Wolf Jaws

October 26, 2024

Fifteenth annual Mike's ACC Ottawa ADK weekend. Due to some last minute cancellations we had one of the smallest groups ever with only nine of us, but even with the small crowd we had a good time. On Saturday we had two hikes go out; Alin lead a trip to Tabletop and Phelps with Judy and Yun, while I led a trip to the Wolf Jaws via Bennies Brook slide which was attended by Katharina, Qudoos, Taylor, Joanne, and Merick.

The wolfy group arrived at the Garden at 06:30, finding quite a bit of parking available, but this was not surprising given it was pouring rain. We filled soggy envelopes with $10 bills to pay the parking toll as we crouched under the tailgates of the cars while getting ready to begin our hike. Fortunately as we set out down the trail under our headlamps, the rain settled into more of an intermittent drizzle. We moved quickly down the trail until finding benchmark rock, which has always been my jump off point to the slide.

Benchmark along the Johns Brook trail

We whacked down to Johns Brook which was running low, meaning we should have an easy rock hop crossing. As I walked out onto the first rocks, things seemed to be different then normal. All the rocks were really slippery (like icy slippery)... even the ones under the surface. Rather than cross where we were, which required a few hopping manouvres, we turned upstream a bit where everything could be stepped across. Even there though it was tricky, especially for those with shorter legs. Nevertheless, everyone got across without a bit of cursing but no mishap. We gained the abandoned south side trail and scampered along until we reached Bennies Brook where we took our first break.

Crossing Johns Brook

I have not been to Bennies in six years and wow, what a difference. The lower part of the slide was so grown in that I pulled out the compass to confirm we were actually at the right place. The wet rocks were slick as the red slime on Allen which made travel very slow and had us hugging the sides where a bit of traction could be found. As we climbed higher the slide fortunately opened up, but the slabs remained impossibly slippery. After a lot of trial and error with a couple minor tumbles we discovered the secret. The black rock was deadly, the grey rock was grippy, and the orange spotted rock was generally good but would have the occasional sneaky greasy spot to throw you off. Just as we figured out the trick, the slide became steeper and it began to snow. We took stock of the situation... going up could get worse. Going down would not be fun either. We decided to push on upwards. This turned out to be the right call, because the steeper, ledgier slide portion was actually easier to negotiate. In a short time we reached the headwall and found the herd path up to the trail.

Traipsing up the lower section of the slide

A brief bit of sunshine

A little steeper

A little snowier

A short scamper further up the trail had us on the summit of Lower Wolf Jaw, where there were no views in the fog, but fortunately it stopped raining. As we descended to Wolf Jaw notch the sun came out. Our itinerary had Upper Wolf Jaw on the menu, but Katharina declared she was done here and was going to head down. Joanne and Taylor decided to join her, while Qudoos and Merick were still keen to go upwards. We formally split the group into two and head our separate ways. Upper Wolf Jaw was easily attained and we enjoyed our second lunch with lovely views in the sunshine while chatting with a couple from Montreal.

Summit attained!

A bit of a nicer view from Upper Wolf Jaw

As it was Merick's first trip to the ADK we took the slight detour out to JBL so he could check it out, after which we stopped at a leanto shelter to introduce him to this ADK phenomenon. The long slog down Johns Brook valley never seems to get shorter over the years, but an encounter with a friendly, but skittish young deer at one point broke up the monotony. The parking lot finally emerged, finishing a ten hour day. The Tabletop crew also had a great day out.

A friendly deer

On Sunday we managed to get the entire gang on a counter-clockwise hike of Nun-da-gao ridge. Weather was clear, and we had many great views to make up for the foggy parts from the Saturday hike. There were a few groans as we climbed the last short section of Big Crow, but smiles were plentiful from everyone on top. Five hours total for this hike.

Happy hikers on Big Crow

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