Weirdly, and inexplicably, we have done the Twins twice (while still in round one of the 48... and BOTH ion August, ugh) Both times, not good. Terrible weather the first time, for sure. The second time was better (and we logged Galehead that time as well) but there's just something about the North Twin trail that I don't care for. I will say that I do enjoy the hike between the Twins, despite the soul sucking mud.
On this particular day, October 10, 2021, we approached the whole shebang from the Gale River Trail. MUCH BETTER. I was quite fond of that trail and it struck me as significantly more pleasant than North Twin.
I'm also going to be 100% honest here. On this particular day, I was kind of having a life struggle. I deal with generalized anxiety and a panic disorder (as many do!) I'm fine and live a very high quality life, medication free, about 99% of the time. The other 1% is a little more difficult. My whole week leading up to this hike had been heavily saturated in pre surgical appointments and organization. I actually had felt pretty mentally healthy about the whole situation. However, on this particular morning things crashed down and I had an absolutely crippling panic attack. Not good. It was rough on me, and we almost bailed and headed home. The thing about having dealt with this for 20 years is that I know what I'm dealing with. I know with a little Ativan and a little time, it passes. Thankfully, it did and that was it for pre surgical panic attacks.
So, on with our hike.
Up the Gale River Trail we went.
Last time we summited Galehead it was pouring thunderstorm rain, like buckets and buckets of it. We were thankful that it was much drier on this particular day. Galehead is NOT a good summit at all, because it is simply a pile of rocks under a tree.
We do always enjoy the Hut, and the view there. I enjoy the huts because I get soup, and the soup is always good. On this day it was kind of cold soup but I prefer it that way. Love hut soup.
From Galehead, there is quite the lengthy and steep hike up the Twinway to South Twin.
This was the best day we have had up there, and I have to admit that the south summit is impressive. Plenty of views on this particular day! The fall colors were starting to pass, but it was still possible to see some good colors.
The trek across the North Twin Spur was pretty uneventful, and no muddier than usual. The summit of North Twin is another pile of rocks under a tree, but if you take a short walk past the summit there is another view worth seeing.
From there, we retraced our steps back to the car, where we had jet boil quesadillas, and Eric and Ellen spent some time in contemplation. We definitely could feel some real Fall in the air this day, and we began to think about winter on the horizon.
Overall- this was definitely our best and most enjoyable trip up these 3 peaks. I actually look forward to doing them again, using this route.
We were able to check all three off for this round of the 48, for October, and for Fall. A good day!!
Stats:
Mileage: 14.25
Elevation: 4509
Time: 7:32:26
Fun: 7.5 (except the panic attack which was ZERO fun.)
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