timmus
Well-known member
Motabobo and I started our hike Friday evening, hoping to get some room in one of the lean-to’s along the Blueberry Foot trail. Despite the fact that there were three school buses in the parking lot, we got lucky enough to have some in the second one. Charlie and Scott from Buffalo were using only half of it, so we spent a (short) comfortable night before our Sawtooth’s quest.
Our first goal was the West South West peak, John S. needed this one too (no comments). It was not a big task, the woods are easy to travel and we found the summit without any difficulties. Al thought, at that point John S. realized that he (not me) forgot the extra batteries for his dying GPS. He told me that I would have to take the lead and use my compass skills to navigate. Wow, I thought, that is fun (!) I was so sure he was kidding me (testing me), that I replied “fine, no problem”, ultra confidante.
Getting to #2 was a piece of cake, and we really thought the Sawtooth’s were not that bad after all. Then it got a little bit worse. The descent from #2 was OK, but the west ridge of #1 is … hum… bad. We pushed through and finally made it. Neil had told me that between this one and #5 we would be fine, so I imagine nice opened woods… Yeah, right. It took a lot of time and energy to finally reach the brook at the base of #5, especially because we didn’t know which bump we were on. At that point I was getting a little bit tired, I got hit on the cheek by a tree that had snapped in my hands, and John S. was getting sick from not getting enough food. It was in the middle of the afternoon, the heat and the black flies were at the worst level, and we were stuck between cliffs and wetlands. I think my partner was loosing it, because he was still saying that the Sawtooth’s are not that bad after all… I have to specify that his last bushwhack was the Captain (NH) in the dark (ouch).
I took the lead and climbed #5 very fast because I was getting impatient. We took quick pictures at the summit, and the started the final descent. Again, I thought Neil said that was an easy way out. I think he lied. Or we just got very unlucky with our route. Nasty thick stuff, all the way down. We follow the brook for a while, but it was so bad we headed west and went through whatever was in front of us.
We got back to the lean-to 11 hours after we left in the morning, my longest bushwhack so far. That was fun, I can’t wait to go back and tag the other Sawtooth’s (seriously).
Oh- He was not kidding about the GPS, but the batteries were just good enough to locate ourselves once in a while. Thank god
Our first goal was the West South West peak, John S. needed this one too (no comments). It was not a big task, the woods are easy to travel and we found the summit without any difficulties. Al thought, at that point John S. realized that he (not me) forgot the extra batteries for his dying GPS. He told me that I would have to take the lead and use my compass skills to navigate. Wow, I thought, that is fun (!) I was so sure he was kidding me (testing me), that I replied “fine, no problem”, ultra confidante.
Getting to #2 was a piece of cake, and we really thought the Sawtooth’s were not that bad after all. Then it got a little bit worse. The descent from #2 was OK, but the west ridge of #1 is … hum… bad. We pushed through and finally made it. Neil had told me that between this one and #5 we would be fine, so I imagine nice opened woods… Yeah, right. It took a lot of time and energy to finally reach the brook at the base of #5, especially because we didn’t know which bump we were on. At that point I was getting a little bit tired, I got hit on the cheek by a tree that had snapped in my hands, and John S. was getting sick from not getting enough food. It was in the middle of the afternoon, the heat and the black flies were at the worst level, and we were stuck between cliffs and wetlands. I think my partner was loosing it, because he was still saying that the Sawtooth’s are not that bad after all… I have to specify that his last bushwhack was the Captain (NH) in the dark (ouch).
I took the lead and climbed #5 very fast because I was getting impatient. We took quick pictures at the summit, and the started the final descent. Again, I thought Neil said that was an easy way out. I think he lied. Or we just got very unlucky with our route. Nasty thick stuff, all the way down. We follow the brook for a while, but it was so bad we headed west and went through whatever was in front of us.
We got back to the lean-to 11 hours after we left in the morning, my longest bushwhack so far. That was fun, I can’t wait to go back and tag the other Sawtooth’s (seriously).
Oh- He was not kidding about the GPS, but the batteries were just good enough to locate ourselves once in a while. Thank god
