A full day around some of the Pemi

Date(s) Hiked: May 29th

Trails(s) Hiked: Wilderness, Osseo, Franconia Ridge, Garfield Ridge, Frost, Twin Brook, Franconia Brook, Wilderness

Total Distance:28.8 miles, approx 7300 ft vertical gain.

Difficulty: Extremely difficult

Conditions: Dark at 3:30, followed by patches of light around dawn. Osseo, Franconia Ridge in good shape, just a couple of blowdowns, a few more on Garfield Ridge, many blowdowns on Twin Brook & several on Franconia Brook.

Special Required Equipment: Sunscreen, Camera, bug spray, not trusting the weather man

Trip Report: This was my NH warm up hike before June's Presidential Traverse The early start meant I only saw three people on Franconia Ridge, oddly before 7:00 & on Liberty & Flume, the next two people I saw was on the Garfield Ridge trail. IMO the Garfield Ridge trail is the most miserable tral in the Whites, at least the most miserable that I've been on & I've been on quite a few. Glad the weatherman was wrong once again but for me, no rain, just high clouds.

Hey Mike - phew! Long day.....

Why is the Garfield Trail so miserable in your opinion? The WMNF Guide makes it sound like it's not so bad and that the view from Garfield is very much worth it. I've been wanting to try it, but interested in your opinion......

The stretch between Lafayette and Garfield is made up of very inconsistent rocky footing. It's pretty relentless and despite not being overly steep, the constant rock hopping can be very draining.

The Mt.Garfield trail is one of my favorites, Easy to moderate grades & the woods walk is through some interesting forest.

The Garfield Ridge Trail is another story, Not too bad from Lafayette summit to treeline but after that the footing is bad, it's steep in spots descending Lafayette & the trail seems to go out of it's way to find every PUD on the entire Ridge & every spot where water & mud accumulate. The PUD'sare on both sides, the spring for Garfield Campsite mingles with the trail below the campsite (good for soaking your head or hat on hot days, not good for footing)

I've been on the whole thing twice, 1996 + 2006, the part between Garfield & Galehead in 1995. As bad as it is going from Lafayette to Galehead, I'd think it would be worse the other way. You can't try the Pemi loop without though, although I guess you could descend Gale River, walk the road & then do the Mt. Garfield Trail, that would be roughly an additional 10 miles to a 33 mile trip though & only skips part of it.

Yes, the view from Garfield, IMO is one of the best, the next few times I go, I'll go up Mt. Garfield trail.