Northeast Adventures-
Galehead and Garfield
5-28-17
Another adventure begins with me and my best friend deciding to head up to the White Mountains for another adventure. We had set our eyes, to camp out at Thirteen falls and then hike MT Garfield,and Galehead Mountain, with a potential trip to South Twin.We arrived at the all familiar Lincoln woods trail head where we donned our packs after the 4 hour car ride.We put on our loaded 70liter packs and hit the trailhead. The weather was forecasted to be hot and sunny. We started off the Lincoln woods trail which was a very flat trail, with alot of history to it. In fact the trail we were walking was where the old rail road was. It can be a spooky walk in the middle of the night, buts that’s for another blog. The trails were very busy with lots of people hikers, and those just out for the walk. We passed plenty of signs depicting warnings and proper bear protocol. After the distance on the flat ground we finally made it to the bridge which indicated we were now in wilderness. We made our way onto the Franconia Brook trail where we would be on until we reach the junction to our campsite. It was a beautiful summer day, it was sunny and hot with a light breeze. The trees were full of green and many bright colors. We soon passed the junction for Owls head, another 4000 footers that is always a long day if you are trying to do it one day.
After we made it past the first junction we soon found ourselves walking in the woods with the audible sounds of a stream and wind blowing through the trees. We found ourselves with multiple water crossings. The First water crossing required us to rock hop which wasn’t a difficult thing as long as you took your time. Some of the rocks were loose so the last thing you wanted was to fall in or sprain an ankle. Once we got to the other side we continued on our way until the next crossing. The weather was absolutely beautiful , still not a cloud in the sky. We started passing a couple of hiking groups as we pressed on. We soon made it to another stream crossing this time it was a little more difficult as the water was higher and there was a bit of current. This was not a problem as it was warm and we knew our stuff would eventually dry out. So we took of our shoes and socks, rolled out or shorts and got into the thigh high cold water. Wading through you could feel the cold water shock as you made your way to the other side. The sensation of cold feet to warm hot dirt felt incredible. After putting on our footwear we were soon back on our way. We soon started hiking with a stream/brook that turned into multiple waterfalls to our left. This meant that we were closing in on 13 falls AMC campsite. The water was calm and gentle but moving fluidly. We decided to take the scenic route working our way up the brook in the shallower sections. The sun was beaming on the rock making it nice and warm. We soon hit the junction for the campsite where we proceeded to grab a pad. Being memorial weekend we took the first one that we could get.
We started to unload our gear and set up our tent. The tent we were using was the Nemo dagger 2person tent. A fantastic tent for 1 person and even 2 person. We soon had everything set up. It was still early in the afternoon with a lot of sunlight left. We headed out to check out the water falls. It looked like at somepoint there were posts or something manmade in the rocks as they led to the waterfalls. It was waterfall after water fall. The water was warm and we also stumbled upon a couple of illegal campsites as they were too close to water features. It was one of those days that you just know is a great day. After heading back to the campsite after exploring , we decided to take a nap on a warm rock. A few hours later and after I got sun burnt we headed back to the camp. We started up the stove and started to cook our food. I was having a mountain House Lasagna and my friend was having some homemade cooked meal. The food was delicious and well timed as just was we were finishing our meals.
We proceeded to clean up and make sure that all food items were in the bear box so that we wouldn’t get any unwanted visitors. After cleaning up me and my partner decided to get an early sleep so we could get up early and make the push early. We soon went to bed and started to wind down. Morning soon came, it hadn’t rained though there was a light fog in the campsite. Most campers were still asleep so we did try to be quiet. We got our gear together and headed over to the cooking area where we prepared our breakfast. After eating our breakfast we set out to MT Garfield via the Franconia brook trail. It wasn’t too cold in the morning but there was a noticeable temperature difference. As we made our way out of the campsite we saw that it had been a very busy camping area as there were alot of campers where there wasn’t supposed to be camping. Unfortunately that can happen on holidays and 3 day weekends. The trail was wet and muddy in sections The air was still quiet as much people and most of nature hadn’t woken up wet. We passed a couple of backcountry campers using hammocks , only noticeable through their reflective cording holding their hammocks up. Marching our way up the trail we were scanning the trails hoping to see a moose or some kind of bear. As we made our way up it was starting to clear up and get sunny out. We soon found ourselves at the junction of Franconia brook trail and Garfield Ridge Trail. We proceed to head west to Mt Garfield.
Soon after the Junction we past a boy scout group who didn’t look very energetic and asked us how long it was to the trail head. All we could do was say you got a bit. It started getting very steep, we had some scrambled but luckily there wasn’t too much blow down and wet rock. It started getting steeper and we were now working. We passsed the watersupply by the amc campsite. There were a couple of hikers filtering water by the supply. We exchanged greetings and we were on our way. We soon made our way to the top, we came out to a clearing and you could see the old foundation of the MT Garfield fire tower. We were greeted by 360 degree views and completely blue skies. After standing on the foundation and taking pictures and enjoying the moment we decided to head back. Before heading down we ran into a guy who was working towards his 4000 footers journey. He had a picture of Garfield the cat with him. After sharing a few laughs we headed down. It was great descent down back to camp as we had blue skies still going down. When we got back to camp it was very empty, besides our tents there weren’t too many tents still there. We broke down our camp and headed out.
We would be heading out the same way we came. This time we navigated the water crossings a little better. After hiking back on the Franconia Brook trail we soon hit the bridge and a sign saying you are leaving wilderness. We knew now we didn’t have too much longer. At this point it was close to 4pm so we ran into a lot of fellow backpackers and day hikers. We soon made it back to the completely full lot and ended another great trip.
