Topo and route for today. 12-13 miles and ~4k of elevation gain. This was my 2nd summit of Twin and my first visit to Stanford Rock.

The primary purpose of the outing, however, was to go retrieve my car from Barker Pass. Rather than take a cab all the way up to the pass, I decided to start from the TRT and hike up.

$100 cab ride from South Lake brought me to the Ward Creek TRT trailhead. I had last been out this way on my prior, earlier season, trip to Twin Peak.

The first couple of miles paralleled Ward Creek (and Ward Creek Blvd). This section of the TRT allows bikes.

Ward Peak (which I haven't summited yet) was the primary landmark on the early sections of trail.

The area off to the side of the trail was a legal firewood gathering area and I think this might be a homemade wood gathering sled.

On my last trip I this Ward Creek tributary crossing was dicey and I remember getting my feet wet. No such issues this morning.

Crossing Ward Creek proper and ready to begin the climb up to the ridgetop.

A first peek at Twin Peak up on the ridge. The left (south) peak is the highpoint (and is obscured by the tree)

Someone had done some fuel wood gathering in this field. Wondering if there's a controlled burn planned at some point to remove the piles entirely.