Tom Rankin
Well-known member
I've wanted to do the Shepherd's Tooth for a long time. When I learned that Marc wanted to do it (along with the rest of the Macs), I talked him into going up Avalanche Pass and skipping Marshall.
We started around 8:00 and headed up slightly ahead of Marc, Juniper, Prino and Mrs. Wu (sorry do you have a VFTT name?), aka Jess.
They caught up to us at the end of Avalanche Lake, and we were also there the same time the Trap Dike Gang was heading out.
We walked along the hitch-up-Matilda's and around the lake. We skipped going over to the Ranger station, and headed up the trail between Iroquois and Algonquin. It was pretty steep, but beautiful! There are tons of waterfalls, pools, and the water is crystal clear. We could also turn around frequently and see Colden. Prino had binoculars, and he could see the T.D. Gang heading up the slide.
About half way up we met several kids who had only a water bottle for gear. They told us they were heading to Iroquois!
We told them they had to turn around and head back up to tree line, and then take the herd path! They reluctantly turned around and headed back up, leap frogging with our group.
Eventually we reached the tree line and the start of the herd path. We took a break here and then headed over the Boundaries (stupid PUDs! ) to Iroquois. The trail is extremely muddy in spite of a lack of rain for several days. Finally, we reached the summit! We stayed here a while, gearing up for a whack.
The tooth turned out to be a very tight herd path. We dropped down and back up a small, steep, almost cliff-face to climb the tooth. At last! The views were pretty sweet here! There are a lot of cool flowers on the far side of Iroquois, including Diapensia and Bottle Gentian.
The way back out was over Iroquous, the PUDs, and then up and over Algonquin. We stopped here and admired some more excellent views, including Moosilauke! Marc and company ascended the final pitch in 8 minutes!
We skipped Wright while the rest of the group headed over. The walk out to the Loj was pretty much uneventful. We finished around 5:30.
For those interested, here is more info about the tooth and the PATCH!
Summit post info
VFTT Thread
A very nice day in the mountains with a great group of people!
We started around 8:00 and headed up slightly ahead of Marc, Juniper, Prino and Mrs. Wu (sorry do you have a VFTT name?), aka Jess.
They caught up to us at the end of Avalanche Lake, and we were also there the same time the Trap Dike Gang was heading out.
We walked along the hitch-up-Matilda's and around the lake. We skipped going over to the Ranger station, and headed up the trail between Iroquois and Algonquin. It was pretty steep, but beautiful! There are tons of waterfalls, pools, and the water is crystal clear. We could also turn around frequently and see Colden. Prino had binoculars, and he could see the T.D. Gang heading up the slide.
About half way up we met several kids who had only a water bottle for gear. They told us they were heading to Iroquois!
We told them they had to turn around and head back up to tree line, and then take the herd path! They reluctantly turned around and headed back up, leap frogging with our group.Eventually we reached the tree line and the start of the herd path. We took a break here and then headed over the Boundaries (stupid PUDs!
) to Iroquois. The trail is extremely muddy in spite of a lack of rain for several days. Finally, we reached the summit! We stayed here a while, gearing up for a whack. The tooth turned out to be a very tight herd path. We dropped down and back up a small, steep, almost cliff-face to climb the tooth. At last! The views were pretty sweet here!
There are a lot of cool flowers on the far side of Iroquois, including Diapensia and Bottle Gentian.The way back out was over Iroquous, the PUDs, and then up and over Algonquin. We stopped here and admired some more excellent views, including Moosilauke! Marc and company ascended the final pitch in 8 minutes!
We skipped Wright while the rest of the group headed over. The walk out to the Loj was pretty much uneventful. We finished around 5:30.
For those interested, here is more info about the tooth and the PATCH!
Summit post info
VFTT Thread
A very nice day in the mountains with a great group of people!
