The not-so-easy Mt. Galehead and Garfield

Galehead and Garfield was one of the more challenging hikes I completed. It was an early morning start and the weather looked very promising. I started off the hike on the Garfield Ridge Trail. The trail was very pretty and parealled the Gale River for quite a ways. After around an hour or so of easy hiking, the trail got consistently steeper and steeper. Before I knew it I had summated Galehead. Along the way I met a hiker from France. Although he didn’t speak much English, he talked about how it was cool to go from hiking the huge peaks of the French Alps to hiking the Appalachian Trail of the US. The ridge hike from the top of Galehead to Garfield was very difficult. The weather had gotten worse and it had started to drizzle. As I’ve learned through this process, whenever you think you’re close to the top…your not. This was the story of this ridge it never seemed to end. Eventually, when I got to the top of Garfield, it was very cold and raining so I didn’t stay long to enjoy the fabulous views it had to offer. There were great views of the nearby Lafayette Ridge. The hike down was very long and steady; by the end of the hike it was warm and sunny again. The hike finished off nicely with a 2-mile traverse to where the parking lot was. Overall it was a good hike, bad weather.