David Metsky
Well-known member
I was planning a Sunday hike and on Saturday found out that Mike was headed up to Garfield so in an effort to carpool whenever possible we joined forces. It was a fairly late start and we got to the trailhead just after 10:00 and were on the trail at 10:20. The stream crossings weren't bad, just a little tricky. Both of us were testing out new boots so at least they were still waterproof. It was warm enough to hike in t-shirt and shorts.
At around 3500' the snow started in earnest, and we put on gaitors and grabbed our ski poles. We saw several folks in sneakers and with extremely wet feet who were surprised to find so much snow up there. Ah, youth. The monorail was in pretty good shape and we were fine with shorts and gaitors.
The section from the junction to the summit was actually pretty easy with the snow filling in the rocks and an easy boot ladder. At the summit we saw a group of 4 French-Canadians who had camped out the night before somewhere along the ridge between Galehead and Garfield. They took off and I noticed one had a golf club (a one-wood) sticking out of his pack. Apparently they hit some golf balls into the Pemi from the hut, then got yelled at and stopped. When they were gone I noticed they had left a piece of dark chocolate on the summit foundation. Practicing Leave No Trace I made sure that it didn't go to waste. One of them came back looking for the chocolate because he didn't want to litter (apparently golf balls don't count) and I offered him some of the chocolate I carried up, but he declined. We were left alone up there.
After a fine rest we headed down. At the junction Mike headed over to check out the shelter and I started down. I caught up to the 4 folks from the summit and we played leapfrog a bit. At one point I asked where they were headed for the night and they said Greenleaf.
"Um, I don't think so."
They took the wrong turn at the summit, but frankly, given the difficulty they had on the first part of the ridge, their slow pace, and their lack of route finding ability it was probably a blessing. They wouldn't have made it to Greenleaf anyways before dark, and it was going to rain. A few of them actually sounded a bit relieved when it was translated into French. At this point they accepted the chocolate.
I stopped and took some flower shots on the way back; trilliums are my favorite spring flower. At the trailhead I gave two of them a ride to their car at Gale River. It started raining along the way so they were pretty happy to be in the car. We headed back to Lincoln for some cold drinks and a stop in the Mountain Wanderer. We ran into HikerAmiga there and all bought stuff, a fine way to end the trip.
At around 3500' the snow started in earnest, and we put on gaitors and grabbed our ski poles. We saw several folks in sneakers and with extremely wet feet who were surprised to find so much snow up there. Ah, youth. The monorail was in pretty good shape and we were fine with shorts and gaitors.
The section from the junction to the summit was actually pretty easy with the snow filling in the rocks and an easy boot ladder. At the summit we saw a group of 4 French-Canadians who had camped out the night before somewhere along the ridge between Galehead and Garfield. They took off and I noticed one had a golf club (a one-wood) sticking out of his pack. Apparently they hit some golf balls into the Pemi from the hut, then got yelled at and stopped. When they were gone I noticed they had left a piece of dark chocolate on the summit foundation. Practicing Leave No Trace I made sure that it didn't go to waste. One of them came back looking for the chocolate because he didn't want to litter (apparently golf balls don't count) and I offered him some of the chocolate I carried up, but he declined. We were left alone up there.
After a fine rest we headed down. At the junction Mike headed over to check out the shelter and I started down. I caught up to the 4 folks from the summit and we played leapfrog a bit. At one point I asked where they were headed for the night and they said Greenleaf.
"Um, I don't think so."
They took the wrong turn at the summit, but frankly, given the difficulty they had on the first part of the ridge, their slow pace, and their lack of route finding ability it was probably a blessing. They wouldn't have made it to Greenleaf anyways before dark, and it was going to rain. A few of them actually sounded a bit relieved when it was translated into French. At this point they accepted the chocolate.
I stopped and took some flower shots on the way back; trilliums are my favorite spring flower. At the trailhead I gave two of them a ride to their car at Gale River. It started raining along the way so they were pretty happy to be in the car. We headed back to Lincoln for some cold drinks and a stop in the Mountain Wanderer. We ran into HikerAmiga there and all bought stuff, a fine way to end the trip.
Panoramic of the Pemi from the Summit (click to see full sized)
