8/22/12 & 8/23/12 (Wed & Thurs).
Day1: (first 3 mountains): 10.0miles , 4561 ft up 2394 ft down, 7:19 book.
Day 2: 9.89 miles, 1808 ft up, 3975ft down, 5:49 book. (I wont tell you our times :) )
This was the second hut hike with my grandson Kris, staying overnight at the AMC Galehead Hut. We left R.I. early Wednesday and arrived at Gale River trail head @ 0600. Then , I realized that I had left Kris’s backpack at home with most of his clothes and all of the PB&J sandwiches I had prepared. Luckily his sweatshirt was in the car and we figured we’d be all right with my gear and food from the huts. It worked out O.K . Especially for Kris, because he didn’t have to carry much (again!!). On the way to the hut we had two equipment failures. First the strap from my canteen broke then the strap from my fanny pack/water carrier broke. Improvising with duct tape and mods , we made do, but I made a mental note that for future hikes I need to carry heavy duty needle and thread in my emergency kit. Arrived at the Hut we bought 3 cold chocolate chip pancakes for Kris, and hot soup and bread for me. The Hike to the hut only had one short but steep scrabble. Then after unloading some gear, we hiked to S. Twin which had great views and on to North Twin, which has a nice outlook west of and a short distance from the actual summit. Then, back up and down S. Twin. We arrived back at the hut before 5 pm, with plenty of time to rest before dinner. There was a group of about 14 boy scouts staying at the hut that had spent the night before at Zealand Falls hut. After a hearty dinner (most of which Kris didn’t like or eat), we decided to do Galehead, which is less than an hour up and back from the hut, that night rather than the next day. There were great views to the South on an outlook below the summit that was especially nice with the sun setting. We arrived back down after dark using flashlights and headlamps. The next morning we headed out after breakfast to Mt Garfield. This included a very steep and hard scramble up a more or less dry cascade falls. It was probably the hardest and longest scramble I’ve had to do yet, but we took it nice and slow and it wasn’t that bad taking our time and was very rewarding when we got to the top. Mt Garfield is bare on top with fantastic views into the Pemigawasett Wilderness and the Lafayette ridges. The hike up from Garfield trail (the trail we took down) is quite easy and you get a lot of local casual hikers just walking up for the views and a luncheon. A group of ladies at least 10 years older then me flew past us while we were on a break and we never did catch back up. The hike down was uneventful and easy but included a 45 minute road hike back to the truck. All in all a great hike while bagging 4 4k’s in one overnight hike.
Pictures follow (click on pictures to enlarge :
Excuse all the mushroom pictures - just a wierd thing we got into.
Kris, Smiling because I forgot his pack.
The first of many mushroom pictures
wierd trunk
N. Twin
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the rest of captionds TBD
Kris at the Galehead hut.
on S. Twin #3 for Kris
S. Twin #22 for me.
heading over to N. Twin.
The Hare waiting for the tortoise
View at N. Twin
at the view near N. Twin , Kris's #4
My # 22 "Peace Out!"
hidden mushroom.
Back at S.Twin
Back at the Hut.
Kris made a friend of one of the scouts.
Views from the porch.
Diner.
View below Galehead peak.
Galehead, Kris's #5
Galehead my #23
Kris's bunk (4 high)
Our gear staged and ready to hike -
after breakfast
The after breakfast "How to fold your blanket" skit.
Kris with one of the croo.
another mushroom
more mushrooms!
going up the dry cascade to Garfield
steeper and harder than it looks.
Kris, waiting for me to catch up.
#5 Kris at Garfield tower foundation.
Garfield, #24 for me.
memorial stone left in the corner of the foundation by someone.
Great views of the Franconia ridge from here.
Lots of people just hanging out at the top.
another mushroom!
and another,
last one.
Near the bottom
Road hike back to the truck.
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