MattC
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- Sep 2, 2004
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Just returned from yet another trip to the ADKs, this time for five days. Big sis and her family were staying in Schroon Lake all week, so I headed up Tuesday after work. I got the initial peakbagging in on Wednesday, doing Sawteeth, Gothics, Armstrong, and both Wolfjaws. I went via the Ausable Club's lake road, on recommendation from Guiness-thanks Ed, it's a great route. The weather turned out to cloudier than expected and I only had a really clear view from Sawteeth. By the time I got to Gothics it was totally socked in. Gothics! 
Oh, well, I imagine that's one I'll want to return to a few more times.
The cloudy weather at least made the hiking easier, and the hike over to Armstrong was a piece of cake. The Wolf Jaws presented quite a bit more up and down, but at least it cleared a little by then, giving me some limited views. The ladder and all the scrambly/slabby stuff added to the fun. I must have seen about 40 people throughout the day, and everone was doing quite a bit due to the cool weather. Throughout the day I crossed paths and chatted with some nice family groups. On Sawteeth one woman gave me a roll of film (I had stupidly forgotten to load the camera) and wouldn't take any $$ for it.
I took the Wedge Brook Trail back down from Wolf Jaws Notch, helping out a somewhat hapless guy from the Ausable Club. He had gotten a bus ride into the Lower Lake in the morning and had done everything I had done except Lower WJ. When I saw him at the Wedge Brook/West River Trail Junction, he was dehydrated, out of water, experiencing leg cramps and a little confused. He thought he had to go back to the Lower Lake just to get back to the road, I guess because that's where he had been dropped off in the AM. Anyhow, I set him straight w/ the map, gave him some water and walked back to the Club trailhead w/ him. He hadn't signed the register either! Nice guy, just a little, um, er, inexperienced. My good deed for the week, I guess. Come to think of it, I should have told him about VFTT!
Back to the place my sis and family were renting, I had a nice evening hanging w/ the kids trying to decide where to take them the next day. At that point, my youngest nephew was not coming, since he was convinced that he would either fall off the mountain, or be devoured by bears and no amount of reassurance would convince him otherwise. I'll have to work on that.
By Thursday AM, my niece had also decided not to go due to a tummy-ache, so it was just me and the older boys, 13 and 15. This opened up the options for something a little more challenging and I chose Noonmark. Fabulous! The weather was slightly hotter than I'd prefer, but otherwise perfect, and the boys loved it. They really loved the scrambly stuff, the little critters they saw (toads, frogs, garter snake) and of course the incredible views. It was so refreshing for me to take a couple of young kids out like that instead of just relentlessly peakbagging. We basked on the summit for 45 minutes or so. I talked to some 46er while the boys explored the summit and chased each around. I told them as long as they didn't step on any plants or fall off the mountain, they could do what they wanted. The summit was surprisingly large and there were only a couple other people. We looped back down the other side and went back up through the Noonmark/Round Mt. col. I had to go up to Keene for gas and groceries and I the way back they looked up at the mountain and couldn't believe they had climbed it. Good stuff.
Friday was spent resting, loafing around with family and finally heading over to Lake Harris Campground in the afternoon where I got a site and waited for Jay H and T-Max to arrive. We did the Santanonis on Saturday and were blessed with more great weather. Terri is going to write a TR for that one. All in all, this was a great use of a few vacation days. Nice balance of peakbagging and hanging w/ family and friends.
Matt
Oh, well, I imagine that's one I'll want to return to a few more times. The cloudy weather at least made the hiking easier, and the hike over to Armstrong was a piece of cake. The Wolf Jaws presented quite a bit more up and down, but at least it cleared a little by then, giving me some limited views. The ladder and all the scrambly/slabby stuff added to the fun. I must have seen about 40 people throughout the day, and everone was doing quite a bit due to the cool weather. Throughout the day I crossed paths and chatted with some nice family groups. On Sawteeth one woman gave me a roll of film (I had stupidly forgotten to load the camera) and wouldn't take any $$ for it.
I took the Wedge Brook Trail back down from Wolf Jaws Notch, helping out a somewhat hapless guy from the Ausable Club. He had gotten a bus ride into the Lower Lake in the morning and had done everything I had done except Lower WJ. When I saw him at the Wedge Brook/West River Trail Junction, he was dehydrated, out of water, experiencing leg cramps and a little confused. He thought he had to go back to the Lower Lake just to get back to the road, I guess because that's where he had been dropped off in the AM. Anyhow, I set him straight w/ the map, gave him some water and walked back to the Club trailhead w/ him. He hadn't signed the register either! Nice guy, just a little, um, er, inexperienced. My good deed for the week, I guess. Come to think of it, I should have told him about VFTT!
Back to the place my sis and family were renting, I had a nice evening hanging w/ the kids trying to decide where to take them the next day. At that point, my youngest nephew was not coming, since he was convinced that he would either fall off the mountain, or be devoured by bears and no amount of reassurance would convince him otherwise. I'll have to work on that.
By Thursday AM, my niece had also decided not to go due to a tummy-ache, so it was just me and the older boys, 13 and 15. This opened up the options for something a little more challenging and I chose Noonmark. Fabulous! The weather was slightly hotter than I'd prefer, but otherwise perfect, and the boys loved it. They really loved the scrambly stuff, the little critters they saw (toads, frogs, garter snake) and of course the incredible views. It was so refreshing for me to take a couple of young kids out like that instead of just relentlessly peakbagging. We basked on the summit for 45 minutes or so. I talked to some 46er while the boys explored the summit and chased each around. I told them as long as they didn't step on any plants or fall off the mountain, they could do what they wanted. The summit was surprisingly large and there were only a couple other people. We looped back down the other side and went back up through the Noonmark/Round Mt. col. I had to go up to Keene for gas and groceries and I the way back they looked up at the mountain and couldn't believe they had climbed it. Good stuff.
Friday was spent resting, loafing around with family and finally heading over to Lake Harris Campground in the afternoon where I got a site and waited for Jay H and T-Max to arrive. We did the Santanonis on Saturday and were blessed with more great weather. Terri is going to write a TR for that one. All in all, this was a great use of a few vacation days. Nice balance of peakbagging and hanging w/ family and friends.
Matt
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