BIGEarl
Well-known member
November 11, 2012: Garfield
Trails: Mt. Garfield Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail
Summits: Mt. Garfield
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue), and me
Both Sue and I had an early wake-up planned for Monday and we were interested in something short to be home early. Garfield fit that need very well; it’s about the shortest ten-mile hike you’ll find.
We arrived to a loaded trailhead and parked in the last available place. After us, vehicles would line the sides of Gale River Loop Road. It didn’t take long to collect our things and get started. The day was relatively warm and there was a fair amount of melting underway.
The early part of the hike turned out to be the toughest. I had a very stiff and sore back and was unable to stand straight. After a short distance we stopped; Sue made a snowman and I had some pain meds. Sue finished the snowman and all I could do was look forward to some pain relief, which arrived in roughly thirty minutes (that was a very long thirty minutes). During that time we made our way past the three stream crossings and started into the climb. Slowly, my back got into the game.
Just as we were reaching the switchbacks, a large group from a school in Boston came up behind us. We stepped to the side and let them pass. I still wasn’t moving well enough to stay in front of anybody. We were all heading to the same place and bumped into each other multiple times. As we worked our way through the early switchbacks, Sue decided it was time for another snowman. Sue’s timing was perfect; I was ready for another break.
With our latest break done we kept working our way through the switchbacks. The ice really increased and I started thinking descending on MicroSpikes was probably the way to go. We were able to climb through all of the ice without any real problems but bare-boot descending would be much more likely to include some slips and falls. We leapfrogged the large group from Boston a couple times in the switchbacks but when we reached the trail junction with Garfield Ridge Trail they were in front and moving to the summit.
As we approached the trails junction I noticed a couple familiar faces arriving from the summit; Sunshine Chris and Dave Bear, and Thor of course. It’s been quite a while since the last time I saw Chris and I haven’t seen Dave for a few months. We all stopped to visit for a while. As we were preparing to leave Matt and his partner arrived from Galehead. This was another very nice surprise. We exchanged greetings, visited for a short time, and then all headed to the summit.
What a sloppy, wet, icy final climb to the summit! We managed to bare boot the full climb but didn’t plan on descending that way. We hit the summit, got some pictures, enjoyed the beautiful conditions, visited for a while, made the u-turn, and set off for the trailhead. As soon as we were off the open rocks of the summit and back on the trail we stopped to get out the MicroSpikes.
It’s amazing how much a little traction can do. We took off down to the Mt. Garfield Trail junction, took the left and headed for the trailhead. There was no slipping at all. We were able to make pretty good time as we worked through our descent. Roughly half-way through the switchbacks we came up behind Sunshine Chris and Dave Bear. A while later we passed the large group from Boston. My back was feeling good, finally, and we were really moving well. Toward the bottom of the switchbacks, the trail conditions changed, the snow and ice cover significantly decreased, and we stopped to retire the MicroSpikes.
We managed to bare boot the remaining hike to the trailhead with no problems along the way. Soon after dropping into the open hardwoods we were hiking a bare but muddy trail. All we needed to do was watch our step to stay clean and cruise to the trailhead.
We hit the trailhead and there were vehicles lining the road on both sides plus the trailhead lot was still reasonably full. There sure were a lot of people out for what turned out to be a pretty nice day.
Pictures will follow.
Trails: Mt. Garfield Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail
Summits: Mt. Garfield
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue), and me
Both Sue and I had an early wake-up planned for Monday and we were interested in something short to be home early. Garfield fit that need very well; it’s about the shortest ten-mile hike you’ll find.
We arrived to a loaded trailhead and parked in the last available place. After us, vehicles would line the sides of Gale River Loop Road. It didn’t take long to collect our things and get started. The day was relatively warm and there was a fair amount of melting underway.
The early part of the hike turned out to be the toughest. I had a very stiff and sore back and was unable to stand straight. After a short distance we stopped; Sue made a snowman and I had some pain meds. Sue finished the snowman and all I could do was look forward to some pain relief, which arrived in roughly thirty minutes (that was a very long thirty minutes). During that time we made our way past the three stream crossings and started into the climb. Slowly, my back got into the game.
Just as we were reaching the switchbacks, a large group from a school in Boston came up behind us. We stepped to the side and let them pass. I still wasn’t moving well enough to stay in front of anybody. We were all heading to the same place and bumped into each other multiple times. As we worked our way through the early switchbacks, Sue decided it was time for another snowman. Sue’s timing was perfect; I was ready for another break.
With our latest break done we kept working our way through the switchbacks. The ice really increased and I started thinking descending on MicroSpikes was probably the way to go. We were able to climb through all of the ice without any real problems but bare-boot descending would be much more likely to include some slips and falls. We leapfrogged the large group from Boston a couple times in the switchbacks but when we reached the trail junction with Garfield Ridge Trail they were in front and moving to the summit.
As we approached the trails junction I noticed a couple familiar faces arriving from the summit; Sunshine Chris and Dave Bear, and Thor of course. It’s been quite a while since the last time I saw Chris and I haven’t seen Dave for a few months. We all stopped to visit for a while. As we were preparing to leave Matt and his partner arrived from Galehead. This was another very nice surprise. We exchanged greetings, visited for a short time, and then all headed to the summit.
What a sloppy, wet, icy final climb to the summit! We managed to bare boot the full climb but didn’t plan on descending that way. We hit the summit, got some pictures, enjoyed the beautiful conditions, visited for a while, made the u-turn, and set off for the trailhead. As soon as we were off the open rocks of the summit and back on the trail we stopped to get out the MicroSpikes.
It’s amazing how much a little traction can do. We took off down to the Mt. Garfield Trail junction, took the left and headed for the trailhead. There was no slipping at all. We were able to make pretty good time as we worked through our descent. Roughly half-way through the switchbacks we came up behind Sunshine Chris and Dave Bear. A while later we passed the large group from Boston. My back was feeling good, finally, and we were really moving well. Toward the bottom of the switchbacks, the trail conditions changed, the snow and ice cover significantly decreased, and we stopped to retire the MicroSpikes.
We managed to bare boot the remaining hike to the trailhead with no problems along the way. Soon after dropping into the open hardwoods we were hiking a bare but muddy trail. All we needed to do was watch our step to stay clean and cruise to the trailhead.
We hit the trailhead and there were vehicles lining the road on both sides plus the trailhead lot was still reasonably full. There sure were a lot of people out for what turned out to be a pretty nice day.
Pictures will follow.
