46er Finish - Sawteeth and Gothics

(with Armstrong thrown in for good measure)

November 3, 2012

The crowd of sixteen of us awoke at the Keene Valley Hostel. This was my 5th annual ACC trip lead to the Dacks in November, and this one was a particularily special one. Myself and Wendy were hoping to complete our 46th peak on the summit of Gothics Mountain. Four groups set out in the morning on the Ausable Club road:

Group 1 - Myself (leader), Wendy, Debbie, Andy, Karen, and Dianne were planning to climb Sawteeth, Pyramid, and Gothics.
Group 2 - Hilary (leader), Katharina, David, and Na were planning to climb Sawteeth and possibly Pyramid.
Group 3 - Ivan (leader), Len, Lynne, Cathy, and Jean-Guy were planning to climb Lower Wolf Jaw, Upper Wolf Jaw, and optionally Armstrong and Gothics.
Group 4 - Lee (leader) planned a solo ascent and photography shoot of Fish Hawk cliffs and Indian Head.

Anyway, groups 1 and 2 stayed together for the ascent of Sawteeth. We sped down Lake Road under headlamp up to Rainbow Falls. These were very pretty and I was glad we took the side trip to visit. We hiked the scenic trail which was very rugged along the lake shore. Another group of 3 was along here and we kept bumping into each other until we finally got to the climb and our group left them behind. At about 3000' we hit some snow, and after another 500' we put on the microspikes for the scrambles. Finally we arrived at the summit which was cold and windy. At least we had a few views through the cloud breaks. After a quick snack while hunkered down below the summit, we said goodbye to group 2 and sped off towards Pyramid. This was a great scramble up some slabby ledges. In short order we were on top, and had some nice views of the Great Range... at least the peaks that were not encased in clouds. It was cold and windy so the visit was brief before we made our way towards Gothics. The ridge going up was fairly exposed so we put on our full weather gear and dry gloves. Met another group coming down who warned us that the summit was very cold. We finally arrived, and could not see anything due to the fog. Wendy and I celebrated with balloons and noise makers that Debbie had hauled up. Lots of pictures ensued to the point that I started to get concerned about frost bite from the relentless wind. It was a great experience though to finally have completed this journey with some of my best friends and it being my 37th birthday to boot. Finally packed it up and descended down to the Armstrong col where it was sheltered and took a break. Andy really wanted to climb Armstrong so we decided to take the short side trip and bag this peak as well. This did not take long. The view were just as good as Gothics (nill) and almost as cold, so we sped back to the col and had another break. On our way we passed some trail runners (in shorts!) and then another woman at the junction who we ended up having lunch with. The descent was long and it felt really good to get out of the microspikes at 3000' when the snow subsided. Stopped for a long final break at Beaver Meadow Falls before the long road walk back to the parking lot. Finished the day after about 11.5 hours of hiking. All other teams also had successful days so we had a great potluck supper and party back at the hostel, celebrating the two new 46ers and my birthday.

The long approach down Lake Road.

Sawteeth mountain makes an apearance.

Crossing the Ausable River.

Rainbow Falls.

Katharina and I at the falls.

Hilary at a lookout above lower Ausable Lake along the Sawteeth scenic trail.

Andy taking the hard route up.

This ladder was the beginning of our defeat during a winter attempt a couple years ago. Karen demonstrating how easy it is to climb the ladder when not encased in two feet of ice.