October 12, 2009
I had taken Monday off to hike with no real plan in place. Turns out Georg called me the night before so we were able to set something up. Today we would be doing a traverse of Galehead, Garfield, Lafayette, and Lincoln. Georg and I were on the trail about 6:50.
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We hiked nonstop up to the junction with the Garfield Ridge Trail. Since we were heading up to Galehead and were returning this way, we decided to ditch our packs in the woods. We weren't going that far and there was a hut along the way if something did happen. Next we reached the hut. I looked up to South Twin. I was there yesterday. It was pretty much how I left it. Stuck in the clouds.
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Georg with Galehead behind him.
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Eric on the summit of Galehead
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Looking down to Galehead Hut
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At the hut
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It was early in the day, but seeing we had a spot to sit. We went in for a 5-10 minute break which turned out to be our only real break of the day. This is the last week that the hut is open. We began our way back to where we stashed our packs in the woods. Apparently we didn't hide them very well.
"Were those your packs back there?" a passing hiker asked.
"Yes," we replied.
"The food was good," he joked. "And thanks for the camera, cellphone, and GPS."
We reached our packs (which still contained our food and gadgets), put them on, and continued. We reached a viewpoint where I took a picture looking south.
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Georg on the steep trail up to Garfield.
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At the junction with the Garfield Trail we met a couple of hikers. It seemed like I had met them before. After talking for several minutes we began to introduce ourselves.
"I'm Rich," said one of them.
"I'm Eric," I said.
"ERIC RATHBUN," the woman said.
"Yes," I said somewhat surprised that she "guessed" my last name.
"I love your website and read it all the time. I'm Heidi Rocha."
It took me a minute, but I finally remembered her. How cool! She had emailed me over a year ago about my site. It was great to finally meet her!! and Rich too. Georg took a picture of me with them.
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It was time to go, so Georg and I finished the climb up to Garfield. This had to be the peak weekend for the leaves. The color in the valley was stunning.
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It was a beautiful day. The Twins had finally even broken free of the clouds.
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On Garfield with Franconia Ridge behind me.
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Georg on Garfield
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After dropping into the col, we then had the climb up to Lafayette. A while later Georg and I reached treeline and then the junction with the Skookumchuck Trail.
Looking back to Garfield
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What a gorgeous day! I took a few pictures here.
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Snow-covered Washington can be seen way in the back.
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One of the false summits as we headed up to Lafayette
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Georg pointed out a glider. We watched it glide effortlessly for a couple of minutes.
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Eric and Georg on Lafayette. It was cold but not windy like I was expecting.
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On to Mount Lincoln
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Winter is coming
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We bagged Lincoln and began our way over to Little Haystack.
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Looking back to Lincoln
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Time for the hike down. We went by a series of ice flows. I didn't need them but it is definitely time to start carrying microspikes, Stabilicers, or some other form of traction.
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We reached the junction for the Shining Rock Spur
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I had only been on this trail in winter, so we decided to check out Shining Rock. We picked the right day for it. It was beautiful as water flowed under neath the ice that had formed on the rock.
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The rock appropriately named as it glistened in the sun.
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Again, I had only been on this trail in winter, so I got to see all the waterfalls on the way down for the first time.
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It's obvious why the name of the trail is "Falling Waters"
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Georg and I finished about 3:50. Thanks for joining me today Georg.
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