Mark Driscoll
New member
Drove up from Syracuse on Wednesday and stayed in the Alpine Country Motel in Wilmington. It was a nice place $99 for a two room suite that I needed since I was hiking with a friend’s daughter. We had breakfast in our room; there was a table and a small kitchen. We were at the parking area around 7:10 (we were the first car in the lot) and to the gate house a little past 7:30. Lake road was a little we but no mud or standing water. It was a nice morning and only saw two pickup trucks on our walk into the lake. I like walking the road on my way in, it is nice to be able to walk side by side and talk, on the way out…well. We were at the lake by 8:40 and sat down and enjoyed the views of the lake and clouds lifting out of the valley. We started up the Pyramid/Gothics trail at 9:00, with the rain over the last few days Rainbow Falls was just great. A little past the falls we met up with our first hiker of the day, she was headed up to Gothics and was moving fast as she pasted us. I was not feeling good a combination of being out of shape and a stomach bug and had to take a rest about 10 min past the falls. I was feeling so bad that I told my hiking partner that I did not think I could make it to the top. Now I should note that we have hiked many times together but two hikes stand out in her mind; when she was 8 I hiked with her and my niece up Algonquin about half way up the clouds set in and about 200 yards from the summit we had to turn back due to the lack of visibility and the wind; last year she was feeling very sick and we had to turn back from Colvin and
Blake at the Elk Pass junction. She looked and me and said she did not want one more almost peak. I looked up and said we are not almost there! But she looked at me with those deer in the headlight eyes and I broke down and told her I would rest a bit and give it a try.
She took some of the stuff out of my pack to lighten my load and we started out again. About a half mile later we (I) stopped for a rest and we met up with our 2nd hiker of the day. He was also headed for Gothics. By now I was feeling much better and we made it to the Gothics/Sawteeth junction at about 11:00. The trail from the lake was wet but not much mud. As we started up the Sawteeth trail we met up with the young lady hiker from earlier in the day. She decided to do a side trip to Sawteeth. About half way up the trail we saw the other hiker on his way down from a side trip. We were at the summit by 11:30. The summits of the peaks around us were all in clouds but the clouds had lifted from Sawteeth. We had some lunch and started down around noon, at the Lake at 2:00 and the gate house at 3:10. I was never so happy to see my car. We stopped for a milkshake on our way back to the motel.
Mark
Blake at the Elk Pass junction. She looked and me and said she did not want one more almost peak. I looked up and said we are not almost there! But she looked at me with those deer in the headlight eyes and I broke down and told her I would rest a bit and give it a try.
She took some of the stuff out of my pack to lighten my load and we started out again. About a half mile later we (I) stopped for a rest and we met up with our 2nd hiker of the day. He was also headed for Gothics. By now I was feeling much better and we made it to the Gothics/Sawteeth junction at about 11:00. The trail from the lake was wet but not much mud. As we started up the Sawteeth trail we met up with the young lady hiker from earlier in the day. She decided to do a side trip to Sawteeth. About half way up the trail we saw the other hiker on his way down from a side trip. We were at the summit by 11:30. The summits of the peaks around us were all in clouds but the clouds had lifted from Sawteeth. We had some lunch and started down around noon, at the Lake at 2:00 and the gate house at 3:10. I was never so happy to see my car. We stopped for a milkshake on our way back to the motel.
Mark
