Neil
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2004
- Messages
- 3,434
- Reaction score
- 487
Almost everything you do will seem insignificant, but it is important that you do it
-Mahatma Gandhi
Over the past year or so I have been putting myself in increasingly intense and highly focused situations so that everything else in my life is temporarily shut out, kind of like pulling a plug. I have been looking for ways to remove myself as far as possible from my regular day to day life. In the Adirondacks I have found the specific combination of elements that make this possible: sustained physical and mental pressure in a totally wild and chaotic natural environment with sweeping views of wild lands.
This seems to be the right prescription for a riding out on a metaphorical thin silver wire through a vacuum in time. A vacuum that I had to take some pains in creating.
Recently, I finally succeeded in getting the necessary conditions to converge simultaneously in order to do this particular hike. Therefore, on Friday morning at 2:15 am I stood up in Tom Haskin’s living room and said to him, “this is my least favorite part of the day”. At 3:30 am. I started up the Pine Pond Road from the end of the Averyville road. Not only was it pitch dark but there wasn’t a breeze or a sound. I was feeling somewhat intimidated and a little fearful having been so suddenly wrenched from my normal environment and with such a daunting task before me. I had barely slept during the previous hours due to the excitement and stress of finally embarking on the hike I’d been putting together for several years.
The hike’s genesis came 3 years ago from the minds of Randomscooter and Pin-Pin, who believed that it would be possible to do the 5 Sawtooths in a single day. At first the idea seemed totally impossible to me but over the years I kept dwelling on it and by returning again and again to the area I slowly pieced together some route ideas. Today was the day to put everything to the test and in order to make the experience as intense as possible, to get into that Nirvana-like hiking headspace that I was in quest of, I went alone.
The first 30 minutes were not particularly feature-filled but by 4:15 the hooting and screeching up in the treetops and the melodious thrushes and furtive rustlings along-side the trail kept my mind stimulated. At 5:00, my target time, I began the bushwhack and had just enough light to see by but kept the headlamp on for another 15 minutes.
My first summit was Sawtooth 4 and it was about a 4 mile whack away and 1350 vertical feet above me. Half-way there I would begin following an unexplored route that would save some distance over my previously used one. After crossing the Cold Brook tributary that drains Sawtooth 1 I lost GPS reception but managed to stay on route for nearly a mile through the feature-poor slopes below Sawtooth 10 (1001 meter peak) aiming for the low point between it and 791 meter peak to its NNW.
I had started off with no water in my pack but carried a 1 liter Nalgene in a water bottle jacket on my sternum strap. It was empty and I noticed I was going through water much quicker than estimated. I filled up at the last creek crossing and began climbing the steeper slopes of 4. It didn’t look like I’d be getting there at 8:30, my 5-hour target. Nevertheless, I was totally focused on my goal and other than deviating around thick sections, stuck to my planned route like glue now that my gps had reception.
As I approached the top it got quite a bit thicker than I remembered my previous final approach to be and I watched the minutes drag by and entered a new series of target times into the equation.
I wanted to get out at 9PM but had about an hour of latitude because that final hour would be on the old Northville Placid Trail that I had scouted out a month ago and I knew it to be easy to follow. The bushwhack off of 3 was unknown to me for a distance of 2 miles towards the old NPT but Randomscooter had scouted it with Joe Cedar for me and had made copious notes to accompany his trqcklog.
I got to the summit of 4 at 9:00. 30 minutes of my latitude was now used up so I quickly did a combination compass bearing/gps waypoint GOTO and descended the steep slopes towards the narrow knife-edge col between 4 and 2. I remembered the route to have been steep but easy, however on this occasion it was steep and difficult and the first 200 meters took me 20 minutes, whereas I would have preferred 8 minutes or a 25 meter per minute pace. There was plenty of old and crumbling blowdown, fresh blowdown and many gnarly coniferous (pronounced carniferous) saplings.
Once below the steep part I began the side-sloping traverse of the north facing semi-circular drainage basin and the woods were wide open. It was a beautiful walk and I was glad to find a trickle of water, which I used to fill my bottle. I was at the col at 10:00 and knew I would not make the summit of 2 within an hour and would therefore fall even further behind. I had climbed 2 twice previously and the route that went nearly directly southbound, over from Sawtooth 10 and to the east of the northern bump of 2 (false summit?) had been very straightforward. I was counting on similar conditions but due to the west facing aspect of today’s route I encountered very soft soil conditions, a lot of debris on the ground to step and climb over and fields of blowdown and bent over trees. In spite of that it wasn’t really all that bad and I patiently adapted both my head space and my traveling speed to the conditions. I got pushed further and further to the east away from my planned route and near the top of the sub-summit I hit a wall of interlocking chaos that consumed much of my precious time.
Luckily, I also carried a 2-liter water bladder and I had filled it up prior to the difficult 2-hour climb to the summit of 2. And, I had already decided to bail out after completing Sawtooth 1 so instead of fretting and getting frustrated I relaxed and thoroughly enjoyed wending my way slowly, looking into Ouluska pass and over at the Emmons Slide as I ascended the west flank of 2. It was a great day, fairly cool and the bugs were at minimum density. The hike had taken on an entirely new meaning regarding the statistical goals but I was still happily riding that thin silver wire of Sawtooth Range Nirvana and felt no fatigue whatsoever.
It took me 3 hours to get from 4 to 2 ( now 1 and a half hours behind) and I decided that if I could turn back the clock by 2 hours I would traverse eastward below 2 until I got to where Hillman and I began the climb a few years ago. There were a few bad sections along that route as well but overall I’m pretty sure it would be a better bet.
I hung out on 2 for nearly 30 minutes eyeballing the various summits, including the Macintyre range and Allen, just to mention those ones) before heading down the very steep but short summit cone and then traversed to the east summit and then I began a very difficult and slow, painstaking descent towards a spot just north of the 1-2 col. It got cliffy so I veered south towards slightly fatter contour intervals. It took me an hour to get down and I took on another 2 liters from the same creek I had crossed lower down many hours earlier.
Now, I sat and thought over my next move. I planned on doing 1 and had plenty of time. My original plan had been to cross-slope NE 250 meters on the 900 meter contour in order to pass below the cliffs that Seve and I had encountered when we went from the same 900 meter height on 1 with Cory last spring on our way from there to the 1-2 col and thence to 2-South.
But now that I was back in exploring mode and not in a hurry any more I thought about Hillman and my route off the west end of 1 when we did 1 and 5. At 1000meters there is a north –south elongated shoulder due west of the summit that is separated from it by a narrow gully. Doug and I had looked down into and across this gully and shoulder when we descended the very steep slopes of 1, threading the needle between cliffs. I decided to find out if I could go directly to the summit across all of this. Tom mentioned having traversed from 2 to 1 but I had forgotten his final remarks to make sure and go north around the gully.
The woods were fairy open and I slowly watched myself get even with top of 2. It was very steep and there many short cliffs to wind through but other than a very soft and crumbly surface I made decent progress. I was feeling tired now thanks to the final push to the top of 2 and the rough 650 foot descent off of it.
As I neared the top of the shoulder looking down into the gully and across at the intimidating west end of 1 I hit a very thick section that gobbled up tremendous amounts of energy for very small gains. I had to get through it and down into the lee of the gully wall I thought. Things improved a bit but my lasting memory is of me lying down on my face trying to squiggle through. I was unable either to move forward or get up to stand up. I was stuck there, ensnared in a lobster trap prison of cripple-bush. By wrestling away earnestly, I obviously managed to escape and after another 20-30 minutes I got to where I knew things would open up – and they did. It was a pleasure to walk erect again.
continued...
-Mahatma Gandhi
Over the past year or so I have been putting myself in increasingly intense and highly focused situations so that everything else in my life is temporarily shut out, kind of like pulling a plug. I have been looking for ways to remove myself as far as possible from my regular day to day life. In the Adirondacks I have found the specific combination of elements that make this possible: sustained physical and mental pressure in a totally wild and chaotic natural environment with sweeping views of wild lands.
This seems to be the right prescription for a riding out on a metaphorical thin silver wire through a vacuum in time. A vacuum that I had to take some pains in creating.
Recently, I finally succeeded in getting the necessary conditions to converge simultaneously in order to do this particular hike. Therefore, on Friday morning at 2:15 am I stood up in Tom Haskin’s living room and said to him, “this is my least favorite part of the day”. At 3:30 am. I started up the Pine Pond Road from the end of the Averyville road. Not only was it pitch dark but there wasn’t a breeze or a sound. I was feeling somewhat intimidated and a little fearful having been so suddenly wrenched from my normal environment and with such a daunting task before me. I had barely slept during the previous hours due to the excitement and stress of finally embarking on the hike I’d been putting together for several years.
The hike’s genesis came 3 years ago from the minds of Randomscooter and Pin-Pin, who believed that it would be possible to do the 5 Sawtooths in a single day. At first the idea seemed totally impossible to me but over the years I kept dwelling on it and by returning again and again to the area I slowly pieced together some route ideas. Today was the day to put everything to the test and in order to make the experience as intense as possible, to get into that Nirvana-like hiking headspace that I was in quest of, I went alone.
The first 30 minutes were not particularly feature-filled but by 4:15 the hooting and screeching up in the treetops and the melodious thrushes and furtive rustlings along-side the trail kept my mind stimulated. At 5:00, my target time, I began the bushwhack and had just enough light to see by but kept the headlamp on for another 15 minutes.
My first summit was Sawtooth 4 and it was about a 4 mile whack away and 1350 vertical feet above me. Half-way there I would begin following an unexplored route that would save some distance over my previously used one. After crossing the Cold Brook tributary that drains Sawtooth 1 I lost GPS reception but managed to stay on route for nearly a mile through the feature-poor slopes below Sawtooth 10 (1001 meter peak) aiming for the low point between it and 791 meter peak to its NNW.
I had started off with no water in my pack but carried a 1 liter Nalgene in a water bottle jacket on my sternum strap. It was empty and I noticed I was going through water much quicker than estimated. I filled up at the last creek crossing and began climbing the steeper slopes of 4. It didn’t look like I’d be getting there at 8:30, my 5-hour target. Nevertheless, I was totally focused on my goal and other than deviating around thick sections, stuck to my planned route like glue now that my gps had reception.
As I approached the top it got quite a bit thicker than I remembered my previous final approach to be and I watched the minutes drag by and entered a new series of target times into the equation.
I wanted to get out at 9PM but had about an hour of latitude because that final hour would be on the old Northville Placid Trail that I had scouted out a month ago and I knew it to be easy to follow. The bushwhack off of 3 was unknown to me for a distance of 2 miles towards the old NPT but Randomscooter had scouted it with Joe Cedar for me and had made copious notes to accompany his trqcklog.
I got to the summit of 4 at 9:00. 30 minutes of my latitude was now used up so I quickly did a combination compass bearing/gps waypoint GOTO and descended the steep slopes towards the narrow knife-edge col between 4 and 2. I remembered the route to have been steep but easy, however on this occasion it was steep and difficult and the first 200 meters took me 20 minutes, whereas I would have preferred 8 minutes or a 25 meter per minute pace. There was plenty of old and crumbling blowdown, fresh blowdown and many gnarly coniferous (pronounced carniferous) saplings.
Once below the steep part I began the side-sloping traverse of the north facing semi-circular drainage basin and the woods were wide open. It was a beautiful walk and I was glad to find a trickle of water, which I used to fill my bottle. I was at the col at 10:00 and knew I would not make the summit of 2 within an hour and would therefore fall even further behind. I had climbed 2 twice previously and the route that went nearly directly southbound, over from Sawtooth 10 and to the east of the northern bump of 2 (false summit?) had been very straightforward. I was counting on similar conditions but due to the west facing aspect of today’s route I encountered very soft soil conditions, a lot of debris on the ground to step and climb over and fields of blowdown and bent over trees. In spite of that it wasn’t really all that bad and I patiently adapted both my head space and my traveling speed to the conditions. I got pushed further and further to the east away from my planned route and near the top of the sub-summit I hit a wall of interlocking chaos that consumed much of my precious time.
Luckily, I also carried a 2-liter water bladder and I had filled it up prior to the difficult 2-hour climb to the summit of 2. And, I had already decided to bail out after completing Sawtooth 1 so instead of fretting and getting frustrated I relaxed and thoroughly enjoyed wending my way slowly, looking into Ouluska pass and over at the Emmons Slide as I ascended the west flank of 2. It was a great day, fairly cool and the bugs were at minimum density. The hike had taken on an entirely new meaning regarding the statistical goals but I was still happily riding that thin silver wire of Sawtooth Range Nirvana and felt no fatigue whatsoever.
It took me 3 hours to get from 4 to 2 ( now 1 and a half hours behind) and I decided that if I could turn back the clock by 2 hours I would traverse eastward below 2 until I got to where Hillman and I began the climb a few years ago. There were a few bad sections along that route as well but overall I’m pretty sure it would be a better bet.
I hung out on 2 for nearly 30 minutes eyeballing the various summits, including the Macintyre range and Allen, just to mention those ones) before heading down the very steep but short summit cone and then traversed to the east summit and then I began a very difficult and slow, painstaking descent towards a spot just north of the 1-2 col. It got cliffy so I veered south towards slightly fatter contour intervals. It took me an hour to get down and I took on another 2 liters from the same creek I had crossed lower down many hours earlier.
Now, I sat and thought over my next move. I planned on doing 1 and had plenty of time. My original plan had been to cross-slope NE 250 meters on the 900 meter contour in order to pass below the cliffs that Seve and I had encountered when we went from the same 900 meter height on 1 with Cory last spring on our way from there to the 1-2 col and thence to 2-South.
But now that I was back in exploring mode and not in a hurry any more I thought about Hillman and my route off the west end of 1 when we did 1 and 5. At 1000meters there is a north –south elongated shoulder due west of the summit that is separated from it by a narrow gully. Doug and I had looked down into and across this gully and shoulder when we descended the very steep slopes of 1, threading the needle between cliffs. I decided to find out if I could go directly to the summit across all of this. Tom mentioned having traversed from 2 to 1 but I had forgotten his final remarks to make sure and go north around the gully.
The woods were fairy open and I slowly watched myself get even with top of 2. It was very steep and there many short cliffs to wind through but other than a very soft and crumbly surface I made decent progress. I was feeling tired now thanks to the final push to the top of 2 and the rough 650 foot descent off of it.
As I neared the top of the shoulder looking down into the gully and across at the intimidating west end of 1 I hit a very thick section that gobbled up tremendous amounts of energy for very small gains. I had to get through it and down into the lee of the gully wall I thought. Things improved a bit but my lasting memory is of me lying down on my face trying to squiggle through. I was unable either to move forward or get up to stand up. I was stuck there, ensnared in a lobster trap prison of cripple-bush. By wrestling away earnestly, I obviously managed to escape and after another 20-30 minutes I got to where I knew things would open up – and they did. It was a pleasure to walk erect again.
continued...
