These mountains can be extremely dangerous. None of us hike without risk. The best we can do is minimize the dangers as best we can.
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Our trip report:
Mt. Garfield via Gale River Road and Garfield Trail. 12.4 miles roundtrip.
Sage came with us on this straightforward hike. We began at sunrise and walked the 1.2 miles of closed-for-the-winter Gale River Road before ascending 5 miles to the summit.
The water crossings were not completely frozen over, so the footing was tricky. Miraculously, we managed to keep our feet dry.
The snow depth increased as we ascended...
At the intersection with the Garfield Ridge Trail, 0.2 miles from the summit...
Onward and upward, through the snow.
The summit! It was extremely windy and cold up there, so we didn't linger. We tagged the top, took our photo, and retreated into the trees to eat our traditional summit chocolate.
We made it down the trailhead, and then down the road to the car, in fairly short order. This was a simple, albeit long, hike and we had great trail conditions. Hopefully, our remaining winter hikes go as smoothly as this one did.
3 comments:
Wow! Looks like you gals had a very good hike. Love seeing all the snow as you ascended.
So were you on microspikes and/or barebooting the whole way?
Snow Miser, thanks, if was a very nice hike. Dennis, the snow never got very deep so we did not use snowshoes. Microspikes were perfect for the day. This weekend will be different though, if you're considering Garfield for the near future. Some snow is on its way -- not all that much (3-8 inches, depending on the forecast), but enough to make snowshoes necessary (unless a group beats you to the trail and creates a nice, packed white sidewalk). :)
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