Our summer trip this year had us visiting our very first AMC Hut at Zealand Falls, knocking another, as yet unvisited, hut off our list at Galehead, and finally reaching Greenleaf, a hut we first visited last year.
Waking up at Zealand Falls Hut
Waking up to the sound of a strumming guitar moving down the hallway at 6:00am set the mood for another day on the trail. The kids began to stir along with the creaking and bumping of a hut full of hikers emerging from sleeping bags and old wool blankets. The sun was up, the shelter was filled with the smell of breakfast and a layer of mist overlaid the view out the window.
We began packing up and folding the blankets in the manner prescribed by the Zealand Falls Hut Croo. With bathroom visits and freshly brushed teeth, we headed out to the common room for breakfast. In the Huts the breakfast is standard fare; hot cocoa, oatmeal with brown sugar, raisins or peaches, scrambled eggs, bacon, home fries, and juice. We had a seven-mile hike ahead of us, and even my picky eater filled up on things he wasn’t shy of.
After breakfast, we reviewed the map and talked about the day’s hike go Galehead Hut. We were excited because it was one of the two huts that we had not been to previously. Most of the day would be climbing a 2,000-foot elevation gain before losing 1,000 feet of that climb in the last mile into Galehead. Our work was cut out for us as we set off at eight in the morning along the Twinway trail.
Going Astray
The initial climb out of Zealand Falls was warm and humid, and we sweat through our clothes were almost immediately. However, we were rewarded with beautiful vistas from both North Twin and South Twin mountains. Unfortunately, we made a wrong turn at Bondcliff Trail and went just short of a mile out of our way. We were going to have to backtrack and add two additional miles to our seven-mile day. The group took a pretty hard psychological hit since it had been a tough day but started retracing our steps. It was with a great sigh of relief that we found ourselves back on the Twinway.
Going Down
With just two miles to Galehead Hut we set off with renewed vigor. We talked about how the last mile was “all downhill!” A mile later we redefined what “downhill” meant. The last mile into Galehead Hut was one of the most challenging sections of trail that I have ever hiked.
Arriving at Galehead
When we got to the bottom of the descent, the trail leveled, and we caught our first glimpse of Galehead Hut. With smiles all around and some small amount of cussing we walked off the final section of trail and dropped our packs on the front porch of the hut. We had acquired a few injuries along the way and were utterly exhausted. I grabbed the wooden door handle and made my way inside to check in and get our room assignments. As I walked up on the desk, a gentleman was having a conversation with the Croo leader. It seems that he joined his family on this hike at the last minute. They had made a reservation for his wife and two kids but hadn’t added him to it before coming up. The man at the desk was explaining that the hut was completely booked and he didn’t have space for the man to stay with his family. It seems that fate had delayed our hike today so that I could arrive at his very moment in time. I leaned into the conversation and said: “I have an extra bed.” Both gentlemen turned to me with that look you get when something this unexpected comes out of nowhere. For the second time on our trip, we were able to gift our reservation to someone that was in need.
Life at the Hut
After settling into another four-tier bunkbed and cleaning up, we were just in time for dinner. Tonight was manicotti, salad, vegan minestrone soup, and plenty of pumpkin bread and butter. We all ate our fill and had seconds all around. After dinner w played some board games and cards before wandering back to the bunkroom for another nights rest.