Have you been missing winter in the White Mountains? After 618 days without any MITOC winter trips, we’re going to make the most of the NH snowfall this week and get back out on some of our favorite mountains this Saturday with a Mt. Garfield ascent!

Mt. Garfield is a 4500’ peak in the White Mountains just northeast of Mt. Lafayette, with a bare pointy top with superb views of the Franconia Range, the Pemigewasset Wilderness, the Bonds, and much more - in fact, you can see 30 of the 4000-footers from it, and they should be beautifully covered in a fresh layer of snow!

Hike: Garfield Trail + Garfield Ridge Trail to summit, then back: 10 miles, 3100 ft. elevation gain. The trail crosses a few brooks, but there are detours to bridges if needed. Mostly moderate grade, but there is a little scrambling at the top, which may be more difficult than usual because we expect snow and ice. We're planning on going at a comfortable pace throughout the hike. Map: https://caltopo.com/m/34LD7

We're planning to leave Cambridge at 5:00am on Sat Nov 20 and start driving back before sunset.

We're hosting a required pre-trip meeting on Thurs Nov 18 at 8pm at the MITOC office, W20-461.

Please answer these questions when you sign up:

1. Have you attended the two mandatory Winter School lectures in a previous year? If not, please explain what winter hiking experience you have.

2. Have you done a hike of comparable distance and elevation gain in winter? In any season?

3. What kind of exercise do you get regularly?

4. Are you fully vaccinated against covid? (You may also share this privately by email.)

5. Do you have a car you can drive? If not, are you willing to rent and drive (cost shared by all)?