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Mt Garfield - page 3 of 5

The summit of Mt Garfield has the concrete remains of an old firetower’s foundation. Its walls are about three ft high and it’s around five ft square. If it’s windy or cold, you can climb into the foundation to get some shelter from the wind, but it was nice out today and, after saying hello to a couple of people sitting on the surrounding rocks, we picked our way carefully over the rocks to the south side of the foundation, where we had great views down into the Pemigewasset Wilderness, to Franconia Ridge to the west, and to the Twins to the east.  

We sat down against the foundation, admired the views, and had lunch; well, at least I had lunch. I tried to give Muffin some peanuts, but she wouldn’t eat them and they just sat there littering the rocks until I later had to pick them up. In all the fuss, the can of peanuts ended up getting knocked over, and I had even more mess to clean up.

It was cooler on the summit so I put on my fleece, but the sun was warm and the slight breeze felt nice. Although the weather was nice and sunny, a persistent haze kept us from getting really clear views of the valleys and peaks around us. Directly in front of us were the Pemigewasset Wilderness and Owl’s Head Mtn, which we had climbed back in August. I could also see the narrow dark line of Franconia Brook and followed it downstream where I could see it join with Twin Brook by the 13 Falls Tentsite. I wondered whether I would have been able to see the campsite itself if I had brought my binoculars.

It was tempting to just stay up there all day and relax, and maybe even take a little nap, but “there were miles to go before I sleep”, and Muffin was ready to go anyway. After cleaning up “our” mess, I put my pack back on, grabbed my poles, and we started back down the Garfield Ridge Trail. In a short time, we reached the junction with Garfield Trail again, but passed it up and kept going toward the Garfield Ridge Campsite, which was supposed to be about 0.2 miles down the trail.

Muffin at the actual summit of Mt Garfield. In the distance you can see the rounded summit of Owl’s Head Mtn, and the pointy top of Mt Flume. Just in front of Muffin are some peanuts that I gave her as a snack, and which she refused to eat. I later had to pick them all up myself so we wouldn’t leave a mess.

Muffin on Mt Garfield with Owl's Head.jpg (40307 bytes)

Muffin on a ledge just below the summit of Mt Garfield. In the distance to the east are North and South Twin Mtns. Mt Garfield’s bare rocky summit provides excellent views out over the Pemigewasset Wilderness, to the Twins, and to Franconia Ridge.

Muffin on Mt Garfield.jpg (44785 bytes)

Looking south from the summit of Mt Garfield. Although the air was hazy, I got good views of Owl’s Head Mtn, which Muffin and I had climbed in August, and of Franconia Brook. Just off to the left is the junction of Franconia and Twin Brooks, where 13 Falls Tentsite is located.

Owls Head from Garfield.jpg (12652 bytes)

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