Bobby
Active member
A Monday off, a friend available to hike and a decent weather forecast. Tony and I decided on a 2G Loop. I needed Garfield and Galehead for my NH 4K list and Tony was up for a long loop.
I picked him up in Concord about 5:45 AM, we both overslept a little. I actually got three and a half hours of sleep before this one. A stop for coffee at Dunkin's and by 7:15 we were at the Gale River Trail parking lot. We took a few minutes to gear up and were walking the Gale River Road by 7:30. We opted for the road walk early, thinking that reaching the end of the trail and having another 1.6 miles to go wasn't a good idea.
The road walk was fast, and after I took picture of Tony's new boots, we started up the Garfiled Trail. The trail was in fine shape. There were no blowdown, no snow or ice and the stream crossings were easy. Tony and I haven't hiked together in almost two years, I'd forgotten how fast he was. We reached the Garfield Ridge Trail in a few hours and began the steep ascent to the summit of Garfield. This section of trail was steep and rocky, with some snow lingering in the shadows. There was also some ice, but it was not much of a factor.
The scrub on the summit (#46 for me) had some rime ice, as did the firetower foundation. The temps were in the 40's, and the wind seemed to be blowing in the 30's, with an occasional gust. We had some great views and took a few pictures. We didn't last long and began our descent. From the summit, the Garfield Ridge Trail drops about 1100 feet in .9 miles, pretty steep. We picked our way down the rocks, moving carefully. We eventually reached the Franconia Brook Trail Junction. We moved into the PUD section of the trail here. We knew it was coming, but after a while it got monotonous. We were talking back and forth about just about everything, and that took our minds off the trail. Tony took a few spills, and showed his paratrooper training by twisting in mid-air to land and not get hurt. I wish I had some video of that! We passed the Gale River Trail junction and started the final steep section to the hut. In just over two hours we were at Galehead Hut. The crew were setting up for this week's opening of the full-service season and invited us in for water and lemonade. We ran into three groups of hikers at the hut.
Onto Galehead! We got there in a hurry, with Tony again leading the way. The Frost Trail was muddy, and Tony was oh so careful to keep his boots clean. A couple of summit shots, a few from the viewpoint and then back to the hut for lunch. We reloaded our water and prepared for the trip down.
Once again, a steep downhill from the hut, then a few more ups and downs. We turned onto the Gale River Trail, and were met by more steep downhill. We eventually reached an old logging road and picked up our pace. We made it across the three stream crossing "boots dry." The Gale River was moving fast, but the rock crossings weren't hard. Down low, the trail was muddy. It looked like boot sucking mud, but I had no interest in finding out if that was true. Tony's boots were still spotless! My boots and lower legs were splashed with mud.
We arrived at the parking lot, had a beer each and began the drive home. We were amazed to find that we covered 15.3 miles in just over 8 1/2 hours. I made the usual call to my wife, telling her to put the life insurance policy away, I made it. We sent a few texts to Alpinista in Atlanta, who correctly guessed our locations. Do you expect anything less from an editor?
Tony and I had a great day. The weather and temps were perfect for hiking. The bugs weren't an issue until we were almost at the parking lot. We had some awesome views, really a blue jay day. Tony is starting his second round of the 48, bagging numbers 1 and 2 on this trip.
Some pics http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/album.sfly?sid=0IZNnDNozasWNm&startIndex=0&fid=5ed324e9f24d5a93
I picked him up in Concord about 5:45 AM, we both overslept a little. I actually got three and a half hours of sleep before this one. A stop for coffee at Dunkin's and by 7:15 we were at the Gale River Trail parking lot. We took a few minutes to gear up and were walking the Gale River Road by 7:30. We opted for the road walk early, thinking that reaching the end of the trail and having another 1.6 miles to go wasn't a good idea.
The road walk was fast, and after I took picture of Tony's new boots, we started up the Garfiled Trail. The trail was in fine shape. There were no blowdown, no snow or ice and the stream crossings were easy. Tony and I haven't hiked together in almost two years, I'd forgotten how fast he was. We reached the Garfield Ridge Trail in a few hours and began the steep ascent to the summit of Garfield. This section of trail was steep and rocky, with some snow lingering in the shadows. There was also some ice, but it was not much of a factor.
The scrub on the summit (#46 for me) had some rime ice, as did the firetower foundation. The temps were in the 40's, and the wind seemed to be blowing in the 30's, with an occasional gust. We had some great views and took a few pictures. We didn't last long and began our descent. From the summit, the Garfield Ridge Trail drops about 1100 feet in .9 miles, pretty steep. We picked our way down the rocks, moving carefully. We eventually reached the Franconia Brook Trail Junction. We moved into the PUD section of the trail here. We knew it was coming, but after a while it got monotonous. We were talking back and forth about just about everything, and that took our minds off the trail. Tony took a few spills, and showed his paratrooper training by twisting in mid-air to land and not get hurt. I wish I had some video of that! We passed the Gale River Trail junction and started the final steep section to the hut. In just over two hours we were at Galehead Hut. The crew were setting up for this week's opening of the full-service season and invited us in for water and lemonade. We ran into three groups of hikers at the hut.
Onto Galehead! We got there in a hurry, with Tony again leading the way. The Frost Trail was muddy, and Tony was oh so careful to keep his boots clean. A couple of summit shots, a few from the viewpoint and then back to the hut for lunch. We reloaded our water and prepared for the trip down.
Once again, a steep downhill from the hut, then a few more ups and downs. We turned onto the Gale River Trail, and were met by more steep downhill. We eventually reached an old logging road and picked up our pace. We made it across the three stream crossing "boots dry." The Gale River was moving fast, but the rock crossings weren't hard. Down low, the trail was muddy. It looked like boot sucking mud, but I had no interest in finding out if that was true. Tony's boots were still spotless! My boots and lower legs were splashed with mud.
We arrived at the parking lot, had a beer each and began the drive home. We were amazed to find that we covered 15.3 miles in just over 8 1/2 hours. I made the usual call to my wife, telling her to put the life insurance policy away, I made it. We sent a few texts to Alpinista in Atlanta, who correctly guessed our locations. Do you expect anything less from an editor?
Tony and I had a great day. The weather and temps were perfect for hiking. The bugs weren't an issue until we were almost at the parking lot. We had some awesome views, really a blue jay day. Tony is starting his second round of the 48, bagging numbers 1 and 2 on this trip.
Some pics http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/album.sfly?sid=0IZNnDNozasWNm&startIndex=0&fid=5ed324e9f24d5a93
