Summit rocks and Owl's Head
After about twenty minutes or so of picture-taking and snacking, it was time to move on. Below us to the east, we could see the undulating, bumpy ridge that would take us to the Galehead hut, and from there to the low, wooded hump of Galehead itself.
The trail running from the summit of Garfield to the Galehead hut is actually a part of the famous Appalachian Trail, so I figured it might be in better shape than the rough Garfield trail we ascended. Not so. It was pretty much as rough and as difficult. And the waterlogged state that we encountered on the way up was in evidence here, too. Sometime over the last few days, a pretty major rain event must have soaked this area!
Junction with Garfield trail
courtesy JInnes
courtesy JInnes
We spent the good part of two hours traversing along the ridge between Garfield and the Galehead hut. As I've said already, the trail was often rough, and often very wet. Tiring.
Galehead hut at a distance
With one final steep rocky bit, we arrived at the side junction to the Galehead hut, and a few seconds later, we strolled out into beautiful fall sunshine on the front lawn of the Galehead hut. It was closed for the season, and were the first to arrive here today.
The south-facing porch on the hut was a great place to sit in the warm autumn sun and have a nice snack break. There were excellent views from the open lawn in front of the hut, looking down into the heart of the Pemi wilderness, and also up to the Twins and back over to Garfield, which looks attractively pointy from this angle. Ahead of us and close by was the fully forested hump of Galehead, which is only about 250 feet higher in elevation than where we were now at the hut (the hut is at 3800 feet). It wouldn't be a very long or hard hike to the summit from here!
