This was a nice day but a long day. It had snowed 2-4 inches in the mountains which made the views nice but it also made it slippery. This was an out and back so I went up South and North Twin twice. There is a pretty good up/down, maybe 1200 feet, between South Twin and Galehead and this section is steep. I fell a few times on the downhill. This is a remote area so you don't see any road or towns from the mountains since there are none.
There are 3 major stream crossings if you follow the trail. I avoided 2 of them in the AM by going off trail. This is the area I got turned around in last time I was here and ended up going up Zealand instead of the Twins. This time I found my way but there is still one stream crossing that has to be done. The tops of the rocks were icy and some of the rocks are under water so it was exciting. I managed to get through with somewhat damp boots but pretty good. If you fall in you are up to your waste and since it was below freezing all day that could have ended the trip.
The Galehead lodge (pictured below) is pretty big and close to the top of Galehead. Galehead is treed but there is one over look on the way up that looks back on the lodge. Glad I added Galehead to the trip. It added 3 hard miles but otherwise it would be a 10 mile day to just hike that one. North and South Twin both have great views and there isn't a large up/down between them. 13 miles RT.
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| South Twin up to left. Galehead lodge right of center and Galehead mountain. |
