| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Galehead Mountain, NH |
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 | Trails: |
Gale River Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail, Twinway, Frost Trail |
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 | Date of Hike: |
Thursday, June 15, 2017 |
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 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
About four cars in the lot when we got there, maybe six when we got back. We encountered fewer than 20 people all day, including the Galehead Hut staff. |
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 | Surface Conditions: |
Dry Trail, Standing/Running Water on Trail, Mud - Minor/Avoidable |
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 | Recommended Equipment: |
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 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Only two crossings of any significance. Easy rock hops, though the second one required a little bit of fancy footwork and pole-balancing to keep my feet dry. |
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 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Great shape, though one of the (quite a ways in) double-log bridges on the Gale River Trail has a semi-broken, sagging plank on one side. I lost count as to which one, but it's probably the deepest and widest ditch with logs across it on the Gale River Trail. We were nervous about balancing across a single log with backpacks on or trying to walk across the two uneven-height logs, so we climbed down into the ditch and around. I do not know if this is the normal condition at this ditch/runoff crossing or not.
Otherwise, the trail was in very good shape; we did not see any blowdowns or stepovers like the last Galehead report from May. Do watch your footing, there are a lot of root stumps on the bottom part of the Gale River Trail that are easy to trip over. |
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 | Dog-Related Notes: |
Amazingly, I don't think we saw one all day! |
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 | Bugs: |
Bring bug spray. It is not terrible, but they are still plentiful. I used several liberal applications of "Off" brand "Deep Woods" spray, and still emerged with three or four mosquito bites. |
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 | Lost and Found: |
Saw a purple and white tie-dye type shirt hanging up on a tree branch about 1/8 mile before Galehead Hut, but did not touch it. Looked like someone might have been drying it there, but nobody was around. |
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 | Comments: |
#8 on the NH4K for me! There were several muddy spots on the trail, off and on (the worst of it was mostly along the middle section of the Gale River Trail), and a couple sections of standing/running water, and both of these types of sports were where the bugs were most plentiful. At over 10 miles round-trip, it's a big longer hike than some of the "easy" 4K's, but not really that difficult; only the last half-mile going up to the Garfield Ridge Trail, the last quarter-mile before the Galehead Hut, and a one quick near-scrambling section on the Frost Trail were at all strenuous (Mrs. Ridge Warrior had to crawl/scramble a little on the Frost Trail due to her shorter legs), and it's less than 2500 feet of elevation gain (though I swear about 100 feet of that was on the way back, with a bunch of minor but annoying-after-7-miles little climbs you don't remember going down!). There are a couple nifty, pretty viewpoints looking out over the river on the way in; I think the view across the valley was of North Twin? E and W views from the hut are excellent, and the signed "Outlook" viewpoint on Galehead is not too shabby, though you do have to get a little closer to the edge than I was entirely comfortable with to see the view down to the hut.
Another first for us: we were entirely alone at the summit the whole time! On the way back, I pondered also climbing up to South Twin and even jokingly took the turn for a few feet, but after looking at the relative slopes from the outlook on Galehead, I decided I'll try to get there the "easy" way (via the North Twin Spur) in the future, instead. |
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 | Name: |
The Ridge Warrior |
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 | E-Mail: |
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| Date Submitted: |
2017-06-17 |
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 | Link: |
 https:// |
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Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
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