Lower Wolfjaw

We arrived at the Garden parking lot to find it almost empty. I went and paid for our parking and returned to the truck for our stretches, made our last minute checks to make sure we had everything we needed, signed in at the register and around 1pm off we went toward JBL. My son, Derek and I set out for Johns Brook Lodge in hopes of spending the night in a lean to, but prepared to use our tents. We met several people coming out from having a few nights stay. We arrived at JBL around 5pm, and soon went to see the caretaker and get a lean to because our friends Mark, Chris, and Justin were going to come in later that night and the next day, our luck there were some available. We stayed in the “Goodwin lean-to” which is in an awesome spot, we placed a glow stick on a branch by the trail leading down to the lean-to so Mark and Chris could find it, it would be about 9:30pm when they arrived, and Justin was to hike in the next morning. The lean-to was awesome with the brook roaring by we heard nothing all night, in fact it was almost 9:30 or 10am by the time we woke up, we over slept. Our plan was to do both Wolf jaws that day, but now it did not look so good.We left for Lower Wolf jaw at 11:40am from the Goodwin lean-to, it was a misty day, the whole day was like being in the clouds, no views and a constant drizzle all day, it made for some cool hiking, but no views at all. We arrived at the Wolf jaw lean-to at 12:40pm, and this is where we had our lunch. This looked like a nice lean-to, I would like to stay at this lean-to when we go back to do Upper Wolf jaw, Armstrong, and Gothic’s. We arrived at the junction to both Wolfjaws at 1:42pm; we had met a hiker coming down just before this junction and asked him about the time frame for both Lower and Upper Wolf jaws. He said he did not think we had enough time to do both, especially within the daylight. We had headlamps and were prepared to walk out in the dark, but prefer not to do this. We opted to only do the one, so we picked Lower Wolfjaw. We climbed our way and arrived the Lower Wolf jaw summit at 2:40pm, not a view in site, we were socked into the clouds but took what pictures we could, had a snack and packed up to head back.We arrived back at Goodwin lean-to at 5pm, our guest met us there and we all hiked out together arriving the Garden at 7:30pm

Sawteeth Mtn.

Father’s day, today my dad, son Derek, brother Rick, and I set out to hike Sawteeth.We arrived at the Lower Ausable parking lot after dropping off Derek and Dad at the beginning of the road. We were at the trail head at 6:41am and were off on our hike. I picked this hike for Fathers day because my father and brother had never done a high peak, so I figured this would be a fairly easy one, in that you start out with a long walk before climbing, this was nice for me also because it gave us time to slowly warm up.We arrived at the lower Ausable lake at 8:50am, had a drink and shed some cloths and continued on. When we arrived at the water fall I was amazed, this was a very relaxing and beautiful site, and I could have taken a nap here.We were about halfway up from the lake when I turned around and looked down at my Dad and brother, both completely out of breath and Derek and I we hardly breathing, and my dad said “gees, you guess aren’t even huffing”, Derek and I looked at each other and at the same time asked if he wanted us to slow down.We arrived at the junction with the trail to Sawteeth and the other to Gothic’s at 11:30am, I thought we were making good time, and I also again thought this would be a nice place to pitch a tent; it was a nice place with nice views. We took some pictures and had a few sips of water and continued to Sawteeth.The summit of Sawteeth was reached at 12:30pm; we all enjoyed our rest, had lunch and took many pictures. There was another man at peak that took a picture of all of us, this we framed and have in our family room in the house.We arrived at the trail head at 4:52pm and were out of woods, it was a beautiful day.

Algonquin and Iroquois Peaks

On April 17, 2005 we set out to hike these two peaks, on a very nice day. This was another great day of hiking. Its funny how some days we describe as "epic" and others were just great hikes. This was one of those "epic" day hikes as we all felt strong all day. The 4 of us hiked these two beauties on a weekday, which has many advantages compared to a weekend. We would not see another soul until we returned back to Algonquin from Iroquois peak. Unfortunately I cannot remember the exact start time, or ending time, but I do know it was done entirely in daylight hours. The trail is well traveled and is a popular hike, so naturally it sees a lot of traffic. It is a steady uphill once you get past the junction where the trail goes to left and heads towards Whales tale. Continuing right to follow the main trail it is a steady climb that has a few areas with views to rest. The area where the trail crosses in front of the falls of the MacIntyre brook is really a nice area for a break with some pretty views. From here on it is a steady climb and a few areas to scramble up. The next stop for us was at the junction with the trail to Wright Peak. This area seems like a popular area for a break. Just past this a bit after you round the corner as you head to Algonquin you come across a short steep section where, at the top you start to rise up out of the tree line. It was perfect weather to be above treeline and on that ridge. Once we arrived at the summit of Algonquin we could see our next destination, Boundary and ultimately Iroquois Peak. The trip over to Iroquois was pretty uneventful, and before we knew it we were there. This could be a dicey area when the weather changes. But that goes for anytime you are above treeline. The return trip was uneventful as well, and before we knew it we were back on the flats headed out. It was a great day with great friends.

Big Slide via the Brothers

We arrived at the garden around 7:00am, paid for our parking, did our stretches and signed in; it was my son Derek, and I. We were on the trail for Big Slide by 7:15am. We took the trail over the Brothers; I really liked this approach, with the many outlooks along the way it gave a lot of inspiration. We arrived the first Brother around 8:50am I was surprised at all the nooks and crannies along the way, we passed a huge outcropping that looks as if people use it as a shelter. The one thing I did notice was this trail seemed to be in the sun a lot along the way, this would be a big problem for someone who may not have taken enough water, albeit there were several areas to get water along the way once you crossed over the last brother. Another really neat area was the col between the last brother and the ascent of Big Slide, it was like out of the movies, and all I could think of was the scene from The Never Ending Story, with all the thick densely packed trees, and the canopy, very neat. The trail really did not get steep until the junction to JBL; from then on it was the steepest it's been. The last obstacle was the huge slippery rock just before the summit, this provided a lot of entertainment watching people trying to hurdle this to get to the summit, some would go straight up it only to slide back down, the smart ones went to the left. Once we got over it we officially arrived at the summit of Big Slide at 11:15, enjoyed our lunch and took some pictures before the clouds rolled in, there was a fair amount of fog or clouds rolling by that day. We left for the Garden around 12:00, this time we went straight down to JBL and then to the trail out to the Garden, we met a lot of people on this trail. I preferred the trail via the Brothers, a lot more views, this was a nice hike. While I couldn't find pictures of my initial visit to Big Slide, I did have some from a return visit with great friends.