Lafayette-Garfield-Zealand Trip - Day 2

After the rain stopped, the Hut got quiet and every noise (snoring people, AMC Ham Radio broadcasts, etc.) made it harder to sleep.  Somehow, I managed to stay in my rack until almost 0600 but then got up to get ready for my day.  Mount Lafayette, about a 1000 feet above us, was covered in fog and several of the hikers I'd met the previous evening were worried about the "chance of thunderstorms".  For my part, I was trying to completely recover from the sugar/electrolyte deficiency of the day before.  After a hearty breakfast (complete with Hut Croo skits), I was feeling well enough to leave the Hut.  It was hard to tell what everyone else was going to do: the two older ladies from Georgia (Mary and Margaret) left by 0730 and I was going to follow them; another family (from SoCal) was so indecisive that I waited longer because one of their group (a guy named Daniel) wanted to hike with me while the rest of his family left the trail for the day.  By 0800, though, everyone said they were going to try to reach Galehead AMC Hut (this was also my destination).  Along with the two older Georgia guys, we all headed up the side of Mount Lafayette (5290 feet).  During the 1.1 mile walk, we traveled through fog and lots of dampness.  Fortunately, the Franconia Ridge was mostly clear and I was treated to some amazing views when I reached the summit (first).  Thought briefly about waiting for everyone else but then realized that the hike was going to be pretty challenging and decided to press onward.  I walked NOBO on the AT (AKA Garfield Ridge Trail) and was able to see my hiking buddies behind me for quite a while.  Mary and Margaret let out a Georgia yell, trying to get my attention, and my last view of them for the rest of the hike was smiles and waves and a line of hikers climbing the stark trail behind me.  Just before I dropped back into the trees, I noticed a tall mountain to the northeast, shrouded in mist, that looked ominous enough to be on the AT - sure enough, it was Mount Garfield (4500 feet).  To get to it, though, I had to descend into a deep ravine, navigate mud puddles and slippery rocks and then start a monster climb to the summit.  Since I feared a repeat of the previous day's sugar deficit, I stopped at the bottom of the climb and charged my body up with lots of energy.  The resulting near-vertical ascent was tough, but not nearly as bad as I'd expected.  On top of the mountain, though, there was a huge crowd of hikers - I decided to skip the "stand on the highest rock" scenario and started downhill again.  We'd been given a weather report that said temps would range between 60 and 80 and I concluded (after passing a summit) that we were closer to the higher temp.  Humidity was brutal and got some thunder-boomers started - I could hear some loud thunder to the south of my position and I started to wonder if I was about to get hit with a nasty storm.  The behavior of the other hikers I started to encounter (a handful of SOBO Thrus), however, indicated that most of them were going to continue regardless.  I decided to keep going too...  Halfway down the east side of Garfield, the AT became an actual river!  This was much worse, in my opinion, than getting rained on (especially since I was already covered in sweat from head to toe).  I made it downhill almost all the way but then slipped on a wet rock and had a nasty fall (cut up the palm of my hand).  Fortunately, the trail got a bit less wet after that and, other than a series of annoying PUDs for the next few miles, I was able to continue alright.  Just after passing the Gale River Trail, the AT began a steady climb to the Hut - I barely had the energy for this but plodded along until I arrived at around 1600, about 8 hours (and 7.7 miles) after I'd started.  At first, this seemed like a horrible pace - I can usually do about two miles an hour and only getting one mile an hour was kind of depressing.  But then the reality of how hard this section was came into contrast: the two Georgia guys arrived two hours later, the two Georgia ladies arrived five hours later and the SoCal family of four arrived almost six hours later.  The last two groups were walking in the dark and the Hut sent out someone to try to locate them after they completely missed dinner.  By the time everyone else had reached the Hut for the night, I'd managed to fill up on water and lemonade, watch a "Hut Talk" about AMC operations, marvel at the friendliness (and lack of fear) of some Gray Jays, chat with about 25 Thru Hikers (most were SOB) and some folks from the Veterans on the 48 (I follow them on social media), eat a delicious dinner and attend a naturalist program about the "Fir Wave" effect.  (I thought about climbing Galehead Mountain, nearby, but decided against it).  While I was definitely concerned about the status of my new hiking buddies, I was relieved that it wasn't me that had a 12+ hour day and missed all the benefits of being in the Hut.  I did come out to check on everyone and then hit the rack (2130).  Again, I managed to get some sleep despite several obstacles (more snoring, kids playing, noises outside).  Overall, I was feeling almost 100% after my second day and the chance to finish the next day seemed pretty certain.  Crossing fingers!  AT Today = 6.5 miles / G.T. AT = 1996.8 miles / AT Left = 188.5 miles / NH 4000 Footer #17 of 48