peakbagger
In Rembrance , July 2024
I had posted a Carrigan Hike for the day after Thanksgiving but Chip contacted me and wanted to hike but had done Carrigan recently so I swapped the hike to Garfield. I picked up Chip and his nephew Dave and drove over to the trailhead where we met Driver8 who had left home real early in CT and was there ready and waiting. The Garfield trail was in good condition, although I do miss the nice level surface on the approach to the swtichbacks that got washed out by Irene. We made good time up the swtichbacks with occasion views and hints that it might be bit breezy on the summit. There were some icy patches but no need for traction.
We stopped at the junction with the ridge trail just short of the summit cone and ran into one solo hiker and one group of two and then a familiar but determined trail runner, Larisa (LRiz)and her trusty dog who were running up to the summit, we waved as she cruised by. The solo hiker insisted that traction was mandatory and the group of tow said no need. This was good as Driver 8 had left his home. The hike up to the cone was icy but Driver8 made it up without but being real careful.
The summit was windy but the views were great, Camels Hump and the length of the Green Mountain ridge was visible although they were starting to cloud in from the west.
The trip down was uneventful and Larisa even actually stopped and talked for a few minutes as she was only out for fun. After a few minutes she headed off and we had fairly uneventful trip heading down. As we got lower the sunny areas were starting to melt and that softened up the trail bed in place. I did one near fall and Driver8 did 4 full slips. No damage except his pride.
The one overall comment on the trail is that the blazing is very sparse and in the open areas in the upper switchback where the trail slabs east through very open softwoods, the trail is going to be very hard to find once there is any significant snow cover as the opening in the woods will look like trails and blazing is non existent.
We stopped at the junction with the ridge trail just short of the summit cone and ran into one solo hiker and one group of two and then a familiar but determined trail runner, Larisa (LRiz)and her trusty dog who were running up to the summit, we waved as she cruised by. The solo hiker insisted that traction was mandatory and the group of tow said no need. This was good as Driver 8 had left his home. The hike up to the cone was icy but Driver8 made it up without but being real careful.
The summit was windy but the views were great, Camels Hump and the length of the Green Mountain ridge was visible although they were starting to cloud in from the west.
The trip down was uneventful and Larisa even actually stopped and talked for a few minutes as she was only out for fun. After a few minutes she headed off and we had fairly uneventful trip heading down. As we got lower the sunny areas were starting to melt and that softened up the trail bed in place. I did one near fall and Driver8 did 4 full slips. No damage except his pride.
The one overall comment on the trail is that the blazing is very sparse and in the open areas in the upper switchback where the trail slabs east through very open softwoods, the trail is going to be very hard to find once there is any significant snow cover as the opening in the woods will look like trails and blazing is non existent.
