Garflield Trail, Frost Trail, Gale River Trail

Got a late start on Saturday and drove up to the Trailhead (TH) at Gale River Loop Road.  The lot had about 16 or so cars. We knew it was Victoria Day Weekend so lots of Canadians. Plus there beloved hockeys teams are finished in playoffs, GO BRUINS, so needless to say, lots of Canadians. The hike was great. Garfield Trail is in great condition. The long gradual uphill was great and we got into some good rhythms. The rocks dont start really until just before the last little climb up to the tentsite junction. There was still some snow and wet ice as you climb the summit but that is about it. We made great time and were the first one's to arrive. We took the same tentpad we took in 2008 and had the stars above us and a sunrise over The Twin Mountains. We watered up really nicely and ate dinner early. We did not filter or treat any if our water all weekend. Water was plentiful and ice cold. We went up to the summit of Garfield and hung out on the top for a few then made our way down to some of the ledges and hung out for a bit. We came down early and got back to out tent to find a 2007 Thruhiker named, SpaceMan. Had a great time sharing stories. Went to bed early but got up at 2am. The stars were outstanding and an orange ring cluster of stars stretched across the sky. I sat up for a few minutes just to watch the stars get brighter and brighter.
We woke up at 5am and saw the sunrise over North Twin Mtn. We had a great breakfast and left out by 7 am. We took it nice and slow going up Galehead. There was a bit more snow on this climb and Grayson rolled around in it and had fun. We got to Galehead Hut as everyone was leaving so we had the grassy patch to ourselves and SpaceMan. The caretaker at the Hut had made brownies and cookies so we had a major munch fest. The view was amazing and we took a nice long break and really took the chance to relax. Temps were probably in the mid 60's and there was a nice light breeze. We walked the half mile up the Frost Trail to the top of Galehead and back down. After we took another long break we got our packs back on and took off down the mountain and hit the Gale River Trail which had some nice decents and some ice. It was trickey in spots but fun. The last couple of miles were fresh new trail as result of a reroute from the bridge washouts. The trail was in great condition and super easy. This section of trail is beautifully maintained. We saw very little trash and packed out very little trash. Garfield is a great place to tent for the night. We had a great time. There were probably 8 tents and 4-5 people in the shelter. There was no caretaker.

Grayson walking with an empty pack

Garfield Tentsite

North and South Twin from Mt Garfield

View of The Whites from Garfield

Franconia Ridge from Garfield

The snow going up

view spot at Garfield

Mt Garfield summit

Hanging on Garfield

Sunrise over North Twin

The drop off of Garfield

Galehead

Galehead

Relaxing at Galehead Hut

The trail up Galehad

Team ChacoPak

Another Great Hike

Franconia Traverse via Falling Waters and Old Bridle Path

Got to the trailhead at 8am and was on trail by 8:15. Falling Waters Trail is a really beautiful trail in the first mile. The climb up the falls was fun. The rest fo the climb was great. Before the Alpine Zone there is a strecth of about half a mile of frozen icy monorail and post holes. It got tricky in spots but I was glad I had microspikes. I used them for about half an hour before the ice disappeared. The ridge was perfect. There were hikers on top of Lafayette when I was at the bottom so I got cool shot of someone standing on the summit. Grayson did very well. He is solid muscle and can hike anything. We stopped for a snack before heading above treeline. I was nervous about high winds, but the ridge had some gusts of maybe 30 mph. Nothing to be alarmed over. The traverse went quickly because it was pretty cold. We kept moving and settled in behine the rocks in the rocks walls between Lincoln and Lafayette. Grayson is really starting to hit a stride with how easily he can naviagate tough little rock scrambles. He is really quick. The Mushers Wax works great on his paws, although he is a little red, but nothing that seems to bother him. We hung out and had lunch in the foundation on Mt Lafayette. Grayson Summited number's 4,5,6 on his 4000 Footer list. I have been giving huge food rewards on summits and he loves earning his peanut butter Wet Noses Cookies. So here are the pictures from a really amazing hike. This was me and Grayson's first solo-hike together. I could definitely tell a difference in his demeanor when Wak is not with us. He still seems very happy, but he misses momma.

Walker Brook Falls

Little Haystacks

Franconia Ridge

Franconia Ridge

Monday morning 

Grayson on Mt Lincoln

Grayson and Chaco on Mt Lincoln with Mt Lafayette behind us

COOKIE!!!!!!

Grayson Mt Lafayette

Grayson and Daddy

You can see the Old Bridle Path going down off the mountain

Southern Presidentials- Pierce, Eisenhower, Franklin

Set out from Crawford Path parking lot on Saturday afternoon, late. The first half to 3/4 mile is wet and rocky. The Fallsa re beautiful and flowing nicely. The ice and snow start on the climb up towards Mitzpah Cutoff and its a monorail of quickly loosening packed snow about 2 feet deep in spots. After Mitzpah Cutoff is just a matter of slogging up to Mitzpah Hut. We arrived to find the Hut open. Nauman tentsite had platforms with 2-3 feet of snow and ice. We got shovels and had to dig out a spot for the tent. There was some pretty thick ice. So we cooked dinner and had some time to just hang out but it got chilly so we got Grayson ready for his first night in the tent. We prepared for barking and restlessness. As soon as he crawled in, he went right to sleep and slept through the night. He loved sleeping next to us! I got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and the stars were incredible. What a gorgeous night.
We woke up about 5:30 am and had a great breakfast. We had to fuel up for being above treeline. Grayson ate really well too. The climb out of Mitzpah was a sluggish snowy mess. Once we came out above treeline the temps rose. We kept taking off and puting on microspikes as there was still deep snow in between the summits. The views were amazing so Ill just let the pics speak for the rest of the blog. We did see folsk without traction turning around at about 3000 feet. Traction will probably be necessary for the next month for above 3000 feet, especially on the Presidential's.

Crossing the bridge on Crawford Path

Grayson hitting the trail

The monorail

Before pic of tentpad at Nauman

After pic Nauman

Morning coffee

Ready for some hikin

Taking it all in

Close to the summit of Mt Pierce 

Team ChacoPak on Mt Pierce

The AT along the Southern Presidential Range

Eisenhower in front, Washington in back

Franklin, Monroe and Washington

Looking south towards Pierce

Mt Eisenhower Summit

Mt Franklin looking towards Monroe and Washington

Chaco Taco on Mt Franklin