Bill and Sheep
New member
My biggest goal for this summer is to complete my redlining of all trails in The Franconia, Twin, and Willey Ranges (as described in the 28th edition of the WMG). So welcome to episode I of this journey.
Episode I - 15.85 Miles and all I have to Show for it is Galehead?
For my first post-Winter hike in the Whites, I was looking for something with decent mileage but not too much steep stuff. I decided on the long way to Galehead. Sheep and I arrived at the Gale River Trailhead and were on the trail at about 8:20am. I hadn't been on this trail for a few years and forgot just how easy the first three miles are. It's so rare for a stretch of White Mountain trail to be so gentle and rock free. We made great time up to the first river crossing. The water was running high enough that all the normal rock crossings were covered. After taking a quick look up and downstream, I decided it was time to get my feet wet. The second crossing was similar and I trudged through that one as well. Soon after the second crossing, the trail gets steeper, but it was still a really gentle walk to the Garfield Ridge Trail.
The junction is where redline fever makes one a little crazy. Instead of the left turn and short climb to the Galehead Hut, we turned right and headed towards Garfield. I absolutely love this trail section. It's had a little bit of everything- rocks, mud, a touch of snow, lots of very pointless ups and downs and some beautiful sections walking. As we approached Garfield, I was actually relieved that we didn't have to make that steep climb. Instead, we took the left turn on to the Franconia Brook Trail- our first redlining of the day.
Soon after turning on to the Franconia Brook, we entered the Wilderness area and as expected, the conditions got a little tougher. There were a few spots where the trail was difficult to follow and dozens of blowdowns. There was nothing super difficult but our pace definitely slowed, even as we were heading downhill. After a stream crossing, we took our first real break of the day and had some lunch. I was pleasantly surprised to find no real bug activity once we stopped. Soon, we were back on the trail and in no time were at the junction for the Twin Brook Trail and 13 Falls campsite.
After the turn on to Twin Brook, we encountered the most difficult part of the hike. We had to regain over 1500 feet of elevation and had to do it through a pretty thick set of blowdowns. It took a fair amount of effort to follow the trail through this section and we lucked out by running into a pair of hikers descending from the hut right at the most confusing part. We pointed each other in the right direction and were soon on our way towards the hut. Form here, the trail was easier to follow but the blowdowns never let up. We traveled through about a mile of birch cemetery before beginning to see the most snow of the day. The last quarter mile to the Frost Trail had a good amount of soft, rotten snow. Thankfully the postholes made it very easy to stay on trail and soon we reached the Frost Trail junction.
Dropping all pretense of safety, I dropped my pack and chose to tackle the ever dangerous Galehead Mountain with no supplies. I must confess that after 10 miles of hiking, the short climb to the summit took quite a bit of effort. The climb down was much nicer and soon we reached the hut for a well-deserved rest.
There were only a handful of people at the hut and we spent about 30 minutes resting and enjoying a lot of pumpkin bread. I know some complain about the huts ruining their wilderness experience but I always enjoy the chance to grab some food and refill my water bottles.
Soon, rest time was over and we began our descent to the car. The 0.6 miles back to the Gale River junction were uneventful. There was a little bit of snow but nothing that required traction devices. Once we reached the Gale River Trail, all we had to do was retrace those first 4 miles and we were done. the first half mile required a little attention but once we were below the steeps, we put things in high gear and were soon back at the car at about 4:45pm. I was pretty shocked to see that we'd covered those final 4 miles in about 80 minutes.
Overall, this was a really fun hike. We avoided most of the crowds (we saw a grand total of 2 people on the Franconia and Twin Brook Trails) and managed to redline a new 4.8 miles of trail.
Statistics:
4.8 miles new redlining
93.5/148.5 miles complete (63.0%)
Stay tuned for future episodes including:
"Ring Around the Owls Head"
"What a Weird Way to get to the Bonds"
I've posted some photos at:
http://sheeprocks.com/photos/galehead_20100523/index.html
Episode I - 15.85 Miles and all I have to Show for it is Galehead?
For my first post-Winter hike in the Whites, I was looking for something with decent mileage but not too much steep stuff. I decided on the long way to Galehead. Sheep and I arrived at the Gale River Trailhead and were on the trail at about 8:20am. I hadn't been on this trail for a few years and forgot just how easy the first three miles are. It's so rare for a stretch of White Mountain trail to be so gentle and rock free. We made great time up to the first river crossing. The water was running high enough that all the normal rock crossings were covered. After taking a quick look up and downstream, I decided it was time to get my feet wet. The second crossing was similar and I trudged through that one as well. Soon after the second crossing, the trail gets steeper, but it was still a really gentle walk to the Garfield Ridge Trail.
The junction is where redline fever makes one a little crazy. Instead of the left turn and short climb to the Galehead Hut, we turned right and headed towards Garfield. I absolutely love this trail section. It's had a little bit of everything- rocks, mud, a touch of snow, lots of very pointless ups and downs and some beautiful sections walking. As we approached Garfield, I was actually relieved that we didn't have to make that steep climb. Instead, we took the left turn on to the Franconia Brook Trail- our first redlining of the day.
Soon after turning on to the Franconia Brook, we entered the Wilderness area and as expected, the conditions got a little tougher. There were a few spots where the trail was difficult to follow and dozens of blowdowns. There was nothing super difficult but our pace definitely slowed, even as we were heading downhill. After a stream crossing, we took our first real break of the day and had some lunch. I was pleasantly surprised to find no real bug activity once we stopped. Soon, we were back on the trail and in no time were at the junction for the Twin Brook Trail and 13 Falls campsite.
After the turn on to Twin Brook, we encountered the most difficult part of the hike. We had to regain over 1500 feet of elevation and had to do it through a pretty thick set of blowdowns. It took a fair amount of effort to follow the trail through this section and we lucked out by running into a pair of hikers descending from the hut right at the most confusing part. We pointed each other in the right direction and were soon on our way towards the hut. Form here, the trail was easier to follow but the blowdowns never let up. We traveled through about a mile of birch cemetery before beginning to see the most snow of the day. The last quarter mile to the Frost Trail had a good amount of soft, rotten snow. Thankfully the postholes made it very easy to stay on trail and soon we reached the Frost Trail junction.
Dropping all pretense of safety, I dropped my pack and chose to tackle the ever dangerous Galehead Mountain with no supplies. I must confess that after 10 miles of hiking, the short climb to the summit took quite a bit of effort. The climb down was much nicer and soon we reached the hut for a well-deserved rest.
There were only a handful of people at the hut and we spent about 30 minutes resting and enjoying a lot of pumpkin bread. I know some complain about the huts ruining their wilderness experience but I always enjoy the chance to grab some food and refill my water bottles.
Soon, rest time was over and we began our descent to the car. The 0.6 miles back to the Gale River junction were uneventful. There was a little bit of snow but nothing that required traction devices. Once we reached the Gale River Trail, all we had to do was retrace those first 4 miles and we were done. the first half mile required a little attention but once we were below the steeps, we put things in high gear and were soon back at the car at about 4:45pm. I was pretty shocked to see that we'd covered those final 4 miles in about 80 minutes.
Overall, this was a really fun hike. We avoided most of the crowds (we saw a grand total of 2 people on the Franconia and Twin Brook Trails) and managed to redline a new 4.8 miles of trail.
Statistics:
4.8 miles new redlining
93.5/148.5 miles complete (63.0%)
Stay tuned for future episodes including:
"Ring Around the Owls Head"
"What a Weird Way to get to the Bonds"
I've posted some photos at:
http://sheeprocks.com/photos/galehead_20100523/index.html
