Sawteeth

November 7, 2026

Alin has been organizing weekend trips for the ACC for a while, and I finally got a chance to join him. We were a small group of only five for this outing with no strong opinions on objectives. I suggested Colden, but Andrei had climbed that one recently. Eugene just wanted something longer than 20 km. Andrei suggested Sawteeth, and we finally settled on this peak with an option to continue to Gothics if we felt like it.

We set off from the AMR on a foggy morning, deciding to take the West River Trail as it likely would have the best views of the day. The views did not disappoint and we stopped at all of the waterfalls to take them in. Hiking along the last bit of the river was particularly pretty in the fog.

Nature is sure pretty

Hiking along the Ausable River

After checking out the last of the falls, we decided to take the scenic trail up the mountain, figuring that since we would unlikely get any views once entering the cloud, we might as well walk a little further along the lake. The lake stroll and subsequent climb along this rugged trail in a wall of white this was a unique hike with views of nothing until suddenly we popped up above the clouds and the world became a stunning inverted place. We stopped on a high point of one of the shorter teeth and sat down for a break enjoying the dramatic view of mountain tops popping in and out of the clouds.

Rainbow Falls

Alin checking out the lakeside view

Pointing out Mount Colvin from a high lookout point

Hiking above the clouds

What followed was a lot of up and down over the many coarse pitched peaks until finally, we climbed the last one and came out onto the summit with awesome views of the upper Great Range all the way to Marcy in one direction, and the dominating presence of Pyramid, Gothics, and Armstrong in another. We stopped for a second lunch here and discussed whether to continue onto Gothics or to simply head down. The whether or not debate was settled by the arrival of weather in the form of rain, which cemented the decision to just go down.

The gang on top of the saw

Dramatic view of the great range

It rained lightly all the way back, but fortunately the route down the Weld trail is a fairly straight forward steady hike downwards. Sore feet and knees welcomed the sight of the lake, which meant we just had the long road walk to get back to the car. Arrived back at the AMR parking after a nine hour hike, finishing well before darkness.

Lower Ausable Lake

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