btowne33

Galehead & Twins

Peak Bagging too much

Heading up South Twin looking down at Galehead hut and Mt. Garfield

I made a new AllTrails route up Gale River Trail up to Galehead over Garfield Ridge Trail and Twinway to South Twin Mountain and then North Twin Spur to North Twin Mountain. It looked to be a better route than coming up North Twin trail to hit all three peaks because then I would have to hike up and over South Twin twice. Well, I still think it was a better route, but it ended up being 14 miles long and I was still ascending after 8 miles. This one hurt. I was walking tilted towards the end of the day, nearly 8 hours hiking time, and my new hiking boots didn't magically make my feet not hurt.

I thought it was going to be t-shirt and shorts hiking weather, but it was 46 at the trailhead and down in the 30s at the summit. It’s a good thing I grabbed a pair of pants and my hoodie before I left the house. Gale River trail was a nice walk in the woods for over 4 miles darting by the river. Then it went up from there to the ridge to Galehead hut which is an awesome place to sit on the front porch and eat a snack. I talked to a couple of people that were doing the Pemi Loop over 3 days which on my list someday after I tag all the 48 4000 footers. One of them decided to hike the .4 miles up to Galehead summit which we chatted up and down the spur.

At the junction before the hut, I saw a couple of hikers and one of them I recognized from YouTube (I think he goes by Trail Slippah). When he was coming down Galehead I told him I recognized him and that I got the face towel idea from him which made him laugh. Nice guy. I could have just stopped after Galehead and go back home, but oh no, why not tack on 9 more miles and 1500 more feet of elevation. Peak bagging too much. From the hut to South Twin summit is over 1000 feet of elevation in less than a mile made fully of boulders at knee level. That hurt going back down with a me asking a couple of pointed questions that sounded like 'why?'. It took an hour going up and an hour going down so I had plenty of time to see if I could answer it. I was able to get most of the answer from the summit of South Twin which is a 360-degree view of the Pemigewasset forest and views of some old summit friends.

These summits get me to number 36 out of 48 which means that I am 3/4 of the way finished. It has been a real grind and this trip is exemplifies that grind. I spent some time on top of South Twin as its just in the middle of the wilderness with no roads or towns visible, just rows and rows of mountains. Plus, I was tired after that boulder death march.

The hike between South and North Twin is nice, but I kept going down and I knew I had to hike back every step. By the time I got to North Twin I touched the cairn with my foot looked out at the view for maybe 10 seconds and started head back the long walk to my car. I stopped at the hut again to eat another Gu which three today had sustained me, sort of. By the time I hit Gale River trail I was done. It was quiet. I was the only one left in the area. I listened to some music to keep me going. I was so grateful to be out there, I really was, but my feet were not. There might have been some thoughts about just wanting to be done. So, I would stop, look around and smell my surroundings to gain some perspective.

After I was done with the hike I drove to the lake house to which Stephanie and friends had a cold beer and some hotdogs waiting for me which settled me down from my weariness. I am now on the home stretch of this amazing journey, and I have done it faster than I ever thought I would. All 48 4000 footers in a calendar year is an auspicious goal to have and it is a good goal for me. So far so good…. time to plan my next hike… I can't believe I just said that (my body is still stiff).