PETCH
New member
Peaks/Trails: Mt Garfield via Garfield Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail.
Trail Conditions: Trail starts out dry then gets wet in spots with elevation gain. Kudos to the trail maintainer who looks to have been very busy clearing drainage areas and blowdowns. Still many blowdowns left, but easily climbed over or under. Snow started appearing above 3500ft or so. Then remained consistent through the switchbacks to just below the summit. Solid monorail but softening with increasing temps. Snow was stable enough to support us. Stream crossings weren’t too bad- rockhoppable with slightly wet boots.
Special Equipment: We all brought snowshoes along for the ride. Poles helpful during crossings. Some bugs noticeable at the parking area.
Cast of Characters: CrazyBob, Keith(Kpmmbm), and Petch
Commentary: Well enough with the 3K’s!. I mean they were nice and all, but I hadn’t done a 4K in 2 months and was jonesing for some elevation. The drive up through Crawford Notch did not look promising with clouds socked in on the higher peaks. We were hoping that the clouds would burn off as the morning went on….
The Gale River road is open and we were able to park at the summer trailhead. The lot was just about full.
Keith had already hit Garfield last month for his 4K list, and agreed to come along as CrazyBob and I went for #43. We set off on the Garfield Trail at a gentlemen’s time (What does that mean?) of 8:45am. The climb up went fast and we watched the clouds dissipate. I am going to load CrazyBob's pack with cans of PBR on the next hike. 2 1/4 mph going uphill is just too fast!
Trailside bloomage
About 2/3rds of the way up we started hitting patches of snow. As we started on the switchbacks, we entered the shade and cooler temps. Snow took over the trail, but cool conditions kept the snow mostly firm. We were able to bare-boot with minimal kitten killing. The snowshoes were getting a free ride today. Then we hit the Garfield Ridge Trail and made our way up through the final .2mile section.
We layered up as the wind could be heard whipping through the trees. Then, boom! View-city. The clouds had pretty much disappeared and we had 360 degree views from the peak of Garfield. Just Plain outstanding views. We ducked into the concrete structure to escape the wind, and grabbed some lunch while just absorbing all that Mother Nature had to offer.
The pics say it all:
Next 4K on the list: Owlshead
Franconia Ridge
The Twins and Galehead
Tres Hombres with Lafayette in the backdrop
We hung out for a while and chatted with a solo hiker who was doing a semi-pemi two day trip. Then back into the trees for the descent. The hike down went smooth and the we were back down to the car by 2pm. A quick stop at the Moat and EMS and back to Maine. It’s all good.
Two more hikes to complete the quest for 48: Owlshead, and the Zealand/ Bonds Traverse. Two formidable opponents......
Trip stats: about 10 miles, about 3100 ft of elevation gain, 5 hrs 15 min
Slideshow ^
Blurry and Digital Camera user impaired Slideshow ^
Hiking Pictures:http://picasaweb.google.com/mpetcher
Ascent List:http://peakbagger.com/climber/climblistc.aspx?cid=1767
Petch
Trail Conditions: Trail starts out dry then gets wet in spots with elevation gain. Kudos to the trail maintainer who looks to have been very busy clearing drainage areas and blowdowns. Still many blowdowns left, but easily climbed over or under. Snow started appearing above 3500ft or so. Then remained consistent through the switchbacks to just below the summit. Solid monorail but softening with increasing temps. Snow was stable enough to support us. Stream crossings weren’t too bad- rockhoppable with slightly wet boots.
Special Equipment: We all brought snowshoes along for the ride. Poles helpful during crossings. Some bugs noticeable at the parking area.
Cast of Characters: CrazyBob, Keith(Kpmmbm), and Petch
Commentary: Well enough with the 3K’s!. I mean they were nice and all, but I hadn’t done a 4K in 2 months and was jonesing for some elevation. The drive up through Crawford Notch did not look promising with clouds socked in on the higher peaks. We were hoping that the clouds would burn off as the morning went on….
The Gale River road is open and we were able to park at the summer trailhead. The lot was just about full.
Keith had already hit Garfield last month for his 4K list, and agreed to come along as CrazyBob and I went for #43. We set off on the Garfield Trail at a gentlemen’s time (What does that mean?) of 8:45am. The climb up went fast and we watched the clouds dissipate. I am going to load CrazyBob's pack with cans of PBR on the next hike. 2 1/4 mph going uphill is just too fast!
Trailside bloomage
About 2/3rds of the way up we started hitting patches of snow. As we started on the switchbacks, we entered the shade and cooler temps. Snow took over the trail, but cool conditions kept the snow mostly firm. We were able to bare-boot with minimal kitten killing. The snowshoes were getting a free ride today. Then we hit the Garfield Ridge Trail and made our way up through the final .2mile section.
We layered up as the wind could be heard whipping through the trees. Then, boom! View-city. The clouds had pretty much disappeared and we had 360 degree views from the peak of Garfield. Just Plain outstanding views. We ducked into the concrete structure to escape the wind, and grabbed some lunch while just absorbing all that Mother Nature had to offer.
The pics say it all:
Next 4K on the list: Owlshead
Franconia Ridge
The Twins and Galehead
Tres Hombres with Lafayette in the backdrop
We hung out for a while and chatted with a solo hiker who was doing a semi-pemi two day trip. Then back into the trees for the descent. The hike down went smooth and the we were back down to the car by 2pm. A quick stop at the Moat and EMS and back to Maine. It’s all good.
Two more hikes to complete the quest for 48: Owlshead, and the Zealand/ Bonds Traverse. Two formidable opponents......
Trip stats: about 10 miles, about 3100 ft of elevation gain, 5 hrs 15 min
Slideshow ^
Blurry and Digital Camera user impaired Slideshow ^
Hiking Pictures:http://picasaweb.google.com/mpetcher
Ascent List:http://peakbagger.com/climber/climblistc.aspx?cid=1767
Petch
