Hiking in the White Mountains: Galehead Mountain

Date of Hike: 11/3/15

Mount Garfield Trail: 4.5 miles / Garfied Ridge Trail: 3.2 miles / Frost Trail: 0.8 miles / Twinway: 0.8 miles / North Twin Spur: 2.3 miles / Twinway: 0.8 miles / Garfield ridge Trail: 0.6 miles / Gale River Trail: 3.7 miles / Gale River Road: 1.5 miles
Total Miles: 18.2 (6,015 feet elevation gained) Garmin Forerunner 910XT

Trip Report:
- In late October of 2009 I took a day off during the week and had a chilly but great hike along the boundary of the Pemigewasset Wilderness. Just over six years later I decided to re-do the hike under basically the same conditions, albeit a little warmer. That day six years ago I saw only three other hikers, fast forward to 2015 and I only saw three other hikers again!
- There have been a few changes along the trails since 2009, one, the Garfield Ridge lean-to has been rebuilt and, two, the Gale River Trail has had a one mile relocation to avoid two water crossings, in 2005 a bridge was wiped out and in 2011 Tropical Storm Irene eroded a small section of the trail that skirts the riverbank.
- I started out along the Mount Garfield Trail which has very easy to moderate grades as it follows and old fire warden road through an open pine and maple forest, followed by a nice section of birch, until entering what I refer to as 'scraggly' pines above 4,000 feet.
- All the leaves have fallen from the trees covering the rocks creating a mini ankle-twisting mine field at the lower elevations, it does make the trail look pretty even though it's tough to see what you're stepping on. There are a couple of water crossings on the Mount Garfield Trail, the first one is kind of odd as you cross the main stream then almost immediately cross a tiny tributary putting you on an island of sorts for a few hundred feet before making another main stream crossing.
- The trail comes to an end at the Garfield Ridge Trail, here I headed right for a few tenths of a mile up to the summit of Mount Garfield. It's a short and steep burst over dirt, roots, and rocks of all sizes which gets the heart pumping but before long the summit is reached which has great views from the old tower foundation into the Pemigewasset Wilderness. Franconia Ridge to the east dwarfs over Owl's Head which just looks like a lump in the middle of the horseshoe that makes up the Pemi boundry.
- From the summit I turned back around and headed towards Galehead over the numerous up and downs along the Garfield Ridge. There is one major decent which is just below the Garfield Ridge Tentsite, it's steep and rocky and usually has water flowing over parts of it. This time of year ice forms here so it can be a tedious descent which is a few hundred feet long. Luckily, there was no ice as it has been very warm for early November.
- As I closed in on the hut and headed up Galehead on the Frost Trail I leap-frogged with a backpacker doing a four day Pemi Loop. We were talking about how great the weather has been for the fist week of November and how he couldn't have picked a better four days to hike the Pemi. His goal for the day was to head to Guyot after spending the night at the Garfield ridge Tentsite.
- Galehead Mountain's summit does not have a view, there is just a pile of rocks, however it does have a nice little outlook below the summit. from the outlook is a great view of the Galehead Hut with South Twin and North Twin rising high above it. South Twin was my next goal for the day and the way up to the summit was via the Twinway.
- The Twinway from the hut to South Twin is 0.8 miles and one of the steepest sections of trail in the White Mountains. The footing is rough in spots over roots and odd sized boulders and can become icy in spots but once again with the warm temps it was smooth sailing so to speak and I made it up to the summit in relatively good time. South Twin has tremendous views and on a nice fall day you can see for well over fifty miles in all directions, The Presidential Range rising high above all the other mountains to the north is probably the best view that the summit offers.
- Next up was an out and back to North Twin via the North Twin Spur. It's just over a mile long and has an easy descent and ascent over good footing. North Twin's summit has a nice outlook with a really great view back down to Galhead and Owl's Head with the Garfield and Franconia Ridges in full view too.
- After taking in the views for a few minutes I headed back over to South Twin and then dropped steeply down the Twinway past the hut on the Garfield Ridge Trail and banged a right onto the Gale River Trail. The Gale River Trail isn't that exciting, to make it a little more adventurous I stayed on the abandoned section of the trail that crosses the Gale River twice. The crossings were low and the old trail was very easy to follow. It is becoming narrower and in the summer bushes would intrude some of the trail but since it's fall every leaf was down and the trail was not obstructed anywhere.
- After a mile I hooked back onto the regular trail and made my way to the Gale River Loop Road where I had an easy road walk back to my car.
- It was a really nice way to spend the early morning and afternoon on the trails. It was very quiet day on the trails and I was happy that the warm weather is sticking around a little because I know it will be cold, wet, and icy as 'shoulder season' sets in.

The lower end of the Mount Garfield Trail travels up an old Fire Warden road. This time of year the trail is covered with a few inches of leaves

Water crossings on the Mount Garfield Trail

Looking back at the crossing, it's kind of a goofy looking one!

As the trail gains elevation the trees change from birch to 'scraggly' pines

The summit of Mount Garfield has an old fire tower foundation. It has a really nice view of Owl's Head, AKA Owlie, AKA the Lump of the Pemi

Looking to the west at the only clouds hiding in the valley north of Franconia Notch

Franconia Ridge

The top of the 'waterfall' section of the Garfield Ridge Trail. Galehead and South Twin in view

The Garfield Ridge Trail

Galehead Hut

From the hut I took the Frost Trail up to the summit

The twins and the hut from the Frost Trail outlook

Heading up the steep and rugged Twinway

South Twin summit and looking to my next stop, North Twin Mountain

Hiking to North Twin and back to South Twin

Galehead Hut, Galehead, Owl'd Head, Liberty and Flume as seen from North Twin's summit

About 60% of the horseshoe that makes up the boundary of the Pemigewasset Wilderness, Garfield and Franconia Ridges (Galehead, Garfield, Lafayette, Lincoln, Little Haystack, Liberty, and Flume)

South Twin's bare summit

The Presidential Range rising high above everything else to the north

Hiking down the Gale River Trail

The new/old trail split (upper left) and two pictures of the old trail corridor which is easy to follow

Upper crossing of the Gale River Trail on the abandoned section of the trail

Lower crossing of the Gale River on the abandoned section of the trail

Hiking along the leaf covered lower section of the Gale River Trail

Gale River Loop Road

A nice road walk along the Gale River Loop Road

Well look at who made the poster...Mr. Smackers!!! (fun with Photoshop)

Signs spotted along the way

Signs spotted along the way II

Route for the day (click here for details)

Elevation profile for the hike

Date of Hike: 9/7/15

Lincoln Woods Trail: 3.0 miles / Franconia Brook Trail: 1.6 miles / Lincoln Brook Trail: 3.3 miles / Owl's Head Path: 2.2 miles / Lincoln Brook Trail: 3.5 miles / Franconia Brook Trail: 2.1 miles / Garfield Ridge Trail: 2.2 miles / Frost Trail: 0.8 miles / Twin Brook Trail: 2.4 miles / Franconia Brook Trail: 5.2 miles / Lincoln Woods Trail: 3.0 miles
Total Miles: 29.3 miles (6,115 feet elevation gained) Garmin 910XT

Trip Report:
- September usually brings in cool crisp temperatures which is perfect for hiking, unfortunately summer didn't get the memo as a nasty heat wave came moseying on through New England Labor Day weekend. Whitney and I decided to take the sticky and humid weather straight on by heading to two of the lesser popular mountains in the Pemi Wilderness, Galehead, which is about as exciting as a lump of coal on Christmas, and Owl's Head, which most hikers talk about unfavorably. I share the same sentiment for Galehead but Owlie I love because of its remoteness and logging history.
- Both of us had a goal for the day, Whitney would be working on new red-lines, hiking on the Lincoln Brook Trail past Owl's Head Path for the first time (3.5 miles), the Franconia Brook Trail past the Lincoln Brook Trail junction all the way up to the Garfield Ridge Trail (5.7 miles ), and the Twin Brook Trail (2.4 miles). For me it would be the first time I would be hiking Galehead in the month of September, so it would go towards a grid peak, Owl's Head I had hiked before in September but I like it and it would make the September 'grid' hike of Galehead much more adventurous than the usual out and back from Gale River Road.
- We got an early start to beat the crowds as we headed towards the wilderness boundary. It was a really relaxing walk and it wasn't too hot yet so it was enjoyable as we made our way to the wilderness boundary. When we reached the boundary we banged a left onto the Franconia Brook Trail and headed towards Owl's Head. We started to run into backpackers heading out from spending a few days in the woods, most probably stayed at Thirteen Falls Campsite, but a few probably found even quieter spots off trail. After hiking almost two miles on the Franconia Brook Trail we hooked onto the Lincoln Brook Trail and started to circumvent below the lump that is Owl's Head.
- Lincoln Brook Trail has a reputation of tricky, hazardous, and sometimes dangerous water crossings. Quite a few hikers bypass the first two crossings, which are the largest, by bushwhacking from the Black Pond or Franconia Falls trails. I do this only in the winter and early spring, otherwise the crossings are fun unless there has been heavy rain. Usually I can rock hop across with care or end up just getting the tops of my trail runners wet. On Monday the crossings were the lowest I had ever seen them because of the lack of rain over the past few weeks.
- After the the two big crossings there are a couple of smaller ones before the trail reaches the Owl's Head Path. We had already hiked eight miles during the morning, but it was an easy eight miles over the old railroad grades. Now it was time to shoot straight up over Owl's Head Slide and eventually to the top of Owlie and its wooded summit.
- The Slide is the best part of this hike, it's short but very steep. The bottom part is made up of very loose rocks and gravel, while the rest of it is ledgey rock some solid, some brittle. Views from the middle and upper part of the slide are great, you get a sweet view of Franconia Ridge and the behemoth that is the Lincoln Slide which drops from Franconia Ridge into the Pemi Wilderness.
- After awhile we made our way to the summit where we took a break before backtracking down the slide. The slide which is slow-going going up is even slower-going going down, this is a good thing because it makes you stop to look up and take in the views one last time before heading back into the woods.
- Next up we headed to Thirteen Falls over the very lightly traveled northern section of the Lincoln Brook Trail. It used to be overgrown and muddy but over the past few years the narrow sections have been trimmed back and the awful mud spots have been fixed up or slightly re-routed. Hikers constantly worry that this section of the Lincoln Brook Trail is hard to stay on but it real isn't. The only spot which could be tricky is just past the Owl's Head Path junction, the trail heads uphill to the right for a hundred feet through a tiny rocky old drainage steps before heading left and leveling out again. Other than that the trail corridor is well defined enough that unless you are not paying attention it's easy to travel.
- The trail heads up to a height of land before gradually descending to Thirteen Falls. There are a few beautiful swimming holes over the last quarter of a mile of the Lincoln Brook Trail at Thirteen Falls. If you look close enough you can even see fish in some of the pools. I was shocked as I never thought I'd spot a fish in these pools that head to the falls. I was thinking of jumping in since it was hot out but I knew if we did there was no way we'd feel like hiking up to the ridge and we would have bailed early and just head back to Lincoln Woods.
- From the end of the Lincoln Brook Trail we took a left and headed up to Garfield Ridge via the upper section of the Franconia Brook Trail. This is section of the Franconia Brook Trail is uphill, unlike the first five miles which it almost totally flat. It's a pretty tame hike up to the ridge with decent to ok footing with a gradual grade. We made quick work of this section and then made decent time over the PUDs of the Garfield Ridge Trail to Galeheaf Hut.
- We took a nice break at the hut before the quick up and down to our second lump of a mountain we summited on the day, Galehead, where we were rewarded with a pile of rocks in the middle of the woods, yes it's one of the least exciting summits in the White Mountains! Still, it was a fun way to 'bag' Galehead and we had a long but nice walk through the woods left back to Lincoln Woods.
- Our route back to the car was down the Twin Brook Trail, which is steep with rocky footing for a few tenths of a mile but then becomes a real nice hike down to Thirteen Falls over easy grades and great footing. Once we hit the campsite we hiked out the Franconia Brook Trail and Lincoln woods Trail as the sun set. It was a nice hike out as darkness surrounded us and we had the last ten miles along the trails all to ourselves!