Avalanche Lake and Lower Wolf Jaw

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This weekend almost did not happen. Forecasted bad weather almost turned us away, but there was a slight chance of it still turning out, so we decided to continue. Next a car share with a dead battery had us scrambling to find another vehicle and wondering if this was a sign that we should stay home. I still wanted to go, reasoning that the alternative to spending time outside with a good friend was not spending time outside with a good friend. We sorted out a car thanks to my lovely partner who graciously agreed to try public transit for the weekend and hit the road in her car Friday afternoon.

Dec 3, 2022

After a breezy night in a lean-to at the Loj, Deb and I woke up to freezing rain. By the time we had finished our breakfast it had stopped, so we decided to go for a stroll towards our planned objective of a Colden traverse and see what the day would bring. The weather held nicely for the walk down to Marcy Dam under headlamp, but upon arriving it started to rain again. We took shelter in one of the lean-tos here for a while. The rain turned to sleet, and then to snow. A few minutes later it looked like a Christmas globe outside, so we decided to continue our walk.

Colden, our goal for the day from Marcy Dam


Hanging out in the lean2 waiting out the worst of the weather


We climbed up towards the pass as the snow began to accumulate on the trail. Our spikes started to ball up pretty badly so we spent a lot of time kicking stray rocks to knock the glop off. At one point I tapped the sole of my foot with my hiking pole in a futile attempt to clean off a frozen blob, resulting in the pole shattering in a splintery mess of carbon fiber. Oops!

We arrived at Avalanche Lake to howling winds, wet snow, drizzle, and freezing rain... or perhaps this is properly described as a wintery mix. Colden, though right in front of us, did not look like it would be much fun today. I checked my watch and said we can probably make first call at the Lake Placid pub if we hustled. Deb happily agreed, and a couple hours later we were seated in front of the fire having lunch and some brews.

Catching the view at Avy Lake prior to heading to the pub


Dec 4, 2022

We got started at 06:00 from the AMR and quickly hiked to the gate. We followed the trail behind the gatehouse up an old roadbed towards Hedgehog. This climb was fairly sustained and for the most part fairly unremarkable, except for one point where it followed along the base of a long rock cliff which was coated in newly forming ice.

On the way to LWJ


We hustled along quickly as we had set a turn-around time of 09:30, since both of us had to be back in Ottawa in time for an evening engagement. Fortunately travel was easy with no snow down low, and thin icy crust over a couple inches of snow as we climbed above 1000 meters. The false summit came and went, and then the final steep part towards the summit plateau proved to be the crux of the day. Steep thick ice really warranted crampons, but since this section was so short it was not worth putting them on. I chopped some steps with the adze of my axe and this proved sufficient to get up safely in microspikes.

Summit on a gloomy day


Arriving on the summit with twenty minutes to spare, we stopped for a very short break and then began our descent down towards the notch. This was steep and icy, but navigated by microspikes with only a few tricky, but short ledges to negotiate. Continuing down the Wedge Brook trail was very pretty, with views of some impressive rock faces on the mountain, and beautiful cascades along the brook. Once down on the West River trail the spikes came off and a short while later we crossed the impressive canyon bridge over to Lake Road. We saw the first people of the day just as we arrived back at the gate. Hustling out through the golf course had us back at the car a few minutes before noon, giving us plenty of time for a relaxing drive home.

Pretty cascades along Wedge Brook


Canyon bridge in the AMR


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