Setting at Galehead Hut I knew that the next 3 hours would absolutely be the crux of the traverse for me. I had hiked Garfield before, and I knew that it had the potential to be demoralizing. Add in an ascent of Lafayette afterwards, and I had the making of my major bonking. I convinced myself to slow the place down, and try not to walk any faster than 2 MPH so as to save myself until I reached Lafayette summit. Staying true to my plan, I departed Galehead slowly and methodically, cresting hill after hill, and at 4:28 PM I arrived at Garfield Summit, 1 hour and 38 minutes after leaving Galehead Hut. Garfield felt like a big win, and I was glad to be done with it.

Unfortunately, the weather began to deteriorate by the time I reached Garfield, and the sprinkles began under heavily clouded skies. I got an uneasy feeling, and I knew I needed to summit Lafayette quickly in order to avoid potential white out conditions that would leave me floundering trying to find my way. In my urgency to quickly descend Garfield I made my one mistake of the day. One foot misplaced on one rock going down Garfield, and I was flying through the air. I didn’t know what had hit me. I laid sprawled on the ground for a few seconds until the adrenaline hit me. Two scuffed elbows, one scratched hand, but everything else was in tact. I narrowly avoided the face plant, whew! The sprinkles continued to come, but I decided I had to slow down or I was going to get hurt. One step at a time, I chugged down Garfield and the up Lafayette, and at 5:57 PM I arrived at the summit of Mount Lafayette.