Garfield

Mar 30, 2018

Deb and I drove down to Twin Mountain in the pouring rain after a night spent in Orford, QC. We arrived at the trailhead at the gate of the Gale River Loop road and suited up in our rain gear prior to exiting the car and then snowshoes were installed on our feet in the parking lot as there was a significant amount of snow right from the get-go. We hiked up the road following a well trod path, but in very soft conditions due to plus five degree temperatures and a full night and continued morning of rain. We took a wrong turn at a junction which was not on the map, but we regained our senses a hundred meters later after observing that the road started to veer off in the wrong direction. Back on track, we quickly continued on until we reached the summer trailhead. Snow was thin at first, but got deeper as we went, so we remained in our snowshoes. The river crossing was a bit entertaining, but we managed to get across without mishap by rock hopping and sloshing in snowshoes. A couple hundred meters up the trail we found an abandonned bridge, apparently in fairly good condition to cross the same river we just forded. Huh? Why was the trail not routed here? The hike from this point on was just a long gentle slog through the woods on an overly switchbacked trail. A couple of deep slushy spots threatenned to consume us as the snowshoes sank down knee deep in the muck, but for the most part it was just a constant rhythm of lifting one heavy snow covered foot forward, followed by the other, repeating all the way to the top. We took a quick break at 3500' to refuel, and then a final push brought us up to the ridge which gave a short steep section of trail, finally making it feel like we were actually climbing a mountain. A small rocky summit with the remnants of a small building (maybe a fire tower?) awaited on top where we had a very brief stay as there was no views in the fog and blustery wind. We descended back down to the trail junction and sat down to some hot tea and sandwiches in the shelter of the trees. Our original plan for this hike was to continue on to Galehead, but with the poor weather and our soaking wet body conditions, we thought it wise to call it a day and descend. This went much faster than the climb, and in almost no time we were back at the river crossing, where we opted for the old bridge this time after which a short bushwhack followed to get back to the trail. We saw one guy and a dog crossing on the rocks as we hiked in the woods, and they were the only other souls we saw all day. The rest of the hike was a pretty uneventful slog, until we reached the parking lot after a six and a half hour day.

River fording in snowshoes.

Approaching the summit.

Top of Garfield.

The bridge we took on the return.

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