Ed'n Lauky
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 15, 2007
- Messages
- 1,802
- Reaction score
- 168
Last week was last week, and this week is this week. How things can change in a week. The reports on the attempts on Mt. Garfield last week were a bit discouraging, but this week, I’m sure there will be few failures. The trail right from the parking lot to the summit was well broken out. In fact, from the trailhead to the top it is so well chiseled that it looks like it was cleared by a snow blower. I met a couple of fellows on the trail who told me that yesterday four friends had headed up to the Garfield campsite and it had taken them EIGHT hours. Thanks to that group plus a group of seven or eight French Canadians and the others who went up today the trail is impeccable. It’s actually smoother than an I-93 extention. It is certainly smoother than in the summer.
The Garfield trail is unusually moderate for a 4000 footer except for the last two tenths of a mile which goes almost straight up to the top. There’s not much to say about hiking this trail right now except to follow the path all the way to the top. Once at the trailhead it is impossible to get lost. On the walk in on the road there is one spot where a well-used herd trail leads off to the right going I don’t know where. If your going to Mt. Garfield just stay on the road until you see the sign for the trailhead.
The trail is so well packed it could be barebooted, but this is not advisable. Two fellows did it today and continually postholed off the side of the trail. The trail is fairly narrow, only the width of a pair of snow shoes, and it obviously is not that easy to stay in the center of the trail. Snowshoes were really the order of the day. The only place where I had any difficulty with them was coming down the steep section where there turned into a pair of skis. Do you know how hard it is to get an edge with a pair of classic aluminum framed snowshoes?
The winds this morning were violent between Bartlett and Bretton Woods. Snow was blowing everywhere. A truck was actually sanding the road as I made my way up to Crawford notch. I was expecting the worst as I headed over to the Garfield parking lot. It actually wasn’t all that bad. There was no wind at all until I cleared the tree line at the very top. Up there it was a blow you over type wind and bitterly cold. Fortunately this is a mountain where you can very quickly leave the trees, get to the top then get back into the trees which is what we did today. It goes without saying that there were no VFTT today.
There are almost no French speaking people in Bridgton, ME so it was a real pleasure to run into the group of French Canadians which gave me the opportunity to use the language again a bit. One fellow in the group asked me if Duffy had received his NH 48 certificate in 2005. When I responded affirmatively he said he thought so because he had recorded it with his camcorder. It’s a small world.
Duffy had grown a very thick coat this winter, certainly the equal of any sled dog. It has served him well. However, Airedales are not sled dogs. He does not shed and has to be groomed roughly every three months. Because of the cold weather I had been holding off having it done but finally took him to the “hairdresser” this week. I was concerned about him getting cold today in temperatures that were only slightly above O. But he did quite well.
On the way back, shortly before the trailhead, there is a section where the trail climbs back up on the ridge. As I was going up my legs called out to me: “Hey Ed” “What do you want?” I asked. “We just wanted to thank you for not doing the loop from Garfield over to Gailhead like a few people did today.” “Don’t mention it.” I said. “At this point I’m really glad I obliged you.” Thirteen plus miles in the snow with snowshoes, even on a well groomed trail, does have a way of making itself felt.
The Garfield trail is unusually moderate for a 4000 footer except for the last two tenths of a mile which goes almost straight up to the top. There’s not much to say about hiking this trail right now except to follow the path all the way to the top. Once at the trailhead it is impossible to get lost. On the walk in on the road there is one spot where a well-used herd trail leads off to the right going I don’t know where. If your going to Mt. Garfield just stay on the road until you see the sign for the trailhead.
The trail is so well packed it could be barebooted, but this is not advisable. Two fellows did it today and continually postholed off the side of the trail. The trail is fairly narrow, only the width of a pair of snow shoes, and it obviously is not that easy to stay in the center of the trail. Snowshoes were really the order of the day. The only place where I had any difficulty with them was coming down the steep section where there turned into a pair of skis. Do you know how hard it is to get an edge with a pair of classic aluminum framed snowshoes?
The winds this morning were violent between Bartlett and Bretton Woods. Snow was blowing everywhere. A truck was actually sanding the road as I made my way up to Crawford notch. I was expecting the worst as I headed over to the Garfield parking lot. It actually wasn’t all that bad. There was no wind at all until I cleared the tree line at the very top. Up there it was a blow you over type wind and bitterly cold. Fortunately this is a mountain where you can very quickly leave the trees, get to the top then get back into the trees which is what we did today. It goes without saying that there were no VFTT today.
There are almost no French speaking people in Bridgton, ME so it was a real pleasure to run into the group of French Canadians which gave me the opportunity to use the language again a bit. One fellow in the group asked me if Duffy had received his NH 48 certificate in 2005. When I responded affirmatively he said he thought so because he had recorded it with his camcorder. It’s a small world.
Duffy had grown a very thick coat this winter, certainly the equal of any sled dog. It has served him well. However, Airedales are not sled dogs. He does not shed and has to be groomed roughly every three months. Because of the cold weather I had been holding off having it done but finally took him to the “hairdresser” this week. I was concerned about him getting cold today in temperatures that were only slightly above O. But he did quite well.
On the way back, shortly before the trailhead, there is a section where the trail climbs back up on the ridge. As I was going up my legs called out to me: “Hey Ed” “What do you want?” I asked. “We just wanted to thank you for not doing the loop from Garfield over to Gailhead like a few people did today.” “Don’t mention it.” I said. “At this point I’m really glad I obliged you.” Thirteen plus miles in the snow with snowshoes, even on a well groomed trail, does have a way of making itself felt.
