Sawteeth & Gothics

Could it be true....another gorgeous day for a hike and NO RAIN! I'm stunned...actually I'm shocked! We invited "Posthole Pam" to join us--we haven't hiked with her since the Dix Range Hike (the 16 mile/16 hour hike). Hmmm, do you think she was mad at us? Our neighbor Dom "da Bomb" also tagged along. He hiked a High Peak a few weeks ago and was interested in doing some more.

We left the St. Hubert's parking area a little after 7am--we ended up in the overflow lot b/c the main lot was already full! We had a nice leisurely walk to the trail register. The AMR guard-ranger type person asked us what our plans were and said we would enjoy terrific views. Boy, the High Peaks were hopping that day---there were tons of people out all doing the same thing!

Anyhoo, we had to walk about the entire Lake Road up to the dam...somewhere around 4 miles. Dom wasn't even breaking a sweat! Brian wanted to be sure we saw Indian Head, Rainbow Falls, and Beaver Meadow Falls...check, check, double check!

At the dam--Lower Ausable Lake in the background

Eye level view of the Lake

I finally got a decent view of Indian Head!

Rainbow Falls---tucked away in a little gorge



Rainbow Falls viewed from above

I kept a slow pace, slower than normal that is--for some reason I couldn't find my groove. Oh well. I was sure I would "find" it at some point. I usually get my second wind later in the day. We finally got to the junction---fortunately only half a mile to go to Sawteeth!

Here's Dom giving Pam a helping hand on one of the scrambles as we neared the summit.



Yay! We made it! Let's eat!

The view of Gothics from Sawteeth--looks scary! Hell, Sawteeth looked scary too! Those two names aren't very inviting or friendly-sounding like Cascade and Porter.

High Peak #30 for me!

Me, pointing out that we are ONLY 6.1 miles from the truck. There was another group that came up from the Scenic Trail...we were already done with lunch so we packed up and down so they could enjoy the summit.

On to Pyramid and then Gothics! It was only 1 mile from the junction to the summit of Gothics, but that is one hell-of-a-mile! We had to go over Pyramid, a steep sub-peak.

The views were fantastic as expected. I took the opportunity to clean dirt from under my finger nails---I don't like dirty nails, LOL! We were only .3 of a mile from the summit and could see hikers going up the trail. It looked intimidating from where we were...

Here's Dom taking some photos

We headed over to Gothics after our rest on Pyramid. I think it only took about 15 minutes to get over there. It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. We stopped and chatted with a group very close to the actual summit. You could see for miles and miles! It was pretty neat---just about a 360 degree view--we saw the roof top of Johns Brook Lodge, the beach house on Lower Ausable Lake and of course several of the High Peaks.

Brian and I on the summit of Gothics, # 31 for me!

Pyramid from Gothics

Pam, me and Dom on the right, standing right over the survey bolt.

Time to move on...we started down the trail to the col between Gothics and Armstrong. It didn't take very long to get down, but there were several slabs us short-legged people had to navigate carefully. When we reached the col, Dom realized it was only half a mile to Armstrong and asked if we could go up. Brian said I could find a shady spot and rest if I wanted. What!!?? I already did Armstrong in May so I really didn't need to do it again. However, I did not want to be outdone by a 17 yr old!! Whippersnapper!! Geez, I'm not that out of breath! The scoot up to Armstrong wasn't that bad and seemed to go by quicker this time. Hurray for Pam and Dom--they came thinking they would summit 2 High Peaks and ended up with 3!

Brian and I on Armstrong---with better views this time. Dom was interested in going on to Upper Wolfjaw, but I gave him the evil eye, LOL, Ok, I was getting tired by this point.

Dom going up one of the ladders

and Pam going up the same one

The hike down the Weld Trail was uneventful, although Pam's knee was acting up and my left hip was doing the same. Dom got poked in the eye by a branch. Pam and Dom got to see Beaver Meadow Falls. It wasn't running like it was in May, but it's still pretty and you could feel the "coolness". We made it back to the Lake Road and stopped at the smaller dam to see the fish.

Not a bad day--total of 14.1 miles in about 12 hours. Pam brought some homemade Maple Syrup Pumpkin Cheesecake for the ride home...mmmmm, it was very tasty! Thanks Pam!