Hiked June 10, 2007 by Tim and Valerie
Conditions: For the second weekend in a row, the weatherman is saying 30-40% chance of rain today. It rained all the way up Rt 93 through Franconia Notch. We arrived at the Gale River Trailhead just as the drizzle slowed. We didn’t see any more rain for the rest of the day.
The first 1.7 miles were easy – a nice quick walk in the woods, if a little messy from the rains overnight. The river was higher than Valerie was comfortable with. The first crossing was EXTREMELY scary for Valerie. She’s not yet used to the idea that she should put her foot into RUSHING water to stand on a rock that’s 6 inches underwater. And the pressure on the poles and on our feet is disconcerting. Second crossing was pretty easy. Third one required a “jump” from one rock to another – again, scary. AND we had an audience.
No bugs to speak of all day. Galehead Hut was beautiful. Views from the Hut were gorgeous. We took a quick snack then headed off to capture the summit. While we were there, the clouds rolled in. Couldn’t see the valley, couldn’t see the hut. We *could* see the trail, so we weren’t lost, just a bit disappointed. Still cool to be up in the clouds like that.
The trip down was not hard, but Valerie fretted about the water crossings the whole way. We managed to get through them, and no worse for wear. Boots were wet on the outside, but the shorty gators served us well, and no water went over the top and into the boots. And no one fell in. What more can you ask for?
Saw clintonia, bunchberry, hobblebush, painted and red trillium, wood sorrel. Also a couple others that we didn’t recognize, but due to the somewhat rainy start, we weren’t pulling the camera out at every little flower.
Stats: 10.2 miles round trip, 6:35 hrs to complete.