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Ski
Hiking Trail Conditions Report
Peaks
Peaks Mt. Garfield, NH
Trails
Trails: Gale River Road, Garfield Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail
Date of Hike
Date of Hike: Saturday, January 5, 2019
Parking/Access Road Notes
Parking/Access Road Notes:  
Surface Conditions
Surface Conditions: Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Postholes, Snow/Ice - Small Patches 
Recommended Equipment
Recommended Equipment: Snowshoes, Light Traction 
Water Crossing Notes
Water Crossing Notes: Couple of crossings early on that were either frozen over or mostly frozen over. Easy to cross. 
Trail Maintenance Notes
Trail Maintenance Notes:  
Dog-Related Notes
Dog-Related Notes:  
Bugs
Bugs: Saw a spider near the end of the Mt. Garfield Trail. Watch out. 
Lost and Found
Lost and Found:  
 
Comments
Comments: Warm winter day with great views from the summit of all the peaks in the Pemi loop.

We barebooted the road walk. We preemptively switched to microspikes at the trailhead, but they ended up being overkill as the trail was all packed snow. About halfway up, we switched to snowshoes because the snow was getting softer. The snowshoes were perfect for the snow conditions but a little awkward given how narrow the trail is. There are also a few short (10-20 foot) sections of bare rocks. Snowshoes with heel elevators made quick work of the steep hike up the Garfield Ridge Trail to the summit.

The summit rocks are a little icy and microspikes would be nice up there. Butt-sliding down the steep descent from the summit is highly recommended. We climbed up again just to do it one more time. We used snowshoes on the way down until about halfway where the snow was more packed and then we barebooted the rest of the way to the parking lot.

Most others seemed to be using microspikes and several people commented that they wished they had snowshoes. We were the last ones down so we smoothed out the trail a little bit. A little more snowshoe traffic would be nice.  
Name
Name: Kes 
E-Mail
E-Mail: kesyog@gmail.com 
Date Submitted
Date Submitted: 2019-01-06 
Link
Link: https:// 
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