dom15931
New member
I did this hike along with my friend Jason. This was his first 'winter' experience, albeit a bit mild.
I had chosen this hike as I had heard it was basically 'a long walk in the woods' and figured it would be an easy way to get some good views and encounter some heavy snowfall. I had never been on the summit previously and heard it had awesome views. I figured it would be a nice way to start off the snow season.
We parked at the Gale River trailhead. We both had snoeshoes and I had some extra winter gear along with me just in case, and to put a little extra weight in the pack to get used to carrying it for upcoming hikes. We left the car at 11:35 or so. The summit was 5 miles from the trailhead and the starting temp was in the low 50's or so. At the start there was only scattered snow. The mud wasn't too bad considering the temperature had warmed significantly already. Right away however we saw the only drawback to the hike: Large heaps of snow falling from trees, as Jason got pounded not even 250 yards from the car. About a mile in there is a rapid procession of three stream crossings, all of which were crossed with ease. From time to time there was a downed tree to cross over or go around, but it was not as much as we expected.
Garfield, from this approach, really is an easy and enjoyable mountain. For most of the hike it is just a slight uphill walk that gradually gets a little bit steeper. Snow depth rose fairly steadily and at 4 or so miles in was around a foot or so. In the thick conifers it was very dramatic as the trees were completely loaded and buried in snow. We incountered some hikers coming down, but there were not too many. At the Garfield Ridge trail junction we passed two very cold hikers who became soaked from the melting and falling slush from the trees. Luckily they said they had dry clothes.
Up until this point there had been no wind and the temperature had fallen considerably. We did not use are snowshoes yet as they would have been more a nucense in the wet heavy snow and with the stomped trail. Right near the summit it got steeper and slippery but we scurried up it to the foundation at the top with no difficulty.
The weather up here was different. The wind was quite noticable, but by no means fierce. I would estimate it was blowing was steady in the 25-30 mph area with gusts probably 35-45 maybe a peak gust a little higher. I would also guess that the temperature was about 35. The views were impressive. I was very impressed with the way Franconia ridge looked from here, a bit like a subdued Katahin. You could see most of the Presis from here and many of the summits in and around bondcliff. The summit was very dramatic considering the tame nature of the climb. We stayed for about fifteen minutes before heading down.
We put snoeshoes on just 'for the hell of it' for about the first mile. They did help out a bit at the start, but were not necessary by any means because of the packed snow.
The hike back was uneventful. The last 45 minutes of it was by lamplight. We got to the car several minutes till 6. This was a very enjoyable afternoon hike with a great reward for such an easy hike.
I had chosen this hike as I had heard it was basically 'a long walk in the woods' and figured it would be an easy way to get some good views and encounter some heavy snowfall. I had never been on the summit previously and heard it had awesome views. I figured it would be a nice way to start off the snow season.
We parked at the Gale River trailhead. We both had snoeshoes and I had some extra winter gear along with me just in case, and to put a little extra weight in the pack to get used to carrying it for upcoming hikes. We left the car at 11:35 or so. The summit was 5 miles from the trailhead and the starting temp was in the low 50's or so. At the start there was only scattered snow. The mud wasn't too bad considering the temperature had warmed significantly already. Right away however we saw the only drawback to the hike: Large heaps of snow falling from trees, as Jason got pounded not even 250 yards from the car. About a mile in there is a rapid procession of three stream crossings, all of which were crossed with ease. From time to time there was a downed tree to cross over or go around, but it was not as much as we expected.
Garfield, from this approach, really is an easy and enjoyable mountain. For most of the hike it is just a slight uphill walk that gradually gets a little bit steeper. Snow depth rose fairly steadily and at 4 or so miles in was around a foot or so. In the thick conifers it was very dramatic as the trees were completely loaded and buried in snow. We incountered some hikers coming down, but there were not too many. At the Garfield Ridge trail junction we passed two very cold hikers who became soaked from the melting and falling slush from the trees. Luckily they said they had dry clothes.
Up until this point there had been no wind and the temperature had fallen considerably. We did not use are snowshoes yet as they would have been more a nucense in the wet heavy snow and with the stomped trail. Right near the summit it got steeper and slippery but we scurried up it to the foundation at the top with no difficulty.
The weather up here was different. The wind was quite noticable, but by no means fierce. I would estimate it was blowing was steady in the 25-30 mph area with gusts probably 35-45 maybe a peak gust a little higher. I would also guess that the temperature was about 35. The views were impressive. I was very impressed with the way Franconia ridge looked from here, a bit like a subdued Katahin. You could see most of the Presis from here and many of the summits in and around bondcliff. The summit was very dramatic considering the tame nature of the climb. We stayed for about fifteen minutes before heading down.
We put snoeshoes on just 'for the hell of it' for about the first mile. They did help out a bit at the start, but were not necessary by any means because of the packed snow.
The hike back was uneventful. The last 45 minutes of it was by lamplight. We got to the car several minutes till 6. This was a very enjoyable afternoon hike with a great reward for such an easy hike.
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