BIGEarl
Well-known member
June 18, 2011: Garfield Ridge Traverse – Twins to Garfield
Trails: North Twin Trail, North Twin Spur, Twinway, Frost Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, Mt. Garfield Trail
Summits: North Twin, South Twin, Galehead, Garfield
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue) and me
The day started early, but that’s not unusual for us. Sue and I met at the Park & Ride as planned and headed to Five Corners in Bethlehem for a target 6:30am meet time with Rick – he was helping us out with a car spot. Rick is the trail adopter for the Webster Cliff Trail and was planning to finish up maintenance work he started a week earlier. Rick is one of a number of volunteers that donate their time and sweat to help keep the trails in top condition. These volunteers perform a terrific service that benefits everybody using the trails. Thanks Rick, I really appreciate all of your hard work. Rick offered to meet us on his way through the area and help with the car spot. Being able to hike these peaks as a traverse instead of a loop saves a lot of distance, elevation, and time. We left our truck at the ending trailhead for the Mt. Garfield Trail and Rick shuttled us to the trailhead for the North Twin Trail at the end of Haystack Road for our hike.
The North Twin Trail is in great shape from the trailhead to the summit of North Twin. We hiked in to the first crossing of Little River and found the entry to the herd path bypass to the first two crossings blocked with brush. Evidently, there is an effort to discourage its use. We stepped around the brush and continued along the herd path. There are a few blowdowns along this section of the hike. Since this isn’t an official trail, there will probably be no effort to remove these obstacles, but it would be nice if they were gone. I’ve often wondered why the official trail corridor wasn’t just relocated to the herd path. A similar relocation activity is in the works for Gale River Trail to eliminate difficult stream crossings.
The third crossing of Little River was easy. Within ~50 – 100 feet of the actual trail crossing was an area of exposed rocks that allowed an easy crossing to the mid-stream island and then a short walk downstream put us on another string of rocks to hit the left bank.
From the trailhead to the third crossing is a great warm-up for the day. We hiked most of it in a light rain. Warm conditions, rain gear, high humidity, we were both drenched by the time we reached the crossing. Soon after the third crossing the hike gets steeper. The first ~2 miles included only 550 feet in elevation, the next 2.4 miles leading to the summit of North Twin include 2400 feet; big difference. We generally settled into a comfortable pace and climbed making the usual stops along the way. On the approach to the summit there are several nice viewpoints but the cloud cover meant there would be no views from the Twins. We hit the summit, got a couple pictures, and set off for South Twin.
The North Twin Spur is clear and wide, thanks Dave – you do good work! There is a little mud but the pits are easy to get past and stay clean. Evidently, this section of trail is also being re-blazed with the new blazes very high to accommodate the winter snow cover. Very nice – this route between the Twins can be difficult to follow in winter.
We reached South Twin, still no views; we got our usual summit pictures and continued on Twinway to Galehead Hut. We had started to meet others on the trail. After making our way down from South Twin, we wandered to the hut and found quite a few people there. Sue noticed one familiar person (Mike Blair) and stopped for a brief visit and introduction. We headed for Galehead and planned to take a break for refreshment after returning to the hut. As the experts had predicted, the conditions were slowly improving. At the viewpoint on Galehead we enjoyed out first views for the day.
Back at the hut we took a break. Last year our timing could have been bad but the water at Galehead Hut tasted terrible. It’s possible the well was recently treated, but the taste was bad. I used the water for making Gatorade but didn’t use it in my bladder for plain drinking water and waited until reaching the Garfield Tentsite and re-supplied there. This year is a different story. The water at the hut tastes great! Nice surprise. I loaded up with drinking water for the remainder of the hike and made a quart of Gatorade for the lunch break.
From the hut to Mount Garfield is only ~3 miles, but it’s 3 miles of rough trail. There’s a little of everything along the way; rough rocky trail, mud pits, wet sloping slabs, steep climbs, PUDs, and very limited views. Between the Hut and the Gale River trail junction we met a couple friends; Amy and Amy. We knew they had plans to hike the area and it was really nice to see them I haven’t seen Amy for a long time and it’s been even longer since the last time we were on a hike together. The same is also true for Amy. We stopped for a brief visit and were soon back to our hikes. After leaving Amy & Amy we met a large number of others on the trail.
We passed the trail junction with the Franconia Brook Trail and knew the hike was about to get real steep again. The final .9 miles from the trail junction to the summit of Mount Garfield includes 1100 feet of elevation with most of it packed in to the final .6 miles. At this point it’s getting late in the hike and I’m running a little low on energy; the final climb to Garfield had a couple more stops than usual. We reached the Garfield Campsite, then the junction with Mt. Garfield Trail, and finally the summit.
The clouds had broken up and we were treated to great late-afternoon views. This is a terrific time to be on Garfield. When the conditions cooperate, the 360 degree views are outstanding. But, the late afternoon sun has a way of lighting up Bondcliff and making a beautiful sight to see. I always enjoy a late day visit to Garfield knowing there’s a chance to see that particular view. With no disappointment, we were treated to the late afternoon sun lighting up Bondcliff. This was the only view reward we received during our hike. We decided to hang around for a while. Sue had cookies, we found a comfortable place on the exposed summit that was sheltered from the breeze, and relaxed for a while. What a beautiful place.
Eventually, it was time to go. We grabbed our things and set off on the five mile walk to the trailhead. There were no surprises on the way out; the trail is clear, the mud pits were all easy to get past, the stream crossings were easy, and the mosquitoes were only interested in Sue. We reached the trailhead pretty much on plan, loaded our things into the truck, and took off. First, a quick stop at Beaver Brook, then another quick stop in Lincoln to change into dry clothes, and then the drive south.
End to end it was a terrific day – thanks Sue.
I’ve posted some pictures from the day.
BIGEarl's Pictures
Straight to the slideshow
Trails: North Twin Trail, North Twin Spur, Twinway, Frost Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, Mt. Garfield Trail
Summits: North Twin, South Twin, Galehead, Garfield
Hikers: Trail Trotter (Sue) and me
The day started early, but that’s not unusual for us. Sue and I met at the Park & Ride as planned and headed to Five Corners in Bethlehem for a target 6:30am meet time with Rick – he was helping us out with a car spot. Rick is the trail adopter for the Webster Cliff Trail and was planning to finish up maintenance work he started a week earlier. Rick is one of a number of volunteers that donate their time and sweat to help keep the trails in top condition. These volunteers perform a terrific service that benefits everybody using the trails. Thanks Rick, I really appreciate all of your hard work. Rick offered to meet us on his way through the area and help with the car spot. Being able to hike these peaks as a traverse instead of a loop saves a lot of distance, elevation, and time. We left our truck at the ending trailhead for the Mt. Garfield Trail and Rick shuttled us to the trailhead for the North Twin Trail at the end of Haystack Road for our hike.
The North Twin Trail is in great shape from the trailhead to the summit of North Twin. We hiked in to the first crossing of Little River and found the entry to the herd path bypass to the first two crossings blocked with brush. Evidently, there is an effort to discourage its use. We stepped around the brush and continued along the herd path. There are a few blowdowns along this section of the hike. Since this isn’t an official trail, there will probably be no effort to remove these obstacles, but it would be nice if they were gone. I’ve often wondered why the official trail corridor wasn’t just relocated to the herd path. A similar relocation activity is in the works for Gale River Trail to eliminate difficult stream crossings.
The third crossing of Little River was easy. Within ~50 – 100 feet of the actual trail crossing was an area of exposed rocks that allowed an easy crossing to the mid-stream island and then a short walk downstream put us on another string of rocks to hit the left bank.
From the trailhead to the third crossing is a great warm-up for the day. We hiked most of it in a light rain. Warm conditions, rain gear, high humidity, we were both drenched by the time we reached the crossing. Soon after the third crossing the hike gets steeper. The first ~2 miles included only 550 feet in elevation, the next 2.4 miles leading to the summit of North Twin include 2400 feet; big difference. We generally settled into a comfortable pace and climbed making the usual stops along the way. On the approach to the summit there are several nice viewpoints but the cloud cover meant there would be no views from the Twins. We hit the summit, got a couple pictures, and set off for South Twin.
The North Twin Spur is clear and wide, thanks Dave – you do good work! There is a little mud but the pits are easy to get past and stay clean. Evidently, this section of trail is also being re-blazed with the new blazes very high to accommodate the winter snow cover. Very nice – this route between the Twins can be difficult to follow in winter.
We reached South Twin, still no views; we got our usual summit pictures and continued on Twinway to Galehead Hut. We had started to meet others on the trail. After making our way down from South Twin, we wandered to the hut and found quite a few people there. Sue noticed one familiar person (Mike Blair) and stopped for a brief visit and introduction. We headed for Galehead and planned to take a break for refreshment after returning to the hut. As the experts had predicted, the conditions were slowly improving. At the viewpoint on Galehead we enjoyed out first views for the day.
Back at the hut we took a break. Last year our timing could have been bad but the water at Galehead Hut tasted terrible. It’s possible the well was recently treated, but the taste was bad. I used the water for making Gatorade but didn’t use it in my bladder for plain drinking water and waited until reaching the Garfield Tentsite and re-supplied there. This year is a different story. The water at the hut tastes great! Nice surprise. I loaded up with drinking water for the remainder of the hike and made a quart of Gatorade for the lunch break.
From the hut to Mount Garfield is only ~3 miles, but it’s 3 miles of rough trail. There’s a little of everything along the way; rough rocky trail, mud pits, wet sloping slabs, steep climbs, PUDs, and very limited views. Between the Hut and the Gale River trail junction we met a couple friends; Amy and Amy. We knew they had plans to hike the area and it was really nice to see them I haven’t seen Amy for a long time and it’s been even longer since the last time we were on a hike together. The same is also true for Amy. We stopped for a brief visit and were soon back to our hikes. After leaving Amy & Amy we met a large number of others on the trail.
We passed the trail junction with the Franconia Brook Trail and knew the hike was about to get real steep again. The final .9 miles from the trail junction to the summit of Mount Garfield includes 1100 feet of elevation with most of it packed in to the final .6 miles. At this point it’s getting late in the hike and I’m running a little low on energy; the final climb to Garfield had a couple more stops than usual. We reached the Garfield Campsite, then the junction with Mt. Garfield Trail, and finally the summit.
The clouds had broken up and we were treated to great late-afternoon views. This is a terrific time to be on Garfield. When the conditions cooperate, the 360 degree views are outstanding. But, the late afternoon sun has a way of lighting up Bondcliff and making a beautiful sight to see. I always enjoy a late day visit to Garfield knowing there’s a chance to see that particular view. With no disappointment, we were treated to the late afternoon sun lighting up Bondcliff. This was the only view reward we received during our hike. We decided to hang around for a while. Sue had cookies, we found a comfortable place on the exposed summit that was sheltered from the breeze, and relaxed for a while. What a beautiful place.
Eventually, it was time to go. We grabbed our things and set off on the five mile walk to the trailhead. There were no surprises on the way out; the trail is clear, the mud pits were all easy to get past, the stream crossings were easy, and the mosquitoes were only interested in Sue. We reached the trailhead pretty much on plan, loaded our things into the truck, and took off. First, a quick stop at Beaver Brook, then another quick stop in Lincoln to change into dry clothes, and then the drive south.
End to end it was a terrific day – thanks Sue.
I’ve posted some pictures from the day.
BIGEarl's Pictures
Straight to the slideshow
