| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Galehead Mountain, Mt. Garfield, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Gale River Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, Frost Trail, Garfield Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, November 11, 2012 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Gale River Loop Road was open, we left a car at each lot. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Wet Trail, Ice - Blue, Wet/Slippery Rock, Ice - Breakable Crust, Mud - Minor/Avoidable, Snow - Wet/Sticky, Mud - Significant, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Slush, Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Light Traction |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
No problems on any of them. Just watch out for what looks like wet rocks actually being black ice, there was one or two spots early in the morning. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Couple largish blowdowns on Garfield Ridge between Gale River and the Garfield campsite, but as of now none were troublesome. One or two likely will be more of an issue once a few feet of snow fall and they are no longer easy duck unders. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
With all the slush and snow, probably a great dog hike. Saw a couple en-route to the hut, followed the tracks of one all day (passed us early in AM). |
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 | Bugs: |
Nope. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Gumbyhiker, we found a green hat along Garfield Ridge Trail, sounds like it was yours. Left it on the Garfield Trail sign at the road, opposite the black hat you left. |
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 | Comments: |
Crazy mixed bag of conditions on this one. It was winter early, with no problems coming up Gale River Trail. Easy going really. 1" of snow at the trailhead transitioned to about 3-4" at the hut, packed snow though due to the mid-30s temps. Hit Galehead's summit and took a break at the hut. Just as we left the hut, the heavy overcast that was around 4500 feet blew away in minutes, and the sun was out all afternoon. This led to rotten conditions across the Garfield Ridge Trail, as the trees were all covered in snow and now melting heavily (temps were also in the 40s). It was like it was raining for 2 hours...Trail conditions across the ridge varied from hard packed snow to 4-5" of slushy, mostly melted snow. Not a whole lot of fun to slog through, but the views off Garfield were worth it.
Used microspikes going up the waterfall section just below the Garfield Campsite, and used them for the first 1/2-1 mile coming down the Garfield Trail until things got a little bony. Luckily the trees were done "raining" by the time we descended.
Nice day weather-wise, thanks to HOSSinNH for providing some company on this one. Congrats on hitting the halfway-point on your 4K list. I finished a complete round of the NH48 in 2012 with Garfield. |
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 | Name: |
madmattd |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2012-11-12 |
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 | Link: |
 https://mattshikes.blogspot.com/ |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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