Friday, June 7, 2019
Franconia Notch to Garfield Shelter
10.3 Miles
We have heard so much about Franconia Ridge, and we definitely
were not disappointed in the beauty of the place. The weather was very nice and clear for us,
that was a blessing. To have come so far
to get here and not be able to see the magnificent view would have been very
disappointing. Lots of day hikers hung
out on top of the two mile ridge ove treeline.
We slowly made our way over Mt. Lincoln and Mt. Lafayette, stopping
along the way to rest, eat and chat with other hikers. We finally decided we better head on over to Mt.
Garfield and the shelter. So we left
the crowd behind and started the long, hard descent down to Garfield Pond then
a steep back up through trees and over the top to Garfield Ridge Shelter and
campsite.
We saw water on top of the mountain before the shelter and
thought it would be a good idea to get
it here so we wouldn’t have to go down a trail to get it when we got to the
shelter. Boy, was it hard to carry a
load of water .2 down from the top of the mountain then up again .2 off the
trail to the shelter, only to find out
that water was available very close to the shelter! Duh!
It said “reliable water” at the shelter right there in the
guidebook. OMG!
The fee for camping at the shelter was $10 per person. We purchased the AMC pass which enabled us to
camp through the Whites for 50% off, 2 free baked goods and 1 free soup
redeemed at one of the AMC Huts along the way. Jess was the caretaker.
We hiked today from 6:15 a.m. to 7:15 p.m. Thirteen hours. 8:40 was probably the latest we have ever gone
to bed on the trail.
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