, Frost Trail, Twinway, North Twin Spur, North Twin Trail, Haystack Road, FR 22

Trail Conditions

Notes

The Gale River Trail is in decent shape, standing water on the trail for a few hundred feet down low, with muddy sections here and there. Garfield Ridge Trail, Frost Trail, and Twinway are a little slippery in spots at the moment, with some mud, but overall not too bad 48 hours after a heavy rainfall. North Twin Spur had some easily avoidable monorail, which should be gone by next weekend. There were a few sections of standing water on the trail, and the trail is very scratchy for the first 0.25 miles descending from South Twin. North Twin Trail has a few muddy sections and a couple of spots with running water on the trail. The trail is becoming severely eroded about halfway down to just above the water crossing. From Little River to the trailhead is in nice shape. Haystack Road is looking good and should open soon. FR 22 - Corridor 11 snowmo trail, which connects Haystack Road to the uppermost dead end of Gale River Road, was 75% dry and 25% muddy. It's a very pleasant route to make a loop if you don't want to back track. Fair warning, it does contain a 450' PUD. Beautiful day out, summer temps with a nice breeze on South Twin. The dog had a blast getting extremely muddy!

Parking

Gale River Trailhead lot less than half full

Water Crossings

Gale River water crossings are rock hops. Little River was running a little high. I rock hopped most of the way across, then just walked through the water the last ten feet or so. It wasn't deep, less than a foot, and the current wasn't fast.

Wildlife

They are starting to show up, but none are biting yet.

Also on this trip

Trails Used

lincoln woods, osseo, franconia ridge, garfield ridge, frost, twinway, north twin spur, bondcliff trail, west bond spur

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

This was a three day backpacking trip of the extended pemi loop from 5/7 to 5/9. I camped at garfield ridge campsite and guyot campsite. The tent platforms were all exposed and there was water flowing at each spring. I had a wide range of different conditions. I used microspikes for a few tricky sections but most of this was bare bootable. The osseo trail was melted with swampy sections above the ladders. Between liberty and flume there was still deep snow and monorail. Between liberty and haystack it was mostly melted with a few patches of snow. Lincoln and Lafayette were bare rock. Garfield ridge was mostly melted with a lot of puddles. There was some annoying monorail left between gale river trail and the hut. The twin way up to south twin was mostly melted. The north twin spur was narrow monorail that was a pain to hike across. There were puddles with a thin layer of ice over them. Between south twin and guyot it was mostly monorail with only a few melted sections. The twinway from guyot to Zealand had a lot of monorail left. The bonds had some monorail, particularly on the west bond spur. The Bondcliff trail below Bondcliff was melted with avoidable snow.

Water Crossings

The crossings on the bondcliff trail were all easy.

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Gale River Road, Mt. Garfield Trail, Garfield Ridge, Frost, Twinway, North Twin Spur, Zealand Herd, Bondcliff, West Bond Spur, Lincoln Woods Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Car drop traverse across from Gale River Road to Lincoln Woods. Not a long report, just what everyone is here for... The monorail update. Snow line is at ~3300 feet in the trees and still firm. Although warm weather will certainly change this. Decent monorail up Garfield, wide enough to walk w/o concern. Over to Galehead was similar but narrow in places. Frost Trail is more spine like, but able to hop around without too much difficulty. Firm snow and rockhopping up South Twin. North Twin spur is pretty gross. As others have said, thin monorail with a bunch of trees smacking you from all directions. Twinway over to Guyot has no monorail, but a pretty firm layer of snow that at least as of today you could walk on top off. There was one other set of recent tracks, and some old snowshoe post holes. This has the potential to become very very messy as things warm up. Narrows into a monorail as you approach Guyot Shelter. West Bond spur is similar quality monorail to North Twin spur although slightly wider and no trees to harrass you. It is a pretty tall and narrow monorail though that is little more than a shoe width wide on the final approach to the summit. Up Mount Bond was the widest bit of monorail holding firm, and the descent down toward Bondcliff was also the same. Once out of the trees, no snow heading over to Bondcliff. Then a brief bit of on and off monorail to dry ground descending Bondcliff til about 3500 feet. Go get it while it's still cool enough to hold...

Parking

Gate still closed at Gale River Road as expected

Water Crossings

Nothing significant.

Wildlife

Nothing yet, but it's coming...

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Gale River Road, Mt. Garfield Trail, Garfield Ridge, Frost, Twinway, North Twin Spur, Zealand Herd, Bondcliff, West Bond Spur, Lincoln Woods Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Car drop traverse across from Gale River Road to Lincoln Woods. Not a long report, just what everyone is here for... The monorail update. Snow line is at ~3300 feet in the trees and still firm. Although warm weather will certainly change this. Decent monorail up Garfield, wide enough to walk w/o concern. Over to Galehead was similar but narrow in places. Frost Trail is more spine like, but able to hop around without too much difficulty. Firm snow and rockhopping up South Twin. North Twin spur is pretty gross. As others have said, thin monorail with a bunch of trees smacking you from all directions. Twinway over to Guyot has no monorail, but a pretty firm layer of snow that at least as of today you could walk on top off. There was one other set of recent tracks, and some old snowshoe post holes. This has the potential to become very very messy as things warm up. Narrows into a monorail as you approach Guyot Shelter. West Bond spur is similar quality monorail to North Twin spur although slightly wider and no trees to harrass you. It is a pretty tall and narrow monorail though that is little more than a shoe width wide on the final approach to the summit. Up Mount Bond was the widest bit of monorail holding firm, and the descent down toward Bondcliff was also the same. Once out of the trees, no snow heading over to Bondcliff. Then a brief bit of on and off monorail to dry ground descending Bondcliff til about 3500 feet. Go get it while it's still cool enough to hold...

Parking

Gate still closed at Gale River Road as expected

Water Crossings

Nothing significant.

Wildlife

Nothing yet, but it's coming...

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Little River Rd, Herd path, Haystack Rd, North Twin Trail, North Twin Spur Trail, Twinway, Frost Trail, Gale River Trail, Gale River Loop Rd, Beaver Brook Rec. Area trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

We started from 7 Dwarfs and barebooted until about 3600 feet where we put on microspikes. We took the spikes off briefly from the summit of South Twin to a bit down the trail. We kept the spikes on until about 3100 feet on Gale River Trail. Monorail is mostly stable but pretty pointy in places, especially on the ascent to South Twin. Little River crossing is fine just a bit upriver from the usual crossing. All other crossings were easy rock hops.

Parking

Left a car at Beaver Brook Rec. Area and another at 7 Dwarfs and left $10 at in the mailbox.

Water Crossings

All crossings were rock hops today.

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Haystack Road, North Twin Trail, Fire Wardens Trail, Lend-A-Hand Trail, Twinway, North Twin Spur, Frost Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, Mount Garfield Trail, FR 117, Gale River Road, FR 22

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Snow starts about halfway up Mount Hale. The last half mile is over a shallow monorail, best in spikes, but can be barebooted early in the morning before it becomes slippery. I kept spikes on halfway down Lend-A-Hand Trail. Twinway starts as bare ground, then a narrow monorail forms, but rocks and roots break it up in spots. I barebooted to just past the ladder steps above Zeacliff where the snow levels gradually increased. Heading up to Guyot there is still a lot of snow, very deep with a narrow monorail forming. The two miles between Guyot and South Twin could still be snowshoed if you really wanted to, but it was fine in spikes. There were very deep week-old postholes throughout, which looked painful for whoever left them. Snow was supportive early in the morning, but I would not want to be out here on a warm afternoon, you'll probably posthole to your waist. Twinway down to the hut is a mix of rocks and monorail with some ice, rock spikes are fine. North Twin Spur, leaving South Twin for a quarter mile, is quite ridiculous at the moment. There is an extremely slippery, narrow, deep monorail with branches encroaching on the trail. The rest of the way over to North Twin is easier to deal with, not great but ok. Frost Trail still is holding a decent amount of snow with a stable monorail Garfield Ridge Trail from the hut to Mount Garfield is holding up better than I expected, the snow-covered sections are never too deep, and the monorail was stable. Plenty of bare sections along the way too, including the waterfall section, where I took my spikes off and picked my way up, easily avoiding the icy spots. Mount Garfield Trail has a stable monorail for a mile, where it peters out quickly, the rest of the trail is a mix of the usual April conditions, - sometimes wet, sometimes dry, sometimes muddy. After the water crossing, I hopped onto an old snowmobile corridor to Gale River Road, walking the road a half mile past the Gale River trailhead where I banged a right and followed the snowmobile corridor over to Haystack Road, and then back to Seven Dwarfs.

Parking

$10 at Seven Dwarfs Motel

Water Crossings

Easy rock hops at the moment

Also on this trip

Trails Used

North twin Trail, North Twin spur, twinway, frost trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, Gale River Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Going up north twin, the snow starts around 3200 feet, but becomes more consistent around 3400 feet. I didn’t need to put on my micro spikes until just below 4000 feet. See my comment above about the water crossing: the Pemi river gauge said 750 for its water discharge, and I still needed to go Shin deep with three steps between rocks. I would wait for the discharge to get to around 500 if I didn’t have waterproof boot covers. The monorail is sometimes good, and sometimes a long Toblerone shape with very little to step on. Just before the north twin Summit, the branches will try to push you off of this teetering pyramid, which is a less than fun game, but the conditions between the twins are excellent and going down from South twin towards Gale head was great. The area around the hut is bare, but the way up to Galehead still has plenty of snow. There’s quite a lot of standing water on the flat section of Gale River Trail. My tracks were the first ones going up to north twin coming from seven dwarfs hotel. Met about five people once I came down from Galehead. One person spent the night at 13 Falls Campground, and told me there was bear activity down there. Happy spring!

Parking

I parked across from the entrance to Gale Loop Road in a parking lot, and used grasshopper shuttles to bring me a little past seven dwarfs Motel

Water Crossings

The Little River crossing to North twin is still pretty bad even though it hasn’t rained in a week. I covered my boots and waterproof booties that went up to my knee, and luckily, they were high enough when I had to submerge at least three steps in the water. Even still, I had to go a little higher up to find a suitable crossing. The crossings on Gale River were all easily rock ho.

Wildlife

Not yet!

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Garfield Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, Frost Trail, Gale River Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Upper Garfield trail has fresh snow mixed with ice, running water and many rocky sections. Barebooting was easiest for me. Microspikes were nice for the steep parts of the Garfield Ridge trail although it is mostly covered with 4+ inches of fresh snow over a solid monorail. It got too sticky for microspikes on the Gale River trail and I took them off after the first steep descent.

Parking

Gates still closed.

Water Crossings

I used the snowmobile bridge on the first brook crossing of the Garfield trail although that was not necessary. Still some icy rocks but all crossing were rock hopable.

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Beaver Brook Parking, ski trail, Gale River Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, Frost Trail, Twinway, North Twin Spur then back the same trails minus Frost Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

We did this hike as an in an out from Beaver Brook Parking area due to the impassable water crossing on the North Twin Trail Little River crossing (except for someone who is much younger and loves risk). Parked at Beaver Brook and took the ski trail to FS road to trailhead. Bareboots to second water crossing, then microspikes for the rest of the hike until back to the crossing. Gale River Trail was very wet requiring walked through water. After the 2nd crossing there was a monorail that improved higher up. Good narrow monorail to Galehead. No problem with Microspikes to South Twin Summit. And then the fun began - very narrow deterioating monorail to North Twin with spruce branches trying to push you off and into posthole land. On the way back the monorails were less stable but still OK. (16.5 miles, 11.5 hours, 4,700 elevation change)

Parking

Beaver Brook $5.00 fee - no other cars.

Water Crossings

First Crossing - Rock Hopping and underwater rocks, 2nd crossing upstream boulder jumping. Both crossings doable but require care and using submerged rocks.

Wildlife

None

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Little River Rd, herd path, Haystack Rd, North Twin Trail, North Twin Spur, Twinway, Frost Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, Gale River Trail, Gale River Road, Beaver Brook ski trails

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

After the warmth and rain coming this week, these conditions will change dramatically. We barebooted until 1/2 mile up North Twin. We waited for consistent snow. And then put on Hillsound spikes. The snow was very firm up to North Twin. Very little ice. Heading to South Twin in the sun, the snow was softer and a bit sticky. Heading down to Galehead, it was firm and grippy. The walk out on the Gale River trail was great. Shortly before the river crossing, we removed our spikes. Barebooted the rest of the day.

Parking

Plenty of space at Seven Dwarfs ($10.00), and Beaver Brook ($5.00)

Water Crossings

The first crossing on the North Twin Trail after the ladder was tricky. The rocks were very slippery and icy. We were barebooting, but spikes would have helped. For the main crossing of Little River, we wore trash bags. The current was strong and do not attempt this without poles. Water is knee deep in places. We crossed up stream about 20 yards. The crossings on Gale River Trail were all rock hoppable.

Wildlife

Did not see any!

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Galeh River Rd, Garfield Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, Frost Trail, Twinway, North Twin Trail, Haystack Road

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Dropped a car a 7 dwarfs for this traverse. Garfield Trail is a highway and we barebooted to the GRT junction. Over to Galehead is way better than it was 6 weeks ago, with the snow levels now much lower.The trail can get a little hard to follow at times, however. Snow was firm and supportive, post holed a few times but no big deal. Continued firmness all the way until descending North Twin. Spikes came off about .5 from the crossing. Went up and downstream, no good spot to stay dry. Can confirm trash bags are useless, got wet anyway. Oh well we were almost done at that point.

Water Crossings

Little River is not very little. Expect to get wet here.

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Road Walk, North Twin Trail, North Twin Spur, Twin Way, Frost, Bushwhack, Garfield Ridge, Gale River, Road Walk, Ski Trails, Road walk

Trail Conditions

Notes

Short version: Crossed the water in bare feet, wore spikes on solid monorail most of the day, and enjoyed better footing conditions than expected. A big, big day that included a pole being washed away then magically catching on a rock, trying to bushwhack from Galehead to Garfield Ridge Trail, and of course, crossing the Little River in bare feet. The road walk from 7 Dwarves is dry and fast. The first two miles of North Twin trail until the big crossing has some ice, but I barebooted the whole way. Opted for bare feet and rolled up pants after 25 minutes of trying to be elegant about the crossing. The log wasn't for me, and no rock hopping options were presenting themselves. Climb up to North Twin had crunchy snow and mud that turned into a surprisingly firm monorail. Spikes went on at 2500 feet and stayed on most of the day. Monorail continued to be firm to South Twin, down to the hut and then up to Galehead, making for much faster travel than anticipated. I've heard rumors of a bushwhack from Galehead to Garfield Ridge Trail. I didn't find any clear path, but I did make it down through the pines in better shape than I thought. Gale River Trail continues to have a firm monorail and then quickly switches to a mile or so of navigable mud before being mostly dry and fast. The road walk and ski trails are in mostly good shape.

Parking

Plenty of parking at 7 Dwarves. Leave $10 on the windshield. Plenty of parking at Beaver Brook.

Water Crossings

Rolled up my pants and barefooted across the Little River water crossing. The log was too unstable for me, but I can see how others might use it. My feet warmed up real quick on the other side. All other crossings were easy enough to get across.

Trails Used

Gale River Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, Frost Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

An inch two of new snow down low. Lots of wet areas on the ski trails. Water crossings were easy although rocks covered in ice in the morning. It wasn’t until higher elevation when I encountered the monorail and post holes covered in a few inches of new snow. This required slow and very careful footing to find and avoid the post holes.That was the case all the way to the Summit. I bare booted most of the day mostly because of the sticky snow building up on my micro spikes. The new snow was gone at the lower elevations by the end of the day.

Parking

Plenty of room at Beaver Brook Recreation

Water Crossings

Rock hopable in spikes in the am. No spikes in the pm

Wildlife

None

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Beaver Brook XC Ski Trail, Gale River Road, Gale River Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, Frost Trail, Twinway, North Twin Trail,

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

This was a day. The road walk and first 2 miles of the trail were bare ground. There is a lot of water on the trail and some serious mud. After the larger water crossing we all put on spikes but there were still areas of bare ground and rock. The ice was thick but with the warm temps we had good purchase. Up higher, the snow is packed but if you deviate from the monorail even by inches, you will posthole. By the afternoon, things were melting and softening resulting is slippery slush for our descent. All of us found and fell in spruce traps. Conditions are tedious and very typical of April. Go early and take advantage of the colder temps when you can and pack your trash bags. Huge thanks to an amazing crew to keep me company today. Gridded out all 3 of these peaks today!

Parking

Plenty of parking at the Beaver Brook picnic area. $5 to park or use the WMNF pass.

Water Crossings

Welllllll, this was planned as a traverse but the water levels increased significantly overnight do it turned into an OAB. The larger crossing of the Gale River was crossed sort of successfully by the longer legged folks in our group but did result in wet feet. The shorter legged crew members donned trash bags or waterproof boot covers (These have changed my life) and waded across with good success.

Wildlife

I saw a few flying creatures so they are starting to come back up from Hell.

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Gale River Road, Garfield trail, Garfield Ridge Trail/AT, Gale River Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Met just a couple other parties doing Garfield. Crossings were thoughtful. Snowshoes went for a ride for the first 6 miles...but were put to good use after that! I was glad to have lugged them; the trail was unbroken and the snow was deep enough that the trail sign is still at foot-level. The steep descent from Garfield was interesting with the stream flowing down several icy steps; someone had started to go this way and turned around. I pushed on and was glad I did, but it was tiring. I lost the ridge trail several times with all the schwacking above/under/around blowdowns. I opted to descend when I hit the Gale River Trail junction rather than tack on Galehead. All in all a good, long, quiet solo day!

Water Crossings

Crossings on Garfield trail were somewhat tricky, required scouting to find safest place to cross. The crossing on Gale River trail was much easier.