6, 7, 8: Gothics, Armstrong, and Upper Wolfjaw

I've got a bit of an obsessive personality and it has been bugging the hell out of me that I have one more high peak than Sunny, so I decided we should try to do Sawteeth. We couldn't do it from AMR because of their draconian dog policies, so Garden was a good bet at 15 miles round trip. It would be a long day but promised beautiful views and an incredible challenge. 

I looked at the maps and saw that the trail broke off from Gothics to Sawteeth and made an assumption that the worst parts of Gothics would be after the junction, but I was incredibly wrong about that. If I had read the AMC High Peaks Trails guide a little closer, I would have known this. 

Phelps Trail

We set off from Garden at around 5:45 with head lamp engaged. This time around, I had my running shoes on and my boots lashed to my pack. We made excellent time down the Phelps Trail. It was misty and the breeze was shaking drops from the trees, but the trail was mostly dry. 

Johns Brook Lodge was hopping with guests as breakfast was being prepped. The friendly attendant on duty took some time out to sell me a couple of protien bars. The shop had a fairly good selection of products for its size. 

Orebed Brook Trail

As the bell rang for breakfast, we set off South down the Orebed Brook Trail. The first two miles or so were pretty standard fare. We passed one couple walking with their dog along the way. I believe they were staying at the nearby lean-to and headed up Wolfjaws the other way. We also met a couple of fellas who were heading up to Saddleback and Basin to complete their 46! 

Then after a bit of clambering around some deadfalls, we came to the base of the first slide. Looking up at it was daunting, but the long, wooden stair built up the left side was heartening. 

We ate up that half mile or so pretty quickly. After that was a tough, rocky climb up through the trees, but nothing we really haven't done before. We cheerfully set off for Gothics from the col junction.

Gothics Ascent

Then, we were enveloped in clouds and the climb up Gothics really began. This is when I realized I'd been wrong about where the A.W. Weld junction actually was: it was certainly not before the big ascent. Again, had I referred to the guide more closely, I could have prepared better for the climb.

The fabled Gothics cables weren't so bad. I was grateful for them, in fact. However, the steep, bare rockfaces were wet with dew and very slippery and pictures on the internet don't do justice to their slope. Sunny did okay scrambling beside me with his pads and claws while I pulled myself up the cables.

We came to the first really perplexing rockface which didn't feature a cable, but had a crack down the middle of it. Presumably, one is supposed to use the crack to hold on in its place. There was just zero chance of that happening. Looking behind us through the cloud, I couldn't imagine safely sliding on my butt down the wet rockfaces we'd already climbed.  We did our best to be respectful, but we simply had to conscript the help of some trees to get up safely.

After another cable climb or two came one last bare rockface with a crack down it. At the bottom of this rockface was a somewhat vexing drop down into the alpine woods clinging to the side of the mountain. I was never afraid for our lives but I was definitely aware that an uncontrolled descent would likely result in injury and a very slow climb in either direction. As such, I lay flat and slowly wiggled up the crevasse. Sunny did well scrambling in some spots. In others especially where the rock was wet, I had to anchor with one hand and give him a little pull to clear it.

We finally came to the top and looked back at what we'd done. I began to doubt that we'd be going to Sawteeth. I paced a bit a the top and ruminated. I felt okay about going back down if the weather was dry. There was no guarantee that it would be dry after the second summit and if it wasn't, I'd have to do Armstrong and Upper Wolfjaw to get off the mountain to the tune of 16.1 total Adirondack miles. I wasn't going to take that risk. 

We headed for the summit.  Gothics gave us a mud pit on the way, but we couldn't really complain. We were just grateful to be hiking horizontally.

Maybe a little too grateful

We met some new friends on the peak who took our picture. They had actually just come up from Sawteeth from the AMR and were headed in the same direction as Sunny and me. They agreed that going back down the cable route was probably not a good call and Pyramid/Sawteeth was enshrouded in clouds anyways. I was still concerned that I hadn't studied the range itself very much, but there really was no going back the way we'd come.

Adirondack Kommando is extra stealfy in the fog!

Armstrong

As we traversed between Gothics and Armstrong, it became clear that the keyword for this range would be "steep". There were a lot of sheer faces to clamber and rockfaces to slide down. Sunny was dubious about our life choices many times that day, but he was very good at picking good paths to negotiate.

Sunny did an excellent job on big jumps. He trusted me to assist him with jumps up and down. The rope style leash I've been using has been great for this kind of work. I'll have to remember to inspect it for any fraying before we go out again.

I like big mutts and I cannot lie.

Our friends met us on the top of Armstrong and Sunny got more pets.

Adirondack Kommando sez "Dis view iz more like it!"

The view of Gothics, Saddleback, and beyond was impressive from Armstrong.

Although the view West was a bit obscured by clouds, it was still beautiful.

As we clambered down Armstrong, we met up with the friends we'd met on the Orebed Trail with their dog. Skinny people move so fast! They warned us about a steep ladder that was coming up. Our friends from the summit agreed to give me a hand with Sunny if necessary. I wished I had studied this route prior to the hike and in the future I will try to look more closely at any alternate routes I might need to take.

Did I mention the word "steep" yet in this post? The climb down Algonquin was one managably big cliff after the other, each about 5 to 10 feet high. My pants were torn beyond repair from sliding down bare rockfaces. Then, we came to the ladder.

Thanks so much to our friends for helping me with Sunny. Our method was to have me go down facing the ladder while Sunny climbed facing me. I re-lashed his leash every 4 rungs or so in case he fell. When we got to a stable spot on the cliff face, I gave Sunny's leash to our friend so she could arrest his jump. It was a fairly successful climb and I feel good about how we did it.

Upper Wolfjaw

The traverse and climb up to the Wolfjaw summit was a bit muddy, but uneventful. The clouds had parted and the ceiling had risen by the time we mounted the summit of Upper Wolfjaw. The Western views were stunning. We also met up with our old friends and bid them adieu, then met some new friends and they helped us take a picture.

The 2nd peak of Upper Wolfjaw to the right and the peak of Lower Wolfjaw to the left, and Giant in the distance.

The hike through the col between Upper Wolfjaw's two peaks was quite beautiful. There were abundant flowering plants and even some bees up there at 4000 feet. We slowed down and enjoyed the moment, breathing in the air and the stillness. The Wolfjaws hike really put all the stress of Gothics behind us.

Big Down and Back

I will admit that the hike down Upper Wolfjaw was laborious. Sunny wasn't going to let me lollygag, though, and he hauled me down Wolf Jaw Trail, then up and over Woods Fall Trail to the Ore Bed Brook then Johns brook in good time.

We bought pins and a Snickers bar from the friendly attendant while Sunny got lots of pets. I changed back into my running shoes for the long 3 miles back to the car.

Sunny was eager to get back to the car and he kept my pace quick. Still, lots of skinny people passed us heading out, and some JBL guests passed us coming in. Sunny got lots of pets. It was still a pretty hike with the sun filtering through the trees along the western ridge. We came across a huge, auburn-hued doe towards the end of the trail. Sunny didn't even bother to pull the leash as she bounded away; I think he knew it was a lost cause. 

Back at the trailhead I chatted with one of the folks we'd met on the Orebed trail and I completely forgot it was one of the guys who finished their 46 that day and failed to congradulate him! There was still sunlight low in the sky when we drove out of the lot. 

Conclusion

There are obviously a few take-aways from this hike.

• Switching to sneakers really helped out this time. Of course my knees began to ache at the end, but nowhere near as much as they did during the Tabletop hike a couple of weeks ago.
• Using a single pole on descents and some ascents probably also helped keep the strain off my knees.
• I need to really study the Guide more closely when planning trips, including alternate routes. Actually writing out the steps physically in a single bulleted list would probably be helpful because most of these hikes are comprised of several trails, each with their own entry in the book.
• Bring shorts but wear longer pants.
• I may need a pair of gloves for climbing.
• Spikes don't weigh a lot. Keep them in the bag even in the summer.

Another three peaks are in the books and that's great despite the fact that they weren't actually planned. I still want to have a go at Pyramid Peak and Sawteeth and I think it may have to do a stay at the JBL in order to get there. With a little gear and on a drier time of day, I think the big scramble up Gothics would be fine.

Here's the map from the hike. It was a bit over 13 miles in 12 hours (10 hours moving).

I'd planned to sneak in a hike to Street & Nye the day after Labor Day, but there are  a few factors that I think makes that a bad idea. We're going to the fair that weekend and it's going to be a long, tiring Monday. Also, my son clearly suffered a little separation anxiety and I think making fair weekend focused on him is for the best. For those reasons and more, I think we'll skip that one for now. I want to keep Sunny fit for hiking, so I'll try to get out with him and my son for a little hike or two before the next big one. 

Our next high peak will be Colden on the 20th of September. I'm sure the lot will be about full when we arrive, but I think it's going to be a beautiful hike, or at least a beautiful summit, and I'm really looking forward to it.