Saw All The Views

 Lower Ausable Lake

 Top of Sawteeth

 The Great Range

Gothics from Sawteeth















On Thursday we set out for our last High Peak to do. We began our hike at 6:30 from the Ausable club and made the long walk to the end of the Lake Road. We took a stop at Rainbow Falls then headed up the Scenic Trail. It was really rugged going along the lake but very pretty. Once we started heading up the mountain the climb was very steep and hard but there were many amazing lookouts onto the lake. The trail wasn't too long but took us a good three hours to get to the summit. We reached the top at 11:45. We brought sparkling apple cider with us to celebrate. It was hard to wrap my head around the fact that I had finished. It didn't seem like I would ever be finished. There's always another mountain to climb and another view to see. We left the summit at 12:15 and headed down the opposite side to the trail that goes up to Pyramid. The climb down was quick and we were back on the Lake Road at 2:15. We made our back to the car and finished up at 3:30 as 46ers.
-ADK Gurl

Climbing the Saddle

Basin from Shorey's Shortcut

 Top of Basin

 Top of Saddleback

View of Basin from Saddleback














We had planned on going on a camping trip and grabbing Saddleback and Basin for a month before we finally set out on the anticipated trip. We were nervous because of the dreaded Saddleback cliffs. Our plan was to hike into Johnsbrook Lodge, set up camp at a near by campsite, then head up Shorey's Shortcut to Basin followed by Saddleback then head down the Orebed trail. Last Sunday we did just that. The walk in was a nice, gently walk. We had done this walk once before, two years ago when we did Haystack. We dropped our packs at a campsite just past JBL. We set up the tent and headed up to Slant Rock where we filled our water bottles and went up Shorey's Shortcut. It was a steep trail that was a bit rugged. It wasn't one of my favorite trails but it wasn't my least favorite either. The one thing that annoyed me the most about the trail was we had to climb over the top of the ridge to get to the range trail, causing us to lose a couple hundred feet of elevation. Once we got to the range trail we headed straight up to the summit. It was a very hard and steep climb. We got to the top of Basin at 1:00. The views were amazing. We had lunch and headed down the range trail to Saddleback. The trail between Basin and Saddleback wasn't difficult until we got to the cliffs. I wouldn't recommend descending Saddleback cliffs unless you have climbed them a few times before. The first part of the cliffs was the hardest. There were two possible ways to get up. One was if you looked to the left there would be a rock with multiple horizontal cracks in the rock. An option is to push yourself up using the crack or the second option, look to your left there would be another rock you could back yourself into, then pull yourself up onto the ledge. It would make more sense if you were there to see it.Once you got passed the first part it was mostly walking and pulling yourself along cracks in the rock. I personally thought climbing the cliffs was fun. Scary, but fun. We got to the top of Saddleback at 3:45. We took a quick break and headed down to the Orebed trail. The Orebed trail was very easy. A good amount was walking down stairs that were built into the slide. It was longer than Shorey's Shortcut and the walk to JBL felt like it took forever but we made it back eventually. We got back to our campsite at 7:00. The following morning we packed up and left the site at 9:00. The walk back was long but enjoyable. We got back to the car at 11:30. It was a great trip and we plan on doing it over again when we finish up.
-ADK Gurl

Top of the Pyramid

 Top of Armstrong

 Top of Gothics

 Top of Upper Wolfjaw

 Top of Pyramid

 Ausable River dam

 Rainbow Falls

The Great Range















On Sunday July 21st we began our hike from the Saint Hubert's at 6:15 with plans of going up to Pyramid, then grabbing Gothics, Armstrong, and Upper Wolfjaw. Even though Pyramid isn't a High Peak we have heard that the views were great and we didn't want to miss it. It was not a disappointment. The walk in was long but enjoyable along the Lake Road. We crossed the Dam, took a peak at Rainbow Falls which was beautiful, then headed up to the top of Pyramid. The climb wasn't too steep but the trail never flattened out. It just continued to push upward. We reached the top of Pyramid at 10:30. The views were amazing. We then headed over to Gothics. The climb between Gothics and Pyramid was not too hard. We reached the summit of Gothics just before 11:30. Then we headed over to Armstrong. The trail between Gothics and Armstrong was longer than we had originally planned but wasn't too difficult. We got to the top of Armstrong at 12:30 and had lunch. After Armstrong we set out to go over to Upper Wolfjaw. The trail between Armstrong and Upper Wolfjaw was very rugged. There were lots of steep rocks to scramble down and at one point a ladder was put in. We got to the top of Upper Wolfjaw at 1:45. We then headed down back to the Lake Road. The climb down Upper Wolfjaw was long. I couldn't imagine trying to do Lower Wolfjaw after the three peaks we summited before. We got back to the car at 6:00 and headed home for a late dinner. It was a fun trip and the views off the Great Range were phenomenal.
-ADK Gurl

North, South, East, West

 Top of Macomb

 Top of South Dix

 Top of East Dix

 View of South Dix from East Dix

Lillian Brook herd path split to Macomb and South Dix

Last Sunday we completed the Dix range, climbing Macomb, South Dix, and East Dix. We started our hike at 6:30 from the Elk Lake trail head and took the first herd path up the Macomb slide. The trail was well maintained and easy to follow. Around 8:30 we reached the bottom of the slide. The slide had many carnes placed along the slide. Walking up the slide was like walking up a pile of sand and rocks. It wasn't too difficult to climb up but I wouldn't want to go down it. I enjoyed the slide, it was very different. It wouldn't be a good idea to climb with one person right behind another in the person in front lost their footing. We reached the summit at 9:30 and we were in the clouds. We then headed over to South Dix. The climb up South Dix had a lot of fun open rock climbing but the summit was in the trees. We reached the top around 11:00 then went over to East Dix. The walk over to East Dix was longer than we thought but it wasn't difficult. The views off of East Dix were by far the best of the three we did. We reached the summit at 12:00 and had lunch then headed back to South Dix and down the Lillian Brook herd path. The way down the herd path was steep but then once we joined up with the herd path that came over from Hough it leveled out. We got back to the car at 4:30. It was a successful and fun trip.
-ADK Gurl

Santa Baby

 Top of Santanoni

 Santanoni Brook

Santanoni Brook... again.



















Last weekend we set out on our third attempt on Santanoni. The first time we grabbed Panther and Couchsachraga and didn't want to have to go down the Panther Brook trail in the dark, and the second time,  in May, there was about five feet of snow that we were not prepared for. We started from the trail head at 6:30 am and headed down the private road then onto the trail. The first bridge on the trail was out and we had to cross the brook. There were many rocks that made crossing easy. The trail was very muddy but that was expected since there had been a lot of rain. We turned onto the Express trail and headed up to the summit. The trail wasn't too steep but was muddy from the rain from the day before. We reached the summit at 10:30 and had some snacks then headed back down. And reached the car around 3:00 pm. It was a good trip to begin with and I'm glad we finished the Santanoni range.
-ADK Gurl