Just after the junction leaving Waterman was where I surprised a curious bear cub. I've been reading up a lot about bears and have developed a healthy respect for them, they aren't cute and cuddly. I want them out of my way and fast. The cub was going to be trouble with Mom lurking around so I jumped up in the air like an idiot and yelled. His curiosity evaporated and he tore down the slope. I had planned to drop down that slope to hit the saddle but decided to stay away from any more bear encounters and continued along the trail.
I haven't hiked Twin Peaks in a while and found the climb from the saddle quite pleasurable, it was as steep as I remembered. I was able to make it to the top in 1:45 which was a pretty good time. I met two hikers coming down who were surprised to see me. The odd register holder had signatures from Iron Mike twice and Elwood once.
From there I went to the lower west summit which has some fantastic rock formations along the way. The high point is actually after the point seen from Waterman, 1/8 of a mile further along the ridge. From there I went back to the saddle between the peaks and contoured very nicely along steep slopes back to the climber's trail.
The trail back was a bit unpleasant with the heat but once again my legs were pretty strong and I only had to stop once to rest on the upwards climb back to Waterman. From there I again chose a xcountry route back down to the trail and to the car. The whole hike took me 4:25 was probably about 11-12 miles with 4K elevation gain. No pics as usual.
