Garfield

[Dick B.]

#48323 |

Team Garfield made it to the summit & we saw Team Galehead’s flying high above the tree tops ….Great Job

[SilentCal]

#55636

Thanks for the update on Galehead and covering your own peak. :flag:

[dmottram]

#55637

I’d like to say that this started out to be one the best days in the fall this could have possibly happened, Bright full sun, with not a cloud in the sky. A day that started with a cool morning that gradually turned to that warm that you feel just enough as you step into the sun light, slipping through dappled leaves of the canopy. Unfortunately, this was not one of those days.
Part of the team met up early in the morning to condense cars, while drove by looking on. We headed north and arrived at Galehead loop approximately 7:45.
We passed around the gear and poles to some of the members and I gave everyone a team shirt, but due to the temperatures, most of them never saw the light of day long.
We hit the trail promptly at 8:00 am and the group strung along a damp trail in a long loose line.
We passed many hikers on their way down, who commented on the brisk wind at the summit. Undaunted, we continued along, mostly slinky hiking.
We arrived at the split just below the summit approximately 11:30 and waited below as we heard the wind howling above us.
The team finally braved the wind and made the final run up to the foundation.
A group of us got the poles together, decided that our big 8×12 flag was going to be too much, as well as the 20′ pole. Dick Bedard brought along a backup flag and we reduced the pole height to 10′. Darin Gagne coordinated the rope work and after a couple of errors, I got the privilege of hauling the flag aloft at 12pm sharp.
We had a moment of silence and the national anthem was played. The wind was whipping so fast that you had to lean in to hear it through the bluetooth speaker.
The rest of the afternoon was spent snapping pictures and hiding behind the foundation for a windbreak.
Some made coffee with their Jetboils, others rotated down to “the cave” just below the summit where it felt 30 degrees warmer.
We had the opportunity to see the Blackhawk make it’s circle around Flume and Liberty and then it disappeared behind the progressing cloud bank. A few minutes later, we saw the NHANG chopper passing just below the summit under the clouds and I managed to capture a couple of shots. We also saw Galehead’s flag above the tree line. Someone had commented that they had also seen Liberty’s flag before the clouds moved in.
At the end of the day, we hastily packed up, spread the load, policed the area and headed down the mountain.
We were off trail about 2 hours, with the last hour in the rain.
A successful hike with a lot of great conversation, participation and the opportunity to remember the tragedy of the day. We celebrate their lives, honor their memories and never forget the sacrifice of those who were there when called to service.
I look forward to hiking next year and hope those on this team will be together again for event.

Thanks to all who participated! :flag:

All of my photos can be found here:
http://cribbageman.smugmug.com/Hiking/FOT48-2014-Mt-Garfield/

I’ll also post a few here. I hope everyone else does the same. Send them to me and I’ll add them to my library.

Dale

[Author]

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