Trails Used

North Twin Trail, Firewarden's Trail

Trail Conditions

Notes

This was a great day to grab a quick peak. The recent rain and snowmelt have made things wet. There is standing and running water along both trails. There is minor mud on the North Twin trail and some deep and larger mud pits on the Firewarden's trail. A few of them are pretty slippery too so watch your footing and prepare for squelchiness. I had the summit to myself which was lovely. There were 2 friendly Grey Jays waiting for handouts but this was a tag and bag kind of day, so no snackies for them. Quite a few friendly hikers out today that seemed to be really enjoying the day.

Parking

I was the first car in the lot today. There is room for quite a few cars in the lot and overflow parking on the side of the road.

Water Crossings

The Little River was flowing for sure but the little crossing for today's hike was an easy rock hop.

Wildlife

Not an issue today. It was nice and cool to start which really helps.

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Zealand, Twinway, Lend-a-Hand, Hale Brook

Trail Conditions

Notes

Water. That was the theme yesterday. The night before had brought a lot of rain to the area and snow at higher elevations. Much of our trip to Zealand Falls Hut had significant amounts of water on parts of the trail. The brooks were jumping their beds. We proceeded, determined to summit. Once we reached the hut we managed to speak to a few hikers and the caretaker. The next few crossings were basically impassable. We did check out the first one and our options weren't good. Zealand would be there another day. But instead of heading home early (and re-crossing all of the messy spots on Zealand) we opted to take Lend-a-Hand over to Hale. Very wet on that trail, too, and we started to see snow! Once we made it past the 2 upper crossings on Hale it started to get drier and we understood why people on Hale didn't look like the drowned rats we were. The crossings there were no problem! Despite our spongey boots (yup, both slipped and dunked at some point), my son not getting his new 4K, and me missing out on Zealand in May, we had a great time! The first time on Lend-a-Hand and we both really liked it. Snow in May was novel! Stay safe!

Parking

Zealand Tr parking area still had spaces when we arrived and left yesterday.

Water Crossings

Anything bridged was fine, but the crossings on Zealand that weren't bridge were tough. We took of our boots for two of them and were wading in knee-deep water. Crossings on Hale were fine. The crossing of Whitewall above the hut was impassable in the morning.

Wildlife

Only a bit down low when we stopped for a quick snack before the road-walk back to our car.

Trails Used

Hale Brook Trail

Trail Conditions

Notes

A great day to help whip Hale into shape for the summer. Hike it with confidence. It's a little wet but otherwise as good as it gets.

Parking

Jam packed lot by 9am. Started to clear up around 3pm.

Water Crossings

Both notable crossings have rocks that can be hopped across. Careful - some are surprisingly slippery.

Trails Used

Hale Brook Trail

Trail Conditions

Notes

A nice day to hike Mt Hale. Mostly sunny, comfortably cool; much better than the showers that were forecast. Lots of hikers out there today!

Parking

Plenty of parking at the Zealand Rd trailhead at 7:30 this morning. Starting to fill up by 10:00

Water Crossings

No problems

Wildlife

None until the return to the parking lot

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Zealand Trail, Twinway, Zealand Spur, Lend-A-Hand Trail, Hale Brook Trail

Trail Conditions

Notes

If I wanted to do Zealand and Hale together again, I would do Hale first. Coming down the Lend-a-Hand would be much nicer than coming down the Hale Brook. You have to go down the hard part of Zealand either way.

Parking

Zealand parking lot less than half full at 8 AM

Water Crossings

No problems with any crossings

Wildlife

No problems. Too cold and windy, I think.

Trails Used

Hale Brook, Lend-A-Hand, Twinway, Zealand, Zealand Rd

Trail Conditions

Notes

Hale yeah, this was a fantastic loop! After summiting Hale, it’s pretty much all downhill. Saw one gray jay at summit. Also saw what I think was a spruce grouse right on Lend-A-Hand trail, chill as can be. Lend-A-Hand is now one of my favorite trails!

Parking

Still a few spots at Hale Brk TH at 10:30 am

Water Crossings

Easily crossed

Wildlife

Only a very few near ZF hut

Trails Used

North Twin, Fire Warden

Trail Conditions

Notes

This was my first trip up the Fire Warden trail, and I was concerned about locating where it branches off North Twin. There was always the phone app and offline map, which shows the trail. But before the hike, I found a 10-minute video online, excerpts from the hike up NT and FW. Key to the location of the start of FW is the descending set of seven wood steps on NT nearly a mile in from the trailhead, with the piece of old steel rail from long ago. Someone in the video is heard saying the start of FW would be another 300 ft past that staircase, and that is about right. The video showed the start of FW, but the angle was too low. A slightly higher angle would have shown what clearly is a well-established herd path heading up and then sharply back relative to NT. FW does provide an easy path to the top of Hale.

Parking

The lot at the end of Haystack road was somewhat more than half full at 8:30am. Some vehicles had left by early afternoon, and there were a couple of cars on the end of the road itself.

Water Crossings

No real crossings on this route, although there is a "large drainage" flow to cross just short of the 1 mile up North Twin where the Fire Warden trail takes off; crossing that was an easy enough rock hop. The flow down the Little River had me wondering about the crossing another mile up, for those out doing the Twins.

Wildlife

There were some flitting about, notably on the descent, when the temperature had climbed a bit from the overnight low in the 50s. They didn't seem to be biting.

Trails Used

Hale Brook Trail

Trail Conditions

Notes

First hike of the day before my whack of Halibut and Sheridan in VT. This was for my 4K a day grid. The rain had stopped by this point, and while there were several groups I ran into on the trail, it didn't feel terribly crowded. The trail was wet but not terribly slick. It's so eroded that, from what I recall, the mud wasn't even that bad for the most part. It felt like forever since I'd done this trail, especially without snow on it (and, by the way, there was ZERO snow seen on or off trail); brought back memories. Steep but never excessively so, and no scrambling. Short. Didn't clear as early as I thought it might, so in cloud up high. Gaia had me at about 4.25mi, 2200ft of gain, 2hr12min.

Parking

The parking lot overflowed on Labor Day (though only minorly), but by 2:30pm when I arrived, I was able to find a spot in the lot. If you don't want to park roadside, I'd get a very early start if planning to hike it on a summer weekend. Very small lot for a 4k peak; not sure the lot has room for even a dozen cars.

Water Crossings

Easily rock hopable.

Wildlife

Not bad, presumably due to the rain earlier.

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Hale Brook Trail, Lend a Hand Trail, Twinway, Bondcliff Trail, West Bond Spur

Trail Conditions

Notes

Only notable snow/ice was on final ascent to Guyot but will be gone soon and was navigable without spikes. Only notable deep mud was on Lend a Hand trail. Typical Spring conditions.

Trails Used

Hale Brook Trail,Firewardens Trail,North Twin Trail

Trail Conditions

Notes

Excellent day for Mt Hale. Multiple showers on the descent. Nice briefly chatting with the one hiker i crossed paths with

Parking

Dropped off at Hale Brook Trail no vehicles on arrival..car spot at North Twin trailhead 1 vehicle. Plenty of room today

Water Crossings

All easy stepovers. Small crossing on North Twin Trail was slightly elevated after shower but still no issue.

Wildlife

Buzzing but not biting

Trails Used

Little River Road, herd path, Haystack Road, North Twin Trail, Fire Wardens Trail

Trail Conditions

Notes

Nothing major to note here that isn’t noted above. Hardly saw anyone all day except 2 others on FWT and another couple on the summit of Hale. There’s still some stretch of monorail left on the Fire Wardens Trail, maybe about .4 miles or so from the summit of Hale (I didn’t look at my GPS to figure out exactly where). Spikes not required to navigate it… just be careful. Otherwise, it was a beautiful day to be out!

Parking

At 11am yesterday, Haystack Road was still closed, so opted to park at Seven Dwarves Motel and paid the $10 (left on the windshield in a sandwich baggie). In the afternoon around 4pm on the drive out, Gale River Loop gate was open. Haystack Road gate was still closed, likely because someone was blocking the gate with their car.

Water Crossings

No issues with any of the small crossings for this hike, but the Little River looked like it was flowing pretty good with the recent rains.

Wildlife

Starting to come out… though not worthy of a big net just yet.

Trails Used

Hale brook trail

Trail Conditions

Notes

Trail very wet and slippery. Several areas with light/moderate mud,no more ice or snow present

Parking

Zealand road open

Water Crossings

First water crossing was high and tricky.

Also on this trip

Notes

Two-day guided hiking trip with Redline Guide Chase Hall. Day one: Madison and Adams (10 miles, 5300' elevation gain). Day two: Hale. Guest summiting mountains toward 576 peak goal (currently at 534/576). Day two originally scheduled for Wednesday but moved due to forecast. Photos included but conditions not specified.

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Zealand, Twinway, Mt Zealand Spur

Trail Conditions

Notes

Parked at Hale Brook Trailhead lot and walked up road to beginning of Zealand Trail. Still some significant stretches of elevated monorail mostly on the 1/2-3/4 mile section of trail before Zealand spur. No snow or ice to speak of on Lend-a-Hand Trail but a couple of patches of snow and/or easily maneuverable monorail on Hale Brook Trail beginning just down from the summit. Carried spikes, didn't use. Good workout, beautiful views, fun company!

Water Crossings

Not a problem at all

Trails Used

Hale Brook Trail

Trail Conditions

Notes

The trail is in pretty good shape. It's wet in all the normal spots, but nothing is too slick. Only one of the blow downs is really blocking the trail, and there's a nice herd path around it at this point. Trace ice and decaying monorail up high. Never even thought about putting spikes on.

Parking

Full lot and cars parked on the road all day.

Water Crossings

Both notable crossings had clear rock paths across them.

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Hale Brook Trail, Lend-A-Hand Trail, Twinway, Zealand Spur, Bondcliff Trail, West Bond Spur, Lincoln Woods Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Hale Brook trail is mostly bare. There was some black ice in spots from the recent rain and below freezing overnight temps. Lend-A-Hand was surprisingly nice. I expected high water in the boggy areas, but it wasn't bad. Some running water in sections, wet rocks and black ice covered rocks (which look very similar). The first monorail sections started on Twinway about a mile from the Zealand Spur, mostly avoidable to start then becoming more consistent. I carried Hillsound Trail Crampons (which are spikes) but used Exo Spikes (which are studs) here and kept them on up to Guyot. The snow was mostly stable here, and sometimes narrow rail. Snow free from Guyot until you duck back into the trees on Bondcliff Trail. West Bond Spur's monorail was the most annoying of the day; high and super narrow in spots, mostly unavoidable. Consistent snow most of the way up to Bond, then some short sections descending towards Bondcliff. After that it was essentially bare trail.

Parking

Zealand road is open! There were a few vehicles and a camper at Hale Brook Trailhead this morning. All were parked in strange positions. I pulled in to the spot in front of the trail like a normal person.

Water Crossings

Water levels were elevated but all crossings were easy. Those on Bondcliff trail I did have to use a few submerged rocks.

Trails Used

Fire Warden's

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Wet muddy trail with a small section of monorail near the top. 2 miles in after split from North Twin trail and it lasted 0.4 miles. Will be shrinking more every day. I used spikes coming down for that part. Barebooted all the way up. Anyone going to the twins will have fun crossing the river, it was running hot!

Parking

Ten bucks at Seven Dwarfs

Water Crossings

None

Wildlife

None

Trails Used

Little River Road, Herd Path, Haystack Road, North Twin Trail, Firewarden’s Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Unsurprisingly a very wet and muddy trail. Fresh, thick dusting of snow starting around 3200 ft. Monorail started a little while after that. The monorail is very tall and a bit narrow, kind of felt like walking on a balance beam in some places. But fine with trekking poles.

Parking

Parked at Seven Dwarves, left $10 under windshield.

Water Crossings

All manageable rock hops even after Friday night's rain.

Trails Used

Little River Road, bushwhack, Haystack Road, North Twin Trail, Firewarden’s Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Bare/wet/dry until 3,600 feet. Intermittent patches of flat ice 3,600’ to 3,800. 3,800’ to summit (~4/10ths of a mile) is pretty continuous varied heights of stable monorail, just a couple of short bare spots.

Parking

Parked at 7 Dwarves, $10 per car to go in mailbox or on windshield.

Water Crossings

Did not cross Little River today, only the minor streams that cross the trail, all easy. Little River was flowing fast and noisy but not overly high.

Wildlife

Some scouts and one black fly got in my car back at 7 Dwarves.

Trails Used

Hale Brook

Trail Conditions

Notes

Baref boot door to door. Happy to report a minimal monorail at the last steep section that can be avoided or walked on. Other than that the trail is mostly dry with damp areas that can be walked on or avoided. Passed a couple young gals on my back excited about checking out the Sugarloafs. What little some remaining is at the very end and probably won't be there much longer.

Parking

Plenty of room at the lot across the road. Road is dry and in good shape.

Water Crossings

Rock hoppable.

Wildlife

One landed on me, my finger landed on it.

Trails Used

North Twin Trail, Fire Warden's Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

What a heavenly day to hike Mount Hale! Aside from a wearing a light second layer first thing in the morning for about a half mile, one layer was sufficient all day as temps were finally springlike. No snow to speak of on the trail until about 3/4 of the way up at roughly 3600' where a firm and easy to maneuver monorail began. Carried Microspikes but didn't feel the need to use them. The coolness radiating from the snow as well as the sun at the summit both felt wonderful!!

Parking

Helpful to have an envelope handy with your vehicle information, date of hike, name, etc. to place in the mailbox with your $10

Water Crossings

Easily rock hoppable

Wildlife

very few

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

Trails Used

Little River Road, herd path, Haystack Road, North Twin Trail, Fire Warden's Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

This was such a good day to celebrate Dianne's grid finish! We had a large and happy crew that broke into sub groups along the way. The herd path is pretty muddy right now and it's hard to avoid. The road walk was fine - not too soft. The North Twin trail has plenty of water running down the trail and some mud. The Fire warden's trail is wet and muddy in all the usual spots. The monorail did not begin until about .5 from the summit. Some of us put on spikes at that point and some continued to bare boot. The summit is bare. Many of us did use spikes for the descent until past the monorail. This was a wonderful crew made up of old friends and new and it was an honor to be a part of it. I got to say hello to Hiker Ed in the parking lot and secured a beverage for the ride home. :)

Parking

We parked at the 7 Dwarfs. $10 in the mailbox.

Water Crossings

Even the little stream crossing was a tad higher than usual. We crossed higher up on the ascent and in the regular spot on the descent. Poles were helpful and we passed them around for crew members who did not have them.

Wildlife

Surprisingly they were still in Hell today for us.

Trails Used

North Twin, Fire Warden's trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Easy hike, but we did put on the spikes once we got up around 3300'. Mono-rail is shrinking fast and will be gone soon most likely.

Parking

Parked at 7 Dwarf's...$10 under wiper.

Water Crossings

No issues on this hike...one tiny crossing before the junction.

Trails Used

Little River Road, herd path, Haystack Road, North Twin Trail, Fire Wardens Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

The 3 - 4 inches of new snow made this a challenging hike. We barebooted until the second mile up the FW trail. This is where there was ice hiding under the new snow and we put on the spikes. The new snow covered the rocks, roots, ice and post holes. There was a lot of running water on the first section of the FW trail. Once higher in elevation, it was difficult to see a very narrow, inconsistent monorail under the new snow; it was hard to tell what we were stepping on and falling into. There is still a deep snow pack above 3000 ft. On our descent, the light powdery snow became heavier and spikes became useless with huge snow balls sticking to the spikes. With the warm temperatures beginning tomorrow, most of this new snow will melt.

Parking

3 other cars at 7 Dwarfs at 7:30 am. Put $10 in an envelope with vehicle info and placed in the mail box by the door.

Water Crossings

The crossing on the North Twin Trail can be rock hopped. The rocks were covered in ice this morning.

Trails Used

Little River Rd, heard path, Haystack Rd., North Twin Trail, Fire Warden's Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Short hike with E.T. Fudge and Ryan today so Fudge's big day next weekend will be a bit shorter. This is likely the better way to Hale right now. Snow /ice free until higher up on FW (3k ft'ish). The heard path and North Twin Trail are not too muddy. Some running water on lower FW, before a quickly transitioning to breakable ice then short section of unstable monorail. After that the final mile was solid snowpack this morning.

Parking

$10 parking at Seven Dwarf's.

Water Crossings

Just one crossing on North Twin Trail. Flowing high, but easily crossed on rocks with no wet feet.

Also on this trip

Trails Used

Little River Road, North Twin Trail, North Twin Spur, Twinway, Zealand Spur, Lend-A-Hand Trail, Firewardens Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Bareboots from 7Dwarfs to the N. Twin TH, then micros to about half way up N. Twin, then snowshoes to S. Twin, across to Guyot, and down to Lend-A-Hand, then back to Micros. North Twin to South Twin was nicely packed, the rest of the trails were varying amounts of lumpy, churned, loose snow. Most people seem to be going with microspikes now, and the monorail is supportive but there is a few inches of snow that got rained on on top, and is now getting churned up, so a lot of lump. I was super psyched when I got to S. Twin and saw that a couple of people had broken trail to Guyot, probably yesterday or the day before. Remarkably few trees down between S. Twin and Guyot made for mostly easy navigation. You'll definitely want snowshoes for this stretch. It was much colder up above 3500' today, the snow below that level melted quite a bit and the last half mile of N. Twin trail to the TH and Haystack rd has some dirt patches exposed now. Above 3500', not a lot melted.

Parking

Parked at 7 Dwarfs. $10 in the mailbox by the office door with my make/model/plate on a napkin which I origami'd into an envelope. Met a couple just heading out who parked at the end of the road near the bridge and convinced them to move to 7Ds. They asked if I thought they'd get towed and I don't know, but it would sure suck to finish the hike to an empty spot where your car USED to be, probably with no cell service. I assume the property owner at the end of the road got salty at some point when hikers blocked his driveway or something like that...so use the Dwarfs.

Water Crossings

The new log at the main crossing is solid and made crossing a breeze.

Trails Used

Zealand Road, Hale Brook Trail

Trail Conditions

Equipment

Notes

Love me a golden ticket! The road walk had a few inches of fresh snow on it and there were cross country ski tracks from yesterday. I started in bare boots but switched to snowshoes to avoid the whole walking in beach sand thing. The snow depth increased as I ascended but the texture was awesome. Not sticky yet and as long as I stayed where the trail had been previously packed it was pretty nice. The sidehill section was sketchy for sure. There was no clear evidence of where folks had walked before so I made my own way. Sometimes down low and sometimes up high. I just looked for the snow that provided a little better traction and went with it. Above the last water crossing there was still more sidehill (DOES IT EVER END?) but the trail is wider there and it feels less sketchy. Descending was actually not too bad. Again, I looked for the grippiest snow and had a serious conversation with my snowshoes about their responsibility in keeping me safe - we have had a committed relationship for 7 years now so they get it. No bum touches and no slides at all. I saw not a soul the whole day. I love days like this. :)

Parking

I was pleasantly surprised to find the winter lot had been plowed this morning. My shovel was in the backseat just in case.

Water Crossings

The first bigger one wasn't too tricky. I crossed a little lower than I usually do and checked all my foot placements carefully. The second one higher up needed some caution. It's open and there is lots of ice which is covered by the new snow. I stepped on snow covered rocks and some sticks which I stabbed a bunch of times to be sure they felt secure. My snowshoes did get wet but that was the lesser of the evils.

Wildlife

Still in Hell