PETCH
New member
Date: Jan 7/8 2012
Trails/Peaks: Garfield and Galehead via Garfield Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, and Frost Trail
Trail Conditions: All trails in good shape. An inch of snow down low ranging to 12" and more up high. Packed out trails. No need for snowshoes at the moment. Some icy sections under the snow, especially on the steeps. Light traction helpful.
Cast of Characters: Jorge, Pat, CrazyBob and me
Commentary
I've Been meaning to squeeze in a Winter Backpack trip this year, so the stage was set to bag 2 Winter 4k's and spend a night at the new Garfield Shelter. CrazyBob had committed (or should be), to the journey, and Jorge had expressed interest as well. A couple other folks were maybe's for the dayhike part.
Bob and I pulled into the Garfield Winter trailhead Saturday morning, and found our friend Pat gearing up as well. Pat would be doing the dayhike up to Garfield with us. He had spotted Jorge's vehicle in Crawford Notch. Jorge was ice climbing, and rumored to be hiking up later. The three of us headed up the road towards the summer trailhead, leaving just after 8:30am. Bob and Pat were bare booting, and I threw on the microspikes and wore them the entire trip. I also recognized BigEarl's truck sitting in the parking area. I saw the open call that a group of them would be doing the Twins/Galehead/Garfield traverse. I figured we'd run into them somewhere up on the ridge.
Bob and I were carrying about 37lb packs with overnight gear. We brought tents and bivies just in case the shelter was full.
A little over a mile in, we hit the stream crossings which were ice-bridged, and not too dangerous. Shortly after we ran into a gentlemen who was doing a night-hike- starting at 10pm the night before, and doing the Twins, Galehead, and Garfield. He said he'd been up about 28 hours and was pretty beat.
There is snow in them there hills....
Through the switchbacks we traveled, and finally gained the junction with the Garfield ridge trail. Then the final climb up to Garfield. This is where the pack weight hit me pretty hard. Just another two tenths of a mile.......Finally we hit the summit to cloudy views. Galehead mtn and Galehead hut looked very far away.......
View of Galehead from Garfield
Down from the summit back to the trail junction then down again to the Garfield campsite spur path. The stream was flowing pretty well, and this would be our source of water later (along with snow). Up from the junction we climbed to the campsite. The campsite has seen recent traffic as the spur trail was broken out fairly well. Then we came across the empty shelter. It's really something to look at. There are some links on the AMC's website that show the shelter being built, how the logs were helicoptered in two at a time....worth checking out. It's really too bad, that people have already started carving stuff into the new logs.....
Garfield Shelter
We had some lunch and discussed the rest of the day. Pat would be heading back. It was about 1pm at this point. I was a little beat, but was convinced by CrazyBob to continue on to Galehead, and return to the shelter by dark. I figured it would take us about 4hrs to do Galehead out and back from the shelter. So, we dumped a lot of of our gear up in the loft area, said our goodbyes to Pat, and ventured out onto the dreaded Garfield Ridge Trail. We had already dropped quite a bit of gain from the Garfield Trail intersection, but we weren't done yet. Down and down the trail continued. The shelter sits about the same elevation as the summit of Galehead, so we new we would have to gain this elevation back plus the rest of the PUD's (pointless ups and downs) that we would encounter along the way.
The land of Puds on the Garfield Ridge Trail
View of Galehead from one of the many bumps...
Bob and I continued on along the ridge trail going up and down, up and down, then we heard voices which turned out to be BigEarl and his group including Sue, Tom and Lori Rankin, Mike, and Dennis. I figured we'd spot them around there somewhere. Nice running into them. We exchanged meets and greets and continued on in opposite directions. Finally, we hit the Gale River trail juntion and began our final approach to the hut. We ran into another large group that were doing the Twins/Galehead loop. A little further, we ran into a co-worker of mine, Bob who was doing South Twin and Galehead. Busy day on the trails! Then we broke out of the trees at the hut area to see a 6ft high snowman. Gee, I wonder who made that? Obviously the work of professional snowman maker: Sue!
Up to Galehead to tag another Winter 4k, #34 for me. Back down to the hut, where we met some other folks taking a break. It was good to finally meet Bombadil, whose trips reports I've enjoyed reading. Now, time to repeat the Garfield Ridge trail back to the Garfield Shelter....the same ups and downs, except in reverse. I was dreading that last climb towards the campsite. At this point, we were at about 5600ft of elevation gain for the day, and I was beat. It was now about 5pm, and time for headlamps. We filled up 4 Nalgene bottles of water, and headed to the shelter. We could see a recent set of footprints heading up the spur trail. We were wondering if Jorge had hiked up or not. Sure enough, when we hit the shelter, Jorge was there alone. We fired up the stove, and boiled some water for tea, coffee, hot cocoa, and some dehydrated meals. After changing into some dry clothes, and down booties, we kicked back and relaxed. It was a long day, and it felt good to get off the trails, relax and shoot the breeze. We were sacked out by 8pm. Between me and Jorge snoring, and Bob coughing all night (battling a cold), I doubt the local animals got much sleep.
We all got up around 7am Sunday morning, and boiled more water for coffee and oatmeal. Then we packed up shop and headed out at 8:30am. Leaving the campsite spur trail, it's a steep climb back up to the Garfield trail. Not a good way to start off a hike. When we got to the intersection, Bob and Jorge went up to Garfield. With the summits socked in the clouds, I decided to start heading down. The boys caught up with me in a short while, and we were back at the vehicles at 11am. A quick lunch stop for pizza and a cold one, before heading home. It was a great trip!
2 day Stats: 20 miles, 6100 ft of gain
Slideshow from this trip
Petch
Trails/Peaks: Garfield and Galehead via Garfield Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, and Frost Trail
Trail Conditions: All trails in good shape. An inch of snow down low ranging to 12" and more up high. Packed out trails. No need for snowshoes at the moment. Some icy sections under the snow, especially on the steeps. Light traction helpful.
Cast of Characters: Jorge, Pat, CrazyBob and me
Commentary
I've Been meaning to squeeze in a Winter Backpack trip this year, so the stage was set to bag 2 Winter 4k's and spend a night at the new Garfield Shelter. CrazyBob had committed (or should be), to the journey, and Jorge had expressed interest as well. A couple other folks were maybe's for the dayhike part.
Bob and I pulled into the Garfield Winter trailhead Saturday morning, and found our friend Pat gearing up as well. Pat would be doing the dayhike up to Garfield with us. He had spotted Jorge's vehicle in Crawford Notch. Jorge was ice climbing, and rumored to be hiking up later. The three of us headed up the road towards the summer trailhead, leaving just after 8:30am. Bob and Pat were bare booting, and I threw on the microspikes and wore them the entire trip. I also recognized BigEarl's truck sitting in the parking area. I saw the open call that a group of them would be doing the Twins/Galehead/Garfield traverse. I figured we'd run into them somewhere up on the ridge.
Bob and I were carrying about 37lb packs with overnight gear. We brought tents and bivies just in case the shelter was full.
A little over a mile in, we hit the stream crossings which were ice-bridged, and not too dangerous. Shortly after we ran into a gentlemen who was doing a night-hike- starting at 10pm the night before, and doing the Twins, Galehead, and Garfield. He said he'd been up about 28 hours and was pretty beat.
There is snow in them there hills....
Through the switchbacks we traveled, and finally gained the junction with the Garfield ridge trail. Then the final climb up to Garfield. This is where the pack weight hit me pretty hard. Just another two tenths of a mile.......Finally we hit the summit to cloudy views. Galehead mtn and Galehead hut looked very far away.......
View of Galehead from Garfield
Down from the summit back to the trail junction then down again to the Garfield campsite spur path. The stream was flowing pretty well, and this would be our source of water later (along with snow). Up from the junction we climbed to the campsite. The campsite has seen recent traffic as the spur trail was broken out fairly well. Then we came across the empty shelter. It's really something to look at. There are some links on the AMC's website that show the shelter being built, how the logs were helicoptered in two at a time....worth checking out. It's really too bad, that people have already started carving stuff into the new logs.....
Garfield Shelter
We had some lunch and discussed the rest of the day. Pat would be heading back. It was about 1pm at this point. I was a little beat, but was convinced by CrazyBob to continue on to Galehead, and return to the shelter by dark. I figured it would take us about 4hrs to do Galehead out and back from the shelter. So, we dumped a lot of of our gear up in the loft area, said our goodbyes to Pat, and ventured out onto the dreaded Garfield Ridge Trail. We had already dropped quite a bit of gain from the Garfield Trail intersection, but we weren't done yet. Down and down the trail continued. The shelter sits about the same elevation as the summit of Galehead, so we new we would have to gain this elevation back plus the rest of the PUD's (pointless ups and downs) that we would encounter along the way.
The land of Puds on the Garfield Ridge Trail
View of Galehead from one of the many bumps...
Bob and I continued on along the ridge trail going up and down, up and down, then we heard voices which turned out to be BigEarl and his group including Sue, Tom and Lori Rankin, Mike, and Dennis. I figured we'd spot them around there somewhere. Nice running into them. We exchanged meets and greets and continued on in opposite directions. Finally, we hit the Gale River trail juntion and began our final approach to the hut. We ran into another large group that were doing the Twins/Galehead loop. A little further, we ran into a co-worker of mine, Bob who was doing South Twin and Galehead. Busy day on the trails! Then we broke out of the trees at the hut area to see a 6ft high snowman. Gee, I wonder who made that? Obviously the work of professional snowman maker: Sue!
Up to Galehead to tag another Winter 4k, #34 for me. Back down to the hut, where we met some other folks taking a break. It was good to finally meet Bombadil, whose trips reports I've enjoyed reading. Now, time to repeat the Garfield Ridge trail back to the Garfield Shelter....the same ups and downs, except in reverse. I was dreading that last climb towards the campsite. At this point, we were at about 5600ft of elevation gain for the day, and I was beat. It was now about 5pm, and time for headlamps. We filled up 4 Nalgene bottles of water, and headed to the shelter. We could see a recent set of footprints heading up the spur trail. We were wondering if Jorge had hiked up or not. Sure enough, when we hit the shelter, Jorge was there alone. We fired up the stove, and boiled some water for tea, coffee, hot cocoa, and some dehydrated meals. After changing into some dry clothes, and down booties, we kicked back and relaxed. It was a long day, and it felt good to get off the trails, relax and shoot the breeze. We were sacked out by 8pm. Between me and Jorge snoring, and Bob coughing all night (battling a cold), I doubt the local animals got much sleep.
We all got up around 7am Sunday morning, and boiled more water for coffee and oatmeal. Then we packed up shop and headed out at 8:30am. Leaving the campsite spur trail, it's a steep climb back up to the Garfield trail. Not a good way to start off a hike. When we got to the intersection, Bob and Jorge went up to Garfield. With the summits socked in the clouds, I decided to start heading down. The boys caught up with me in a short while, and we were back at the vehicles at 11am. A quick lunch stop for pizza and a cold one, before heading home. It was a great trip!
2 day Stats: 20 miles, 6100 ft of gain
Slideshow from this trip
Petch
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