Mt. Garfield, January 2005

Summary
OwnerMITOC Gallery Administrator
Creation Date2005-02-01 08:49:20 UTC-0500
DescriptionDate: January 22nd, 2005

Trail: Mt. Garfield Attempt via the Garfield Trail

Expedition Leaders:
Justin Ashmall
Daniel Collins

Expedition Members:
Eric Gilbertson
Matthew Gilbertson
Stephen Martin
Rebecca Martin
Adam Packer
Corinne Savides
Victor Shnayder

A cold clear Saturday morning greeted the expedition at the Dunkin Donuts in Rumney, NH at 7:00 am. We fueled up with donuts, breakfast sandwiches, coffee, hot chocolate and filled our water bottles with scalding hot water from the DD restrooms and were on our way. Following a 45 minute drive to the trailhead (located just off US 3 north of Franconia Notch) we discovered that the access road was closed for the season, necessitating an extra 1.2 mile hike in to the trailhead. We were on the go by 9:00 am and, braving frozen hair and eyelashes from the sub-zero temperatures, reached the trailhead in short order.

The trail leaves the access road heading south and meanders through wooded lowlands for several miles with little increase in elevation. About 2 miles in the group stopped in order to put on crampons (as the trail began to ascend and the icy and snowy conditions made for treacherous hiking conditions). Unfortunately, serious problems with some equipment slowed the group down from this point on. The trail follows a series of large, steep switchbacks and rises almost 3000 feet in elevation before reaching the summit of Mt. Garfield. Unfortunately, we ran out of time and had to turn back at 2:30 pm, slightly short of the ridge. The descent from the mountain was fairly quick, but the hike out to the cars (including the extra 1.2 miles along the access road) meant that we did not get back until after dark.