Mt. Garfield - The Long Way!

No, I didn't get lost, nor were any problems encountered which caused me to take a long route to Mt. Garfield.  It was done purposely!   You need to understand that my wife and I share a car, and that this hike was done on a Wednesday (17-Aug-2011). On most Wednesdays, she needs the car which means I rarely do hikes of any significance on that particular day.  However, the weather this past Wednesday was so beautiful.  I simply had to find a way to go hiking!!

Since we live in Bethlehem, the trailheads for the Skookumchuck and the Garfield Trail are just minutes away.  So, my wife agreed to leave me off at the Skookcumchuck Trail in the morning, and then pick me up at the Garfield Trail later in the day.  This enabled her to do her business, and it enabled me to hike.  A marriage made in heaven!

Before deciding upon this plan, I considered doing this route in the opposite direction.  However, some quick calculations showed that the elevation gain was about 200 ft less to do a Skookumchuck-Garfield route, versus a Garfield-Skookumchuck route.   I'd also considered just doing a simple trek up to Mt. Garfield via the Garfield Trail and returning via the same route.  That scenario would have been 2 miles shorter (10 miles versus 12 miles), and about 1,200 ft less elevation gain.  However,  the prospect of ascending and descending via the same route seemed rather boring!  Especially since the Garfield Trail is 4.8 miles long with little to see other than the surrounding woods.

Okay, that's enough about the background to this hike.  So, here are some details about the hike itself!  It took just a bit over 2 hours to hike up the Skookumchuck to the Garfield Ridge.  After a viewless hike up the trail through the trees, it's always quite dramatic to pop out onto a treeless ridgeline with stunning vistas!

There are so many truly excellent views from the point where the Skookumchuck intersects the Garfield Ridge Trail.  I think some of the vistas are comparable to those from Mt. Lafayette (0.8 mile to the south).  One such vista is shown in the photo below that includes the Presidential Range, the Twin-Bond Range, and Mt. Carrigain.

There is also a view toward Cannon Mountain (photo below), but this is a case where the summit of Mt. Lafayette definitely has a view that is better.

After taking a snack break at the point where I popped out onto the ridgeline, it was time to begin my 2.7 mile trek northward to Mt. Garfield via the Garfield Ridge Trail.  This trail has been in existence for nearly 100 years, and it's part of the Appalachian Trail.   And so, I'd guess that thousands of hikers (possibly tens of thousands) have travelled this segment of trail over the years.  Although I've hiked other portions of the Garfield Ridge Trail, this particular segment was brand new for me!

Before starting out, I snapped a photo (shown below) of my destination. Mt. Garfield is of course the pointed mountain in the center of the frame with a huge cliff on the right side of its base.

Speaking of the huge cliff at the base of Mt. Garfield, there was a spot along the Garfield Ridge Trail where  I was able to get a closer view of it (photo below).

At another spot en route to Mt. Garfield, I was able to look back at a portion of the ridgeline that I had descended along the way (photo below).

And last, but not least, my trek over to Mt. Garfield also provided me with the opportunity to visit Garfield Pond, which is only about 150 ft off the Garfield Ridge Trail.  I took one of the many herd paths that lead down to the pond.  This was another first for me!  I'd never visited this particular pond.   One of the many snapshots I took is shown in the next photo.

After thoroughly enjoying my visit at the pond, the climb to the top of Mt. Garfield began in earnest. I was uncertain how intense or steep the ascent might be from this direction.  What a very pleasant surprise!  It was neither intense nor overly steep!

The 360 degree views from Mt. Garfield are superb.  The vistas that I find most appealing are those looking into the Pemigewasset Wilderness.  One of my favorites is the scene of Owl's Head (center of next photo) just sitting out there in the middle of the Wilderness all alone!

Another favorite is the view of Mt. Guyot and the Bonds (next photo).

Further regarding the view shown above, just for the fun of it, I took a photo (shown below) from the ruins of the fire tower atop Mt. Garfield.  I was trying to capture some semblance of how the view might have looked from inside the tower.  My attempt at replicating a view from inside the fire tower was a bit laughable.  But nonetheless, the next photo shows what I got!

The view looking southward along the Franconia Range is another vista from Mt. Garfield that I particularly like.  However, the angle of the sun was such that I was unable to get a really good photo.  After trying several adjustments with my simple "point and shoot" camera, the snapshot shown below is the best I could do.

After hanging out on the summit for about half and hour, I began my long trek down the Garfield Trail.  It took just over 2 hours to descend the nearly 5 mile trek to the trailhead.  Overall, the entire round-trip took just a bit over 7.5 hours, which includes stops along the way for photos, snacks, and a short side-trip to Garfield Pond.

To sum it up, this was a truly terrific day to be hiking!  And, this trek was especially awesome since it involved two "firsts" for me, i.e. visiting Garfield Pond, plus hiking a segment of the Garfield Ridge Trail that was new to me.