Hiking in the White Mountains: April 2012

Garfield, Galehead, and the Twins

Date of Hike: 4/29/12

Garfield Trail: 4.8 miles
Garfield Ridge Trail / Campsite Spur: 3.5 miles
Frost Trail: 1.0 miles
Twinway / North Twin Spur: 4.2 miles
Garfield Ridge / Gale River Trail: 4.8 miles
Gale River Road: 1.7 miles
Total Miles: Around 20 miles (6,200 elevation gain)

Trip Report:
- The forecast on Sunday called for clear skies but high winds so I decided it would be a perfect day to head over for a long hike up to Mount Garfield, across the Garfield Ridge to Galehead, and then up the Twinway to South an North Twin.
- Temperatures were around freezing when I started hiking at 8am. The Garfield Trail has very easy and moderate grades with decent footing. There's not much excitement to the trail but it follows the old fire/logging road which is pretty cool.
- The bottom of the trail was snow free, the middle section was a mix of rocks, ice, mud, standing water, and ground cover snow, while the top section where the switchbacks are was snow and ice.
- I made it up to the summit of Mount Garfield quickly and was greeted by the wind which was whipping around 20-25mph with higher gusts. I was able to find a spot on the ledges right behind the old fire tower foundation completely out of the wind and took in the views of the Pemigewasset Wilderness for a good ten minutes before heading north on the Garfield Ridge Trail to Galehead Mountain.
- along the way I stopped in at the Garfield Ridge Campsite to check out the new shelter, it is solidly built and looks magnificent compared to the old one.
- The steep section of the trail just below the campsite which is basically a waterfall was iced over and slow going but fun to maneuver down. I had my microspikes on which only helped out a little since they are old and worn down and one of them has a broken link which managed to snag through my the lower pant leg on my other foot then hooked into a tiny loop hanging from my boot, the chances of this happening are probably about one in a million, but since I was on a trail which made me cry when I was eight, defeated me last year on my quest for the 24 Hour H2H, the odds became 2 to 1. Needless to say I had no idea what happened and stumbled around like a shackled prisoner for about ten feet and fell on my ass!
- When I reached Galehead Hut I finally ran into another hiker who was taking his dog up his first 4,000 footer, the dog was a huge dog, biggest one I've seen on the trails and looked like he was having a good time, although I hope for the hound's sake he wasn't tricked into thinking he was hiking all this way for views!
- In case anyone was wondering, Galehead Mountain summit is still a small bump, with small pile of rocks, in the middle of the woods.
- After the exciting trek to Galehead Summit I headed up the steep Twinway 1,150 feet of elevation gain in just 0.8 miles, it's one of my favorites sections of trail, I love to beat myself up to see how fast I can hike up it where I get awarded with the awesome views from South Twin. It was a little tougher with the snow and ice but I still made good time. As I ascended a helicopter came zooming by just above the trees, at first I thought it was SAR but then it became clear it was doing drop-offs at Galehead Hut to get it ready for opening. Over the next two hours it would fly back and forth dropping stuff off.
- South Twin's summit was very windy but I knew where to go to get out of the wind to enjoy some lunch and stare at the Presidential Range before heading out to North Twin and back.
- The hike over to North Twin was fast and I came across a couple basically doing the opposite hike of what I was doing and three guys doing an out n' back of the Twins. It was windy on North Twin's summit so I wasn't able to enjoy the views that much so I just took pictures and booked it back to South Twin and took a nice break in my favorite spot before slipping and sliding my way down the Twinway to Galehead Hut.
- At the hut the Helicopter came back to pick up the two guys that had been dropped off with the items for Galehead Hut. It was pretty cool to see the helicopter land, take off, and blow everything around, it sure was loud to.
- I talked to a man and a woman from VT who along with their dog had just started hiking the 4,000 footers in NH last August, so far they have enjoyed their hikes in the White Mountains and were looking forward to hiking the rest of them.
- As I descended the Gale River Trail I decided to stay on the original now defunct trail that heads along the Gale River. The new relocated trail stays up on a ridge in the woods and is very boring. The old section is pretty and you get to cross the river twice which is fun.
- Once out to the road I had just under two miles back to the car from the Galehead Trailhead, it's an easy walk that took about thirty minutes, I did find some weird looking man made channels and ponds about two hundred feet in the woods off the road, I have no idea what it was but it sure was interesting and made for a nice end to an great day of hiking!

-On trail at 8am, Garfield 10am, Galehead 11:45am, South Twin 12:30pm, North Twin 1:05pm, Galehead Hut 2:05pm, Gale River Road 3:45pm, Finished 4:20pm. Temperatures in the low 30's to low 40's, winds 20-30 mph on exposed summits, mostly sunny blue skies.

Pictures: Click here for all pictures

Mount Lafayette and Lincoln as seen from Mount Garfield

Garfield Ridge Shelter

Garfield Ridge Trail

Galhead Hut and South Twin from the Frost Trail Outlook

Presidential Range as seen from South Twin Summit

North Twin Spur Trail

Garfield and Franconia Ridges from North Twin Summit, along with seven 4,000 footers

(Galehead, Garfield, Lafayette, Lincoln, Liberty, Flume, and Owl's Head can bee seen in this photo)

South Twin Summit

Helicopter at Galehead Hut

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Another Hike on the Franconia Ridge

Date of Hike: 4/14/12

Falling Waters Trail: 3.4 miles
Franconia Ridge: 1.6 miles
Greenleaf Trail: 1.1 miles
Old Bridle Path: 2.9 miles
Bald Mountain/Artist's Bluff Loop: 1.2 miles
Total Miles: 10.2 (4,500 elevation gain)
Click here for Trail descriptions

Trip Report:
- Last Saturday I was able to get up to Franconia Notch and hike the 'Classic Franconia Ridge Loop.' Skies were sunny and temperatures were well above freezing with winds around 10-15 mph.
- It had snowed two days earlier so I wasn't surprised to see snowshoe tracks past the last river crossing above the falls all the way up to the ridge above treeline. Luckily I was on the trail earlier enough were the snow was still firm and held my weight so I was able to speed up with microspikes on.
- I overpacked for this hike, I brought snowshoes and crampons which stayed on the pack the entire hike, after Saturday's hike and the recent weather (I'm writing this a week after the hike) those will no longer be needed.
- I had the entire Franconia Ridge and the amazing views to myself, ararity for a Saturday. I took my time going across the ridge looking down into the Pemi at places were I might try and explore this summer or fall.
- I find hiking from north Little Haystack to Lincoln-Truman-Lafayette tougher than coming over from Lafayette but I like the views descending Lafayette better than ascending it.
- On Mount Lafayette's summit I got out of the wind and had lunch while sitting in the snow and taking in the views before heading down to Greenleaf Hut.
- As soon as I started descending I ran into the first of a couple of dozen hikers I would pass on the way out. I took a break at the hut before taking off my microspikes and continuing on, I immediately took two nasty falls and decided not to be an idiot and put back on my microspikes until the ledgey outlooks and then it was back to barebooting down the mountain.
- Towards the end at one of the switchbacks I continued strait and followed the original path for the Old Bridle Path, it was still well worn down and easy to follow as I've seen the hut crew use this path before, it probably saves a couple of tenths of a mile if that.
- Back at the trailhead I jumped into the car and headed over to the Bald Mountain / Artist's Bluff Loop Trail for a quick hike before heading home. This little loop is a great hike for beginners with incredible views of Cannon Mountain, Franconia Notch, Echo Lake, and Mount Lafayette.

Pictures: Click here for all pictures

View from Bald Mountain

Stairs Falls

Mount Lincoln

Franconia Ridge Trail

Mount Lafayette

Eagle Lake and Mount Lafayette

Flume Slide & Owl's Head Slide

Date of Hike: 4/7/12

Basin Bushwhack / Liberty Spring Trail: 3.0 miles
Francoia Ridge Trail: 1.5 miles
Flume Slide Trail / Basin Bushwhack: 4.0 miles
Total Miles: 8.5 (3,600 elevation gain)
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Lincoln Woods Trail: 2.9 miles
Franconia Brook Trail: 1.7 miles
Lincoln Brook Trail: 3.4 miles
Owl's Head Path: 2.5 miles
Lincoln / Franconia Brook / Lincoln Woods Trail: 8. 0 miles
Total Miles: 18.5 (2,850 elevation gain)
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27.0 miles (6,450 elevation gain)
Click here for trail descriptions

Trip Report:
- My original plan was to hike the whole Franconia Ridge but the weather report called for cloudy skies and high winds above treeline so I decided to play it safe and hike Mount Liberty and Flume.
- I was on the trail early (around 6:30am) to hopefully get some good views before the clouds came rolling in.
- The hike up was not to exciting, the snow started to build up about halfway up the Liberty Spring Trail. I ran into two guys who camped out the night before at the tentsite who were surprised to see anyone that early in the morning.
- When I made it to the summit of Mount Liberty I was thrilled to have great views with cool cloud formations floating above the mountains, I was also bummed that I didn't hike up Lafayette and make my way over the whole Franconia Ridge.
- From Liberty I made the quick down and up over to Flume Mountain where I looked back at Mount Liberty and was not to psyched about going back over and then down the pretty boring Liberty Spring Trail. I decided what the hell let me go down the Flume Slide Trail, I've always wanted to go down it, albeit in the summer, but it'll add some excitement to my hike.
- I put on my microspikes for the journey down the slide, one of which is partially broken but still works very well even if they are both worn down.
- I was pretty nervous at first not knowing what to expect, luckily the slide was a mix of bare rock, old crunchy snow, and two pretty big ice flows. I carefully made my way down using small trees to hang onto for safety, I avoided the two ice flow sections by hugging trees on the side of the trail, and butt slide down the usually bare rock steep sections when needed. It ended up being a lot easier than I thought.
- Once past the slide section I looked for any signs of the Original Flume Slide Trail which came up from the Flume Gorge, I have and idea of where it comes in and saw what looked like two spots with 'trail corridors' but they could have old logging roads as far as I know.
- I ran into a dozen hikers heading up, all with different amounts of gear, all having fun.
- About a hundred yards from the Basin Bushwhack I took a gnarly fall on a flat section of the Liberty Spring Trail, scraping myself up in a couple of places and bashing my knee.
- I made it back to the car around 10:30am and my knee was a little sore so I thought the best solution was to 'walk it off' and what is a better way to walk it off than to venture into the middle of nowhere deep in the Pemigewasset Wilderness to everyone's favorite mountain, Owl's Head!
- I decided to stick to the regular trails in and out, no bushwhacks, and try something different for this hike, not take a picture until I reached the summit and only stop at trail junctions to refuel and hydrate.
- On trail at 11:20am, Franconia Brook Trail 12:05pm, Lincoln Brook Trail 12:35pm, Owl's Head Path 1:35pm, Owl's Head Summit 2:10pm, Lincoln Brook Trail 2:45pm, Franconia Brook Trail 3:50pm, Lincoln Woods Trail 3:50pm, finished 5:20pm
- I was psyched to hike the regular trails and not have to deal with the Black Pond Bushwhack with it's annoying PUD (pointless up and down).
- There were not as many people on the Lincoln Woods Trail as I thought I'd see, I did pass four hikers heading up the Osseo trail to camp out and I saw a couple looking like they wanted to get a little frisky on the Franconia Brook Bridge.
- Once on the Franconia Brook Trail I didn't see anyone until Owl's Head Slide. Hiking through here is eerie as you hike over old logging roads, railroad grades, campsites with old rusted railroad parts and cans, through a dense forest, tricky water crossings which can be as easy as a rock hop to a thigh high forge in ice cold water. Luckily for me all the crossing were a simple one-two-three rock hop and the trail which is lightly used was easy to follow today.
- Once I started up the Owl's Head Path, I ran into another hiker at the start of the slide who told me microspikes were a necessity. The slide is my favorite part of the hike, it's excessively steep with loose footing but wicked fun. The open part of the slide was mostly dry rock with some ice here and there but once the slide disappeared back into the woods there were ice flows in the trail. I used trees here to pull and hop up through the tricky sections.
- Once above the icy part it was packed snow and the usual spring hiking, I passed two guys right before gaining the ridge and then made my way past the old summit over to the new one making sure to stay on the packed semi-monorail.
- Once at the summit I put on my microspikes, put on a dry layer, and got the camera out so it was ready to take pictures for the hike back out.
- The hike back down the slide was a little trickier because now I had the views in front of me and was taking pictures so I needed to be sure my footing was always good before snapping away.
- Once on the Lincoln Brook Trail I started to feel the effects of the miles I had hiked and realized I still had about seven more to go.
- I enjoyed the hike out, stopping to take a bunch of pictures and found a really huge piece of old railroad equipment or part of a trestle about one hundred yards from the first major brook crossing on the Lincoln Brook Trail.
- The hike back out through the Franconia Brook Trail was interesting, I saw a huge grouse and checked out the swamp which had a nice view of Owl's Head.
- After passing the swamp it was a slog back to the Lincoln Woods Trail and once on the Lincoln Woods Trail it was the usual battle of wills and the attempt to not stub my boots on old railroad ties.
- I was thrilled to see the East Branch suspension bridge and felt great to finally stop hiking once back at the car. My body was beat to sh!t but I did 'walk off' the soreness in my knee! I stretched for a good twenty minutes before heading into town for an ice cold beer and to stuff my face after a kick ass day in the White Mountains!

Pictures: Click here for all pictures

Flume Mountain

Cannon Mountain and the Cannon Balls

Franconia Ridge

Flume Slide

Owl's Head Slide

Franconia Ridge

Owl's Head Slide

Lincoln Brook Trail

Lincoln Brook

Rail Road Equipment

Good Friday - Good Hiking

Date of Hike: 4/6/12

Mount Tecumseh Trail: 5.0 miles
Webster-Jackson Trail: 5.2 miles
Flume Gorge / Bushwhacks: 1.8 miles
Total Miles: 12.0 (4,750 elevation gain)

Trip Report:
- Good Friday I spent hiking before work, during my lunch break, and after work.
I left RI at 4:30am and headed north for an easy hike up Mount Tecumseh. On trail at 7am, summit 8am, finished 8:45, laptop working it by 9:15am! Temps were around 30, with a very light snow falling, sub-par views but not clouded in, and some howling wind higher up.
- The trail was a mix of bare ground, rocks, ice, and old packed down snow with ice underneath, nothing to exciting about the hike except I took the Sosman Trail out to the ski slopes, and hiked the ski trails before heading back over to the trail where the outlook is.
- Back at the car I took a little break and headed over to Lincoln where I worked until my lunch break and the headed up Mount Jackson for some views.
- There was more snow and ice on Jackson than Tecumseh but still I managed it without having to put any traction on. The best part of Hiking Mount Jackson is the final half mile where you get a glimpse of the summit ledges and then make your wat to and up them.
- On the summit I talked to a group of three hikers backpacking the Presidential Range, they were hoping to make it to Eisenhower or Lakes of the Clouds before setting up camp, then tackle Mount Washington and Clay tomorrow hopefully camping in the Sphinx Col before finishing the northern presi's on Sunday.
- After taking a bunch of pics I quickly descended and worked from the Highland Center until 5pm and headed over to check out the Flume Gorge and Pool.
- It's a touristy thing but closed until May so I had the whole place to myself, it's pretty remarkable scenary on there as you walk through a well maintained foot path over a 1.5 mile loop.
- The highlights is the Flume and Liberty Gorge and the Pool, the Pool was most impressive!

Pictures: Click here for all pictures

Tripyramids from Waterville Valley

Webster-Jackson Trail

Willey, Field, and Tom from Mount Jackson

Southern Presidential Range

Flume Gorge

Liberty Gorge

The Pool

The Pool and Sentenial Bridge

Mount Liberty, Flume, and Whaleback (left to right)

Back ----> To The Bonds!

Date of Hike: 3/31/12

Lincoln Woods / Wilderness Trail: 4.7 miles
Bondcliff / West Bond Spur Trail: 12.2 miles
Lincoln Woods / wilderness Trail: 4.7 miles
Total Miles: 22.6 (4,700 Elevation Gain)
Click here for trail descriptions

Trip Report:
- It's springtime in the White Mountains which usually means hellish conditions with melting soft snow, monorails, postholing, mud, tricky water crossings, etc., but after the 'winter that never was' conditions are pretty tame in the higher elevations.
- Saturday was a perfect day for one of my favorite hikes, an Out n' back of the Bonds. Temperatures would be in the 30's the whole day with no wind with high cloud cover in the morning breaking away to blue skies in the afternoon. Conditions were late April like with ground snow cover to a dying monorail above 3,500 feet.
- The hike along the Lincoln Woods / Wilderness Trail went quickly, I didn't see another person but saw boot prints in the patches of snow that were remaining. Once on the Bondcliff Trail I passed by a guy and a girl heading to Bondcliff for the day.
- The trail before the first two crossings was a mostly bare ground, once past the second crossing the snow was consistent but only couple of inches of beaten down old snow. I put on my microspikes just before the short 0.2 mile steep stretch before the last water crossing were I stopped to take a break and filtered some water.
- From here until treeline the snow depth increased and there were mini ankle-busting postholes and a rotting monorail. I'm happy that I'm lucky enough to never roll my ankles because if I was prone to that it would have been difficult not to.
- Once above treeline I was rewarded with amazing views and no wind and I was in for another great hike above treeline. I took a long break on Bondcliff making sure to take a bunch of pictures. I saw there was a hiker heading up to Mount Bond but no one else.
- After about fifteen minutes I continued on and made my way up to Mount Bond where I finally ran into the hiker who was spending the weekend camping out and hiking in the Pemigewasset Wilderness.
- From here over to West Bond the snow depth increased again and the monorail became much trickier to navigate with deeper old frozen postholes. What made it really tricky was the fresh snow that had fallen was hiding most of the postholes making for a real interesting hike. I had to balance myself on the monorail and avoid the ankle-busters, it actually was fun since I was the first hiker on this stretch and each step I never knew if I would slip off the side of the monorail, step into an old posthole, or solid packed snow.
- The views from West Bond were phenomenal, I took another break and took a lot of pictures. While I was on West Bond I saw a group of three hikers coming over from Guyot. I would run into them on the West Bond Spur Trail as I headed back towards Mount Bond.
- On my hike back out the cloud cover was breaking up and bright blue skies came in. It was pretty awesome to see as I was approaching the summit of Bond.
- I had lunch on Mount Bond before heading down to Bondcliff where I took one last break before the 9 + miles walk back to the car. Usually the hike back down the Bondcliff Trail and out through the Lincoln Woods / Wilderness Trail is a suffer-fest but today it went by fast and was fun.
- on the way out I ran into the guy and girl who spent the day on Bondcliff and then I ran into a bunch of people over the last two miles who were enjoying a nice stroll on the old railroad.
- Back at the car I changed into clean clothes and jump started a car for two other hikers whose car battery died before heading back to RI.
- It was an incredible day in the White Mountains and felt great to be back hiking after a few weeks away!

Pictures: Click here for all pictures