Gothics trail question

I plan to hike Haystack, Basin, Saddleback, Gothics from the John's Brook Lodge on Saturday.

My question is, once on Gothics should I take the Ore Bed Brook trail back to the garden or the Beaver Meadow Falls trail back to the lake road and Ausable club?

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

That seems like a strange question to me. You must not be leaving a car at either trail head, and don’t care where you end up, for some reason.

Rather than backtrack to the Gothics-Saddleback col, you could always climb over Armstrong and Upper Wolf Jaw and return to JBL from Wolf Jaws Col. That would bag an extra couple peaks, anyway, and probably be more interesting than Orebed Brook, which is probably even wetter than usual this year.

If you just want to get back to Route 73, and you don’t care where, I guess that most people here will probably suggest you hike out over the rest of the Great Range, right out to Rooster Comb.

If you’ll need a place to stay when you return to civilization, you’ll have better luck in Keene Valley. There are no public areas at the Ausable Club that I’m aware of.

beaver meadow Falls are quite pretty when the water is running but as raymond suggest unless you like hitching, you'll need to plan ahead of time as the trail head are a few miles apart. I guess you could have a mike & car but memory seems to recall the road up to the garden is indeed, up.

Since you are starting at JBL I will assume you need to get back to the Garden parking area unless you can spot another car at the Ausable Club parking area or as above can find a ride from there back to the Garden ( if you plan to go the Beaver Meadow Falls route). I will also assume that having climbed 38 of the peaks already you are aware of the undertaking you are planning and the approximate time involved. The Ha Ba Sa route (as PinPin calls it) is a fairly long go and leaves you at the to of the Orebed trail. From there you can descend or ascend the steep cabled route up Gothics. Once atop Gothics you can either continue to the rest of the lower range, retrace your steps down the steep cabled area back to the top of the Orebed trail, or descend into the Ausable Club as you described.

I have not taken the Beaver Meadows trail but I can tell you that the Orebed is pretty eroded with a few ladders in various states of disrepair (as of my last trip 8/07). Every time I traverse that trail I say to myself "thank God I don't ever have to take this trail again."

That said ...
Orebed is probably the only way down unless again you have transportation from the Ausable club. Hiking both the Upper and Lower range is a big undertaking for most of us mere mortals (HA BA SA is a pretty substantial day in itself) and I would only recommend it for a select few percent of the hikers I know. Adding Gothics alone as you plan is doable for some - again I assume you know the undertaking and I'm sure you'lll be prepared for a hike out in the dark.

BTW, if you will be leaving gear at JBL then Orebed is the only choice from Gothics unless you go all the way to Wolf Jaws notch and take the Wolf Jaws trail down.

Good luck on your trip - hope to read the TR!

You're planning to do all of this on Saturday? Returning via Ore Bed Brook trail is probably more reasonable than continuing over 2 more peaks.