South and east we headed to tackle Garfield in the Whites! A few of us met at the Richmond P&R, picked up Dave at the West Danville P&R, then met Tom at the trail head. Headed out about 9:30 am and met up with many snowmobilers on the road walk who were out for a great ride as we were a great hiking day!

The hike is pretty moderate, not many areas for elevation, but a nice rolling, steady climb until the last 2/10 when its the steepest. We met very few along the way, ascent and descent, but if you asked any of us who were the most memorable, we would have all answered the same….the 4 Tufts students. And why were they memorable? Not a one had the appropriate attire for a day in the mountains…..footwear was work boots, coats were great if you were casually walking on Church Street after a nice dinner and one had NO hat on! I kid you not! Someone in our group wondered if all digits would be intact at day’s end. Enough on this! The summit was incredibly windy and the views were sporadic based on which direction you were facing. The “bathtub” (former fire tower base) contained very little snow but some good ice buildup in its 4 corners. I should mention 2 very neat things we saw….frozen moose tracks on the trail and evidence of a beaver near a bridge who had been gnawing on a long limb. Very neat on both counts!

As we were headed down, approx. 3 pm, lo and behold, Richard appeared headed up the trail…he had signed long ago, then cancelled the day before due to hiking 4 of the Whites with friends from Boston. They were blown around at Lake of the Clouds hut, so turned around; Richard knew where we’d be and joined us then continued down the trail with the group. Back at the cars at 4 pm, then onto Schillings in Littleton.

We waited a bit in their next door tasting room where water, craft beer samples, fireplace and good conversation awaited us. At the restaurant, we were placed on their enclosed porch – picnic tables, thick plastic walls, wall mounted heaters and blankets – it was perfect!!!!!!!!!!!!! A great day and back to the Richmond P&R a hair before 9 pm! Another fabulous day on the trails!!

Trip Participants: Mark McLane, Tom Mowatt, Taylor Dobbs, Ted Albers, Dave Hathaway, Richard Dubal, Robynn Albert (leader). Photos: Tom, Taylor, Robynn, Dave.