Neil
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Another name for this hike could be, Sawteeth the Hard Way.
Imagine having the Adirondack Park all to yourself on a sunny day that you thought would be overcast. Joe Cedar and I met (for the first time) at the Ausable Club parking lot and started up the road at 7:15. Gill Brook and especially the Ausable river were swollen with runoff. The Ausable was literally thundering.
Once we got beyond the River we found ourselves in a sun drenched open hardwood forest with snow patches here and there. Spring was in the air! There was a mix of frozen dirt and ice on the trail and the footing was a little tricky at times but we quickly gained enough elevation to make wearing snowshoes worthwhile so we stopped at around 3200 feet for our first break. There were lots of views in all directions. The trail got steep and stayed that way pretty well to the top of Lower Wolf Jaws. There was the odd big tree down across the trail but they were all easy to detour. Once past the trail junction above the col the trail steepened considerably and there was no snow in the forest. The map shows that the trail pretty has a southern exposure and it was covered with alternating glare ice and very hard packed transformed snow. We stayed with our MSR’s. I was glad to have an ice axe with me for a few tricky sections and handed it down to Joe once or twice but it wasn’t essential to have one.
As we climbed higher the wind was really ripping. It was the kind of wind that makes you wary of falling trees and limbs but near 4000 feet there was nothing big enough to worry about. After the summit we donned crampons for the descent which was a good move. Lots of duck walking down steep water ice.
Once in the col it was a relief to start climbing again after the steep and careful 600 foot descent.. We kept our crampons on and as long as we remained on the hardened spine stayed afloat. The trail up to Upper Wolf jaw’s false summit is pretty steep and there were some icy pitches but the northeast orientation made for a lot more snow both on and off the trail. As we gained elevation we made sure to stop and take in the views. These mountains are so rugged and wild!
Descending into the Wolf Jaw - Armstrong col Armstrong is very much in your face and it looked big and intimidating. The vertical ascent out of the col is only a few hundred feet but when you look up and see this big steep wall all covered in dramatic looking ice it’s impressive. The ascent was very steep in spots and again I found the axe to come in handy. I have been down that side of Armstrong in the summer and didn’t really remember it being so steep.
When we got to the lookout the wind nearly blasted us right off our feet. The views of Algonquin, Basin, Marcy, Colden and of course the star of our day, Gothics were eye-poppingly beautiful. By now the crampons were becoming a royal PITA as we were postholing more and more and too much of our energy was being sapped. Just before the short drop into the Armstrong-Gothics col we switched over. We had a fair bit of protection from the wind but you couldn’t leave a pair of mitts just lying there or they’d be blown away. Gothics was the crux and question mark of our itinerary. We were concerned about the wind and the snow/ice conditions. Looking up at the summit ridge things looked pretty good snow-wise and on we went. With all the ups and downs (those 300 and 500 foot bumps add up) I had certainly slowed down but Joe is a specimen of fitness that shall inspire me for years to come and he trucked up first bump fresh as a daisy.
But then the wind hit us! It tore at us and made us walk like drunks. We had to stop often and plant our feet widely and brace ourselves, one shoulder turned into the gale. I had recently read of winds plucking climbers right off of mountains but I didn’t think that was going to happen today although I thought about it. The sun was shining and the views down the north face were sweeping and dramatic. On our way over to Pyramid (no summit picnic lunch today) I lost my balance a little bit – no big deal normally and usually quickly corrected. But, just at that moment a huge gust hit me and I went flying face first onto the ground. Insanely wild wind!
The trail to Pyramid was in great shape as long as we stayed right on it. Otherwise we post-holed with our snowshoes. I took some pictures from Pyramid and had to kneel in order to brace myself. Even so as I looked through the viewfinder my target – Basin’s face - was moving all over the place. I snapped off a few pics hoping that the exposure was quick enough to get a sharp image.
It didn’t take long to get out of the wind and soon we were standing at the trail junction (Weld Trail) in the col. It was about 3:00. We dropped the packs after taking security measures in case any Pine Martens were in the vicinity and headed up 500 feet to our final summit. We figured that by now we must have done over 6000 feet of vertical. The snow conditions were perfect going up an down Sawteeth and required no tools at all. At one spot going down I detoured through the trees to avoid an icy pitch but Joe was able to down climb it easily thanks to the ever present handy roots and branches. The views of Gothics and the rest of the Upper range are particularly good from Sawteeth and are only bettered by Pyramid IMO.
We shouldered our packs and went down to the Lake Road along the excellent Weld Trail whose pitch was very kind to our overworked knees and quad muscles. There were a couple of stream crossings but they did not pose any problems at all. The snow persisted to a much lower elevation than we had noticed near the Wolf Jaws (north orientation, Sawteeth’s shadow).
Down at the lake lots of water was pouring over the dam and the river was a riot of rapids. We had been listening to the River’s thunder from high up on the trail. The wind was nothing like up on Gothics but still pretty impressive. The road was mostly glare ice but we could walk easily along the side or sometimes along the center where the ice had completely melted for some stretches. At the register we saw we were the only ones who had signed out all day. We got back to the cars at 5:50 feeling like millionaires. (A whole lot better actually)
Imagine having the Adirondack Park all to yourself on a sunny day that you thought would be overcast. Joe Cedar and I met (for the first time) at the Ausable Club parking lot and started up the road at 7:15. Gill Brook and especially the Ausable river were swollen with runoff. The Ausable was literally thundering.
Once we got beyond the River we found ourselves in a sun drenched open hardwood forest with snow patches here and there. Spring was in the air! There was a mix of frozen dirt and ice on the trail and the footing was a little tricky at times but we quickly gained enough elevation to make wearing snowshoes worthwhile so we stopped at around 3200 feet for our first break. There were lots of views in all directions. The trail got steep and stayed that way pretty well to the top of Lower Wolf Jaws. There was the odd big tree down across the trail but they were all easy to detour. Once past the trail junction above the col the trail steepened considerably and there was no snow in the forest. The map shows that the trail pretty has a southern exposure and it was covered with alternating glare ice and very hard packed transformed snow. We stayed with our MSR’s. I was glad to have an ice axe with me for a few tricky sections and handed it down to Joe once or twice but it wasn’t essential to have one.
As we climbed higher the wind was really ripping. It was the kind of wind that makes you wary of falling trees and limbs but near 4000 feet there was nothing big enough to worry about. After the summit we donned crampons for the descent which was a good move. Lots of duck walking down steep water ice.
Once in the col it was a relief to start climbing again after the steep and careful 600 foot descent.. We kept our crampons on and as long as we remained on the hardened spine stayed afloat. The trail up to Upper Wolf jaw’s false summit is pretty steep and there were some icy pitches but the northeast orientation made for a lot more snow both on and off the trail. As we gained elevation we made sure to stop and take in the views. These mountains are so rugged and wild!
Descending into the Wolf Jaw - Armstrong col Armstrong is very much in your face and it looked big and intimidating. The vertical ascent out of the col is only a few hundred feet but when you look up and see this big steep wall all covered in dramatic looking ice it’s impressive. The ascent was very steep in spots and again I found the axe to come in handy. I have been down that side of Armstrong in the summer and didn’t really remember it being so steep.
When we got to the lookout the wind nearly blasted us right off our feet. The views of Algonquin, Basin, Marcy, Colden and of course the star of our day, Gothics were eye-poppingly beautiful. By now the crampons were becoming a royal PITA as we were postholing more and more and too much of our energy was being sapped. Just before the short drop into the Armstrong-Gothics col we switched over. We had a fair bit of protection from the wind but you couldn’t leave a pair of mitts just lying there or they’d be blown away. Gothics was the crux and question mark of our itinerary. We were concerned about the wind and the snow/ice conditions. Looking up at the summit ridge things looked pretty good snow-wise and on we went. With all the ups and downs (those 300 and 500 foot bumps add up) I had certainly slowed down but Joe is a specimen of fitness that shall inspire me for years to come and he trucked up first bump fresh as a daisy.
But then the wind hit us! It tore at us and made us walk like drunks. We had to stop often and plant our feet widely and brace ourselves, one shoulder turned into the gale. I had recently read of winds plucking climbers right off of mountains but I didn’t think that was going to happen today although I thought about it. The sun was shining and the views down the north face were sweeping and dramatic. On our way over to Pyramid (no summit picnic lunch today) I lost my balance a little bit – no big deal normally and usually quickly corrected. But, just at that moment a huge gust hit me and I went flying face first onto the ground. Insanely wild wind!
The trail to Pyramid was in great shape as long as we stayed right on it. Otherwise we post-holed with our snowshoes. I took some pictures from Pyramid and had to kneel in order to brace myself. Even so as I looked through the viewfinder my target – Basin’s face - was moving all over the place. I snapped off a few pics hoping that the exposure was quick enough to get a sharp image.
It didn’t take long to get out of the wind and soon we were standing at the trail junction (Weld Trail) in the col. It was about 3:00. We dropped the packs after taking security measures in case any Pine Martens were in the vicinity and headed up 500 feet to our final summit. We figured that by now we must have done over 6000 feet of vertical. The snow conditions were perfect going up an down Sawteeth and required no tools at all. At one spot going down I detoured through the trees to avoid an icy pitch but Joe was able to down climb it easily thanks to the ever present handy roots and branches. The views of Gothics and the rest of the Upper range are particularly good from Sawteeth and are only bettered by Pyramid IMO.
We shouldered our packs and went down to the Lake Road along the excellent Weld Trail whose pitch was very kind to our overworked knees and quad muscles. There were a couple of stream crossings but they did not pose any problems at all. The snow persisted to a much lower elevation than we had noticed near the Wolf Jaws (north orientation, Sawteeth’s shadow).
Down at the lake lots of water was pouring over the dam and the river was a riot of rapids. We had been listening to the River’s thunder from high up on the trail. The wind was nothing like up on Gothics but still pretty impressive. The road was mostly glare ice but we could walk easily along the side or sometimes along the center where the ice had completely melted for some stretches. At the register we saw we were the only ones who had signed out all day. We got back to the cars at 5:50 feeling like millionaires. (A whole lot better actually)
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