Monday we decided to go easy and go up Garfield which is typically sold as one of the easier peaks.  This was the Garfield trail the whole way up and down with a hint of the AT on the ridge.  This hike started with a small disaster for me.  I didn't turn off the bite valve on my bladder, and when we got to the trailhead, 2.5 of the 3 L had leaked into the seat.  Thankfully, just a short distance down the road was a stream that I could fill up from.

The trail itself is quite a nice trail.  It's generally a gentle trail with a lot more dirt than rocks when compared to the Liberty Springs trail we did the day before.  At points, it was obvious that the trail was a forest road, and it was typical for what I've experienced in NY for these kinds of roads.  Again, a typical northeast forest with lots of ferns and moss throughout the trees.  It was very familiar to what I am used to hiking.  The top bit of the trail when you reached the AT was super rocky scrambles which were not horrible to get up.  We reached the top to find a square of concrete that was the base of a former fire tower.  Not used to seeing that.  All the fire towers I've done in NY, there was only poured concrete for the footers of the 4 feet of the steel structure.  I'm kind of curious what this tower looked like when it was in use.

A touching moment happened on top though.  A nice, older man that had completed the 48 decades ago, was hiking them again in honor of his grandson that died in a car crash at the age of 22.  He put on a tee shirt with the young man's pictures and name on it.  The last name of the man was Cameron, and he had a small travel urn of ashes.  We asked about him, and he told us about how he was military and was about 1/2 way through the 48 when he died.  I took pictures of the man with the ashes and texted and emailed them to him.  I am hoping that he got them.  I am honored to have been able to play a part in honoring this young man's memory, and wish his grandfather well on the remainder of the peaks he needs to complete.  The pictures were finally connected to him through his children/stepchildren on Facebook.

The hike out was much like the hike in, relatively easy with another water refill about a mile out.  In the end 9.7 miles and 3070 feet of elevation in just over 7 hours.  Year to date, 262 miles and 12 miles of elevation over 173 hours.  This brings me to 3/48 and 51/115.