Greenleaf Hut to Galehead Hut (6.6 Miles)

We hiked this section on July 12, 2009. This is tough section! Several experienced hikers warned us beforehand that even though the elevation profile does not look very challenging, this section is tough because it is very rugged.

Theme song for today is “O-o-h Child” by The Stairsteps

Total hike time: 9 hours 58 minutes

Wake up time is suppose to be at 6:30 AM when the Croo sings a song. But, as soon as the cook started in the kitchen, we heard noise. Both of us were up before the singing started.

The croo served a breakfast of oatmeal, egg fritters, and cinnamon buns. We looked outside during breakfast and Franconia Ridge was socked in by clouds. The croo read the weather forecast for the day: “Possible showers in the afternoon”.

The croo performed a skit with a fairy princess and the purpose of the skit was to remind guest to fold their blankets, pack out your trash, and leave money in the tip box for the crew.

During breakfast, one lady who had hiked from Galehead hut yesterday told us that we would have to descend down a waterfall during our hike today. She told us to take our time during this section.

We couldn’t wait to leave the very noisy Greenleaf hut! We would recommend avoiding this hut during any summer weekend!

We started the 1.1 mile climb up the Greenleaf Trail just after 8 AM.

Fortunately, the wind wasn’t as bad as yesterday so it made the hike a little more enjoyable. It took us a little over 1 hour to get back to Franconia Ridge. We saw Yves on the ridge and he told us it would take us half an hour to get below treeline – it took us over an hour.

Then the real beat down began! The trail was up and down all day long with large wet boulders. It took us a long time because of our short legs and we had to be very careful so we didn’t hurt ourselves.

We met a southbound section hiker who warned us about the waterfall but she told us that the trail was a piece of cake after that. Apparently the waterfall was right the Garfield campsite.

Okay this is not hiking! This is bouldering! Lone Wolf said that hiking is just walking – bullshit!

We got really tired and dirty pulling ourselves up over boulders, sliding on our backsides down boulders, clinging to trees to get leverage, etc. Very tiring. It was a mentally tough day because you had to be alert at all times so you wouldn’t get hurt.

I always told Dirigo that I would hike as long as it was fun. It didn’t feel fun today. My legs were still strong but my knees ached a bit but it was nothing that Vitamin I couldn’t handle.

We reached the summit of Mt. Garfield and we were both spent. We took a short break and ate some food. Python was mad because she couldn’t find her new gloves. There was an old foundation of a Fire Tower that use to stand on top of Mt Garfield. Dirigo went up to check it out.

We encountered the “Waterfall of Death” just after the Garfield campsite. We turned right and looked down the trail and the trail was covered with water. Fortunately, there had been several days without rain so the water wasn’t too high. Dirigo went down first because she always goes first when there is water. She took her time and carefully picked her way along the trail.

Fortunately, the rocks were not slippery so we had good footing. Python followed in Dirigo’s exact footsteps.

Once we got to the bottom of the waterfall, we both took a deep breath and relaxed.

Python ran out of water about 1.5 miles from Galehead Hut. Fortunately, Dirigo shared her water and then she also ran out water about 1 mile from the hut. Doom on us for not getting water at the “Waterfall of Death!”

At 0.6 miles from the hut, we met the female members of the Von Trapp family. We don’t know their real names but we decided to nickname this family the Von Trapps out of our deep respect for this wonderful family. We told them that we were out of water and they told us that they had too much water so they offered us one of their water bottles! We only took half of the water since we were so close to the hut.

The Von Trapp family consisted of the mother-in-law (Maria), mom, son, middle daughter (Nadia), youngest daughter, and a nephew visiting from England. Maria told us that she was born in Austria but her family had to move to Czechoslovakia when World War II started.

We finally got to the hut at 5:55 PM.

We checked in with the croo and they told us dinner would be served in 5 minutes. We quickly changed into our camp clothes and joined the other guests for dinner. Dinner was bean soup, pasta, bread, salad, and a wonderful vegan chocolate cake with raspberry drizzle.

Hickory Dickory Dock
New Hampshire is full of rocks
Our legs are too short
But we are good sports
Hickory Dickory Dock

Hickory Dickory Dock
Surprised our legs aren’t shot?
It ain’t no brainer
I got the best trainer
Hickory Dickory Dock

Hickory Dickory Dock
I smell as bad as my socks
Can’t wait for a shower
Or some fine smelling powder
Hickory Dickory Dock

Python’s hike stats: 5,183 calories burned. Min HR 94, max HR 160, avg HR 130. # Vitamin I = 6.

Dirigo’s hike stats: 4,047 calories burned. 28,149 steps.