Fumbling Around In The Woods: Mt. Garfield (4,500 ft) 9-8-18

Distance: 10.4 mi.
Elevation: 2,988 ft (overall) 3,169 ft (total)
Time: 2:58 (Garfield) 5:43 (Total)
Trails: Garfield Trail, Garfield Ridge Trail

Another year with the same core group for Flags on the 48, plus a few more joining us. This years memorial hike started off with a great weather forecast except for being a bit cooler temps. But compared to some of the weather we have experienced in the past few years, we'll take anything good we can get
The trail stays pretty gradual and free of large rocks almost all the way to the summit, so we made good time all the way to that point. We took turns carrying the flagpole and even had lots of other hikers on the trail offer to carry it for a distance as well. This was very helpful and we appreciated the effort of all those other hikers. The attitude of everyone that learns about this hike is always positive
As always, our group got a little spread out as we hiked, but we always seemed to bunch back up when we took a break or needed someone else to carry the flagpole for a while
Once we reached the junction with the Garfield Ridge Trail, we found the group from Henniker Brewing Company taking a break there waiting for us out of the breeze. We knew they would be on the mountain and we would run into them eventually
After staying at the intersection for a bit, we made the final push to the summit so we could set down our gear and start getting the flag ready
After everyone was at the summit, we gathered a few rocks so that we could help hold the base of the flagpole in one corner of the old fire tower foundation. We got out the flag gear and rigged up the pole shortly after. We had the flag flying by 11:30
There was a nice breeze most of the time while on the summit that helped keep the flag moving. That was good as the summit was quite busy today and lots of people were taking pictures
After 12 o'clock passed, the group from Henniker Brewing Company started passing out some of the 36 cans of 48 Flags beer they brewed and brought for the event. They had about 460 gallons of the beer made and part of the proceeds go to the The FealGood Foundation
While on the summit, we were able to make out 13 other flags flying from nearby peaks, thanks to Jim's spotting scope
About the time we were ready to take down the flag, the crowd had mostly continued on with their hikes. After packing up the flag and gear, we headed back down the mountain
It was a fun casual hike down with lots of stories being told. After getting back to the trail head, we continued the stories over some pizza before checking online to start getting a list of confirmed peaks
All in all it was another great hike with a great group of people for a great tribute