TMax
New member
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2005
- Messages
- 589
- Reaction score
- 85
What a great day! My alarm went off at 3:30 am and I was on the trail at St. Huberts shortly after 7:00. The morning was cool but pleasant. The trip up the Lake Road was quick and easy and I only had two cars drive by me! The trail up to the Sawteeth/Gothics col is such a moderate grade, it barely feels like you're climbing a 4000 footer. Foliage was an odd mix of beyond peak and not yet ready. There are lots of leaves on the ground already and the views have started to open up. The trail had been fairly dry but from the col up to Sawteeth the water and mud increased. The views back to Pyramid were great, but you could see the clouds hovering on that side. I quickly tagged the summit and started right back down. From the col the sign says it's 1200' ascent to Gothics. Actually it's 1400' with the elevation you lose coming off Pyramid. It was my first time on Pyramid and I was impressed. Looking away from Gothics, it was a beautiful sunny day. Looking up towards Gothics, it looked dark and stormy. I passed a bunch of people on my way to the top as I navigated some interesting scrambles. On the summit the clouds were barely above my head, there was no sun and the wind was howling. And was it cold! I layered up and started to take out my lunch when some hikers arrived who asked if I lost a nalgene. When I looked, sure enough, I had. They said it wasn't "too far back" and that it looked like it had been set into a bush. I figured that bush must have reached out and stolen it from my pack
. Knowing I still had a lot of hiking to do today, I opted to head back and get it. It was further back than I would have liked... Back on the summit I ate quickly and then headed off for Armstrong. Now the trails turned into what I expect in the Dacks, lots of water and mud! There are a couple of funky slabby drops heading down to the col where I ran into a French Canadian roadblock. I stopped on Armstrong's summit only long enough to take some pictures. The drop down into the next col also has some "interesting" scrambly sections. I saw a few people struggling to get up them. The climb up to UWJ is easy. The day had become completely sunny and much warmer. The summit was sweet and I was tempted to stretch out, but decided the day was getting too late for that! LOTS of elevation loss down into the wolfjaw notch. At the junction I was tempted to just head out because LWJ looked so far UP and it was getting late. But my desire to push myself won out and I climbed the 700' up to the summit. Took a longish break to replenish my energy before heading down. Everything was going well when I stepped on a wet slab and went for a small slide. I tried to grab a branch to stop the slide and managed to wrench my shoulder. Motrin to the rescue! It helped, but just barely. The rest of the trail is in good shape and follows a fairly moderate grade so I was able to get out without much difficulty. When I got back to the trail register at the AMR gate, there were 3 and 1/2 pages of people who signed in after me! Busy day in the high peaks!
. Knowing I still had a lot of hiking to do today, I opted to head back and get it. It was further back than I would have liked... Back on the summit I ate quickly and then headed off for Armstrong. Now the trails turned into what I expect in the Dacks, lots of water and mud! There are a couple of funky slabby drops heading down to the col where I ran into a French Canadian roadblock. I stopped on Armstrong's summit only long enough to take some pictures. The drop down into the next col also has some "interesting" scrambly sections. I saw a few people struggling to get up them. The climb up to UWJ is easy. The day had become completely sunny and much warmer. The summit was sweet and I was tempted to stretch out, but decided the day was getting too late for that! LOTS of elevation loss down into the wolfjaw notch. At the junction I was tempted to just head out because LWJ looked so far UP and it was getting late. But my desire to push myself won out and I climbed the 700' up to the summit. Took a longish break to replenish my energy before heading down. Everything was going well when I stepped on a wet slab and went for a small slide. I tried to grab a branch to stop the slide and managed to wrench my shoulder. Motrin to the rescue! It helped, but just barely. The rest of the trail is in good shape and follows a fairly moderate grade so I was able to get out without much difficulty. When I got back to the trail register at the AMR gate, there were 3 and 1/2 pages of people who signed in after me! Busy day in the high peaks!
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