| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Galehead Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Beaver Brook XC Ski Trail, Gale River Road, Gale River Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, Frost Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, February 5, 2023 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Plenty of plowed parking at the Beaver Brook Recreation area around 9am. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Ice - Breakable Crust, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow - Drifts |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
All crossings and tributaries were well frozen and not an issue but I did punch through not the first small crossing after the Gale River Trail start. Not a big issue, no wet foot, and could easily avoid this on the way back. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
All good here. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Saw one happy one with a nice hiker who was a gridder. |
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 | Bugs: |
Nope. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
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 | Comments: |
Fun day for my winter #19 on Galehead and second time up overall. The weather turned out super nice and the sun even poked out by the time I got to the summit around 12pm. Admittedly should've bagged this when I did the Twins a few weeks back. Would certainly make this a loop with a car spot if possible in the future and include the Twins or Garfield.
Day trip up from SE Mass so I tried to make decent time and was hoping for good trail conditions. Below the 3000' mark you could get away with spikes or even bare boots for the first few miles. Once that up from the Gale River starts snow got much looser and less consolidated. I chose to use snowshoes the whole day and IMO they were very necessary above the Gale River/GRT junction. Very nice snowshoe path from there all the way to the hut and summit of Galehead where there was some deep snow and drifts.
Crossed one other hiker who was super fun to talk to with his pup, gridding and only 23 peaks left, very awesome! Two trail runners passed me on the way down who had come over the Twins with what appeared to be trail runners and yaktrax or some very light traction, and little gear. Kudos to them for trail running over that but I'm sure they didn't help the trail especially above the 3000' mark. I repacked some of this as they passed me and I think the other hiker ended up behind them probably repacking some of this. Down low it was very packed so no issues there. Most post holes in earlier reports must have been filled in and repacked with more snow/snowshoers.
Only other thing that was notable was how aggressive and "friendly" the Gray Jays are at Galehead hut. Admittedly I have fed some in my earlier hiking days but you really should not feed these guys any human food, had some land near and on my hand even without it for some nice photos. Pretty sure they would've flown off with my food bag if left unattended.
Overall a great day in the Whites and is always nice chatting with other hikers and sharing the beauty of the day. Worth the 6 hours of driving to be 6 hours on the trail. Just about 9am-3pm with a decent break at the hut to drink water and eat.
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 | Name: |
Nick Hikes and Plays Guitar |
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 | E-Mail: |
nicksidla@gmail.com |
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| Date Submitted: |
2023-02-06 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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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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