Team ChacoPak: 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.