Garfield and Galehead (10/9-10/21)

My very first backpacking trip, if you can call it that, was with my friend Sylvia all the way back in 2015. She took me on a trip to Lonesome Lake Hut in the White Mountains over Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend. I struggled. My thumb was broken at the time (a recurring theme for me), so I couldn't use poles. Sylvia had a pair of spikes for me, but they broke, so I tried to hike in the snow without any of the proper equipment. It was tough, and I totally wore myself out doing what I now know is a relatively easy hike, but I did make it. I had a great time, too. I enjoyed it so much that it became a tradition, and then I eventually branched out to doing other types of backpacking trips.

Recently, the roles have kind of reversed. Sylvia has wanted to get into doing more modern, lightweight backpacking, and so sought out my help. Given how much she taught me about backpacking to begin with, I was more than happy to return the favor. I loaned her some equipment, gave her recommendations, and showed her how to use newer tools. She had been wanting to go on a non-winter backpacking trip to test out all of the new knowledge and skills, and so we decided to do an overnight backpacking trip together.

We chose Garfield and Galehead, for three reasons. For Sylvia, they were two peaks that she needed for her 48. For me, it was a chance to scout out Garfield, a peak that I still need for my winter 48. For both of us, it was a good location because we could stay overnight at the Garfield Ridge Shelter in the middle of the trip.

Our plan was to do a car spot. We would drive my car to the Gale River Trailhead, and then we would leave it there while Sylvia drove both of us to the Garfield Trailhead. We would hike up the Garfield Trail, drop our stuff at the Garfield Ridge Shelter, and then summit Garfield. We decided to drop our stuff off before summiting for two reasons. First, it was less weight to carry. Second, we wanted to make sure that we got a spot, as we thought it might be busy.

Our hike up the Garfield Trail was uneventful. The trail had a grade that was uphill but not unreasonable, and we kept a good pace. When I am hiking with someone else, my preference is usually to let them hike in front of me, so that I can match their pace and we don't end up going too fast.

The Garfield Trail was long, about five miles to the trail intersection, but we made good time. Once we got there, we realized a flaw in our plan. The path to the shelter was a steep and rocky downhill. In order to get to the shelter, we would need to climb down it, drop our stuff off, and then climb back up. Not wanting to risk losing a spot in the shelter, we decided to stick to the plan anyway.

The climb down was tough, but we were happy when we made it to the shelter. The Garfield Ridge Campsite actually consists of more than just the shelter. There are a number of tent sites, and they had even roped off an eating area with a tarp over it so that food wouldn't get into the shelter and attract animals. The shelter was fairly new and looked good. The entire Campsite has a caretaker whose job is to collect fees from campers and take care of the privy. I was a little bummed to learn that my AMC membership didn't get me a discount on campsite fees, but oh well.

We learned that we would be sharing the shelter with a group of guys who had already claimed the upper level of the shelter. This was fine with us, as there was plenty of room on the lower level, and I suspected that it might actually be a bit better protected from the elements anyway. The guys were friendly, and we chatted a bit with them.

With our packs considerably lightened by dropping our stuff at the shelter, we proceeded up towards Garfield. We had to re-climb our way out of the gully that the Campsite was located in, and it wasn't as much of a pain as I was expecting it to be. Once we got back to the trail intersection, we proceeded towards the Garfield summit. It was probably only a quarter mile or so to the summit. When we got there, boy was it windy. We took the obligatory photos and then proceeded back down the mountain.

As we walked down the mountain, something seemed off. Both of us felt like things weren't quite familiar. Finally, I pulled out Guthook and checked. Sure enough, we had gone the wrong way down the mountain, and we were moving away from the campsite. This was a problem for two reasons. First, it meant having to climb back up the mountain. Second, it meant that we would be cutting it close in terms of having enough daylight left to cook.

However, there was nothing to do for it. We proceeded back up the mountain, and then found the correct trail and headed back down into the gully where the Garfield Ridge Campsite was located. When we got there, we grabbed our cooking stuff and headed over to the cooking area. We both had dehydrated meals with us. I think mine was Backpacker's Pantry Lasagna and Sylvia's was Good To Go Mushroom Risotto, but I could be misremembering.

The Campsite was pretty full, so full that the caretaker had to put up another tarp to establish a second eating area. While we were eating, I got to talking to the other hikers there. One couple was hiking the Appalachian Trail. I thought it was a little late in the season to still be on trail, especially in New Hampshire, but they were doing some type of flip-flop hike and heading south.

It was getting cold and windy as it got later. Sylvia was pretty chilled, so she ended up returning to the shelter while I stayed up and talked to the other hikers. Honestly, those dinnertime conversations are one of my favorite parts of backpacking. I love swapping stories, comparing gear, and just generally being social in a non-electronic environment.

Based upon the expected temperatures, I had packed my 20 degree Enlightened Equipment Enigma quilt and my Therm-A-Rest NeoAir Xlite sleeping pad, which was basically the same setup that I used on my Massachusetts section hike back in the spring. This time I knew how to use it a lot better, and it worked well for me.

Unfortunately, the sleeping pad that I had loaned Sylvia didn't work as well. I let her use my Big Agnes Q-Core SLX sleeping pad. It's big and comfy, but not super warm. Backpacking sleeping pads have their warmth measured in R-Value. My Xlite is a 4.2, while the Q-Core SLX is a 3.2, so it's understandable why she was cold. I to her that if she wanted a really warm sleeping pad, the best choice is the NeoAir Xtherm, which has a mindboggling R-Value of 6.9! That's actually the pad that I use for winter backpacking.

Either way, we were both able to sleep okay through the night, and we woke up the next morning to do our camp chores and have breakfast. Once we were fed, everything was packed up, and the shelter was swept out, we proceeded on our way. We were now technically on the Appalachian Trail as we proceeded from Garfield over to Galehead.

The first bit of trail wasn't too bad, but then the trail took a right turn and suddenly we were on a steep, rocky descent that also happened to be a stream. Hiking through a stream is never fun, and this was no exception. I went slow and easy, and Sylvia went even slower and easier. I hiked out front so that I could find the best path through and then show her where I went.

Eventually we made it through, and then we began the climb up towards the Galehead Hut. Once we got there, we dropped our stuff off in the Hut, grabbed lunch (potato soup), and hiked up the mountain. Galehead is actually a pretty easy peak to reach from the Hut. Unfortunately, it's also not very rewarding. There is a lookout on the way up that has some views (although mostly obscured by clouds on this day), but the summit itself has absolutely no views.

After we tagged the summit, we hiked back down to the Hut and retrieved our stuff. We were happy to be done with most of the ascent for the hike, and we were ready to hike back down to my car. On the way down, we had a happy surprise. We ran into my hiking friend Andrew as he and his significant other were ascending. I introduced Sylvia, and we chatted for a couple minutes before going on our own separate ways. The hiking community is small, and it's amazing how often things like that happen.

Sylvia and I have a knack for picking out beautiful weekends to hike, and this one was no exception. When we got back to lower elevation, it was a perfect autumn day, complete with leaf color and everything.

We felt very lucky to have had such a successful hike, with no significant problems. I drove Sylvia back to her car, and then we each headed home. I got a chance to hike with Sylvia again the month after, but that will have to be a story for another time. Until then, always remember that you can't take flight until you spread your wings.