Mount Garfield

Date: September 20, 2009
Crude map of route

Another perfect weather day. If I remember correctly, we were planning to do some part of the Presidential Range, but bailed because we ended up sleeping in until 8 o'clock or something. We almost bailed on hiking altogether, but the weather looked too good, so we picked something slightly closer to home: Mount Garfield.

For some reason I had a hard time understanding the notes in the White Mountain Guide regarding where the trailhead actually was, and where to park. Gale River Road makes a loop, with the trailhead closer to the western end. When we turned off US 3 to follow the road to the trailhead, the gate was closed with a sign saying ROAD CLOSED. There was only one other car in the parking lot, which was also surprising. Something was obviously up. It was after noon at this point, so we decided to just park there and hike the 3/4 mile up the road on foot, rather than try to drive down to the other end of the loop and go in that way, not knowing what the condition of the road was like. We were in a Corolla, after all.

Well, it turns out that the reason the road is closed is due to a number of bridge washouts that occurred in summer 2008. The washouts are pretty severe, and are obviously taking a while to rebuild. There were three washouts, one of which is shown here. It looked like one of the washouts actually occurred at the location of a previous washout -- there was fresh riprap and grass on one approach to the bridge, but of course, it was the other side that washed out.

Since it hadn't rained in a while, it wasn't too difficult to cross the river on foot using rocks. After that, we eventually reached the real trailhead, with a dozens of cars parked there. I guess access from the other end was OK after all. Anyways, the Garfield Trail is a pretty easy ascent to the summit, thanks to half a dozen switchbacks in the last couple miles. The grade is never more than moderate, until the last 1/4 mile up to the summit on the Garfield Ridge Trail. Once you reach the summit, you're treated to excellent views of the Pemigewasset Wilderness. I'll treat you to a picture of me this time.

Total distance was about 11 miles round trip (including the 1.5 miles on Gale River Road), which we completed in about 5 1/2 hours. Like Mount Osceola, this is another trip that is doable by people of almost any ability, although Garfield is a little bit longer (even when departing from the actual trailhead).