Looking for a two day hike....involving Galehead hut. Day one would be backcountry camping..day two would be staying at Galehead hut. Would need a loop hike ..with 12 year old son. We've done backcountry camping before..suggestions?
Um, that'd be a three-day hike, unless your first night was ridiculously close to the road.
Unless you really enjoy bushwhacking, there's only two ways to make a loop that includes Galehead but doesn't involve much backtracking: from the south (Lincoln Woods) or from the north (Five Corners or Little River).
Suggestion 1: start at five corners, take garfield trail. night 1 at Garfield shelter, day 2 traverse east along Garfield Ridge to Galehead (can run up to South Twin summit in the evening if you like), day 3 down Gale River trail. A little road walking to get back to the starting point.
All the suggestions from the south involve some pretty significant distance; you could loop around Owl's Head along Franconia Brook and Lincoln Brook, that would be pretty flat, but not very scenic, and the western half of that loop is not well-traveled so the trail can be hard to follow. A wider loop along the tops of the ridges is called a Pemi Loop and might be a bit more than you bargained for.