Twin Sisters Via Arrastra (Again)

April 16, 2024

I've been obsessed with Twin Sisters ever since moving to Silver City. I never thought I'd hike to the top. I certainly never thought I'd do it three times! But with a hardy crew from Gila Hikers — Debra, Janett, Ken, Alan and Dennis — the miles passed quickly, and we made it easily to the summit.

A prescribed burn near Fort Bayard was visible from the top of the ridge.

It's tough to get a good photo of the ridge. The gleaming white tuff wants to turn everything else black! But here's a pano, with Alan at the far right of the photo.

Alan on the far side of the cleavage, with a great view of Silver City from above.

Debra was concerned about the difficulty of the hike, but she did great, and looks like she's glad she came!

Far in the distance we could see Mount Graham, still covered in snow, with the striking silhouette of Steeple Rock in the foreground.

We clocked this hike at 9.6 miles, with a 1500' elevation gain. Sadly, although it's my preferred route, I won't be hiking this trail again. In just two years since the last time we hiked it, ATVs have torn the living $h1t out of what was a mellow old forest road that was mostly covered in tall grass. This is happening all over the Gila, and it needs to stop.