Hiking in the White Mountains and Adirondacks: October 2011

One of my hiking goals in 2011 was to hike the 46 High Peaks in the Adirondacks Mountains. In the late spring, early summer, and early fall I took three trips and completed my goal. I took a week off in early June and hiked 31 of the high peaks just as the rainy and cold spring weather snapped and was rewarded with seven out of nine days hiking in incredible weather! It took a few days to get used to the muddy trail conditions and some narrow herd paths but all in all it was lots of fun. I did some amazing one day hikes of the Great Range, MacIntyre Range, Dix Range, where I got to experience some of the most phenomenal views I've ever had hiking. In July I came back to ADK's to hike the Western High Peaks (Santanoni and Seward Ranges), once again I lucked out with some great weather and was able to hike 7 more peaks for a total of 38, I really enjoyed the Santanoni Range and didn't think Couchsachraga was as bad as the rep it's given. Finally in October I came back to hike the final 8 remaining peaks on the list and was treated with peak foliage and perfect weather as I hiked all over the eastern, northern, and central high peaks. I had a blast hiking the remaining peaks and even really liked hiking Allen Mountain which has a reputation as being a slog. I finished my 45th and 46th peak in style on Sunday, October 9th by doing a Big Slide/Gothics/Sawteeth Loop and enjoyed every second of it taking in the killer views! I've now completed both the White Mountains and Adirondack 4,000 footers so you might ask which ones are "better" or "tougher," well who cares!!!...They're both awesome, let a bunch of dorks on some hiking forum argue over that and and go coo-coo bananas while I hike up Huntington Ravine in the White Mountains or enjoy the ridiculously steep slabs up to Gothics with my camera in hand!

Click the links below to view trip reports or click here to view image galleries

Date	Click below to view trip report	Miles	Elevation Gain	ADK 46-R #
6/2	Nye & Street Mountain	8.8	2,900	1 - 2
6/3	MacIntyre Range: Wright / Algonquin / Iroquois / Marshall	18.6	6,000	3 - 6
6/4	Great Range Traverse: Marcy / Haystack / Basin / Saddleback / Gothics / Armstrong / Upper Wolfjaw / Lower Wolfjaw / Hedgehog / Rooster Comb	25.0	8,500	7 - 14
6/5	Cascade & Porter Mountain	5.9	2,250	15 - 16
6/6	Dial Mountain / Nippletop / Mount Colvin / Blake Peak	18.6	6,000	17 - 20
6/7	Dix Range: Macomb Mountain / South Dix / East Dix / Hough Peak / Dix Mountain	15.5	5,250	21 - 25
6/8	Phelps & Table Top Mountain	13.2	3,000	26 - 27
6/9	Mount Redfield & Cliff Mountain	13.0	4,500	28 - 29
6/10	Gray Peak / Mount Skylight / Mount Marcy / Mount Haystack	18.2	4,500	30 - 31
7/16	Santanoni Range: Santanoni / Couchsachraga / Panther	16.0	4,100	32 - 34
7/17	Seward Range: Donaldson / Emmons / Seward / Seymour	21.4	5,500	35 - 38
10/5	Giant Mountain & Rocky Peak Ridge	8.4	4,000	39 - 40
10/6	Mount Esther & Whiteface Mountain	12.8	4,200	41 - 42
10/7	Mount Colden & Algonquin Peak	18.6	5,200	43
10/8	Allen Mountain	18.0	3,850	44
10/9	Big Slide Mountain / Gothics / Sawteeth	22.0	6,250	45 - 46
-	-	254.0	76,000	46 / 46

Hiking down from Wright Peak

Mount Colden from Algonquin Peak

Lake Colden, Flowed Lands, Allen Mountain from Algonquin Peak

Basin, Saddleback, and Gothics from Haystack Mountain

Gothics, Pyramids, Sawteeth from Haystack Mountain

AMR Gate at the beginning of the private Lake Road

Lower Ausable Lake from Mount Colvin

Basin and Saddleback Mountain from Mount Colvin

Blake Peak, Mount Colvin (foreground L to R) and the Upper Great Range (background)

Basin and Saddleback Mountains

Gothics and Armstrong Mountain

It's pronounced Kook-sa-KRA-ga or "Coochy or Cooch" for short

The Seward Range from Pather Peak

Saint Huberts from the Zander Scott Trail

The Central High Peaks from Giant Mountain

Keene Valley and the Great Range from Giant Mountain

Lake Placid from Whiteface Mountain

Iroquois, Algonquin, Wright Peak (L to R) from Mount Colden

Flowed Lands from Mount Colden

Mount Colden from Algonquin Peak

"Walking the submerged planks" across Lake Jimmy on the long path to Allen Mountain

"Panther Gorge" with Haystack Mountain from Allen Mountain

Haystack, Gothics, Sawteeth from Allen Mountain

Sawteeth (foreground) and Giant Mountain with Rocky Peak Ridge (background) from Allen Mountain

Great Range from the First Brother

Johns Brook Valley and the Great Range from the Brothers

Mount Marcy and Haystack from Big Slide Mountain

The Great Range from Big Slide Mountain

Upper Great Range from Big Slide Mountain

Big Slide Mountain from Gothics

Giant and Rocky Peak Ridge from Gothics

Basin Mountain slides from Pyramid Peak

Basin and Saddleback from Pyramid

Giant Mountain from the Ausable Club Golf Course

The Dix Range from Rocky Peak Ridge

Sawteeth and the Great Range from Giant Mountain

Lower Great Range from Giant Mountain

Giant Washbowl and the Great Range from the Zander Scott Trail

Central High Peaks from Whiteface Mountain

Mount Colden and the new slide formed during Hurricane Irene

Basin Mountain from Sawteeth

Marcy Dam before and after Hurricane Irene

"Trap Dike" before and after Hurricane Irene

Mount Colden slides and Trap Dike before and after Hurricane Irene

Mount Colden, pre and post Irene

Basin Mountain, pre and post Irene

Date of Hike: 10/9/11

Johns Brook Lane: 1.6 miles
The Brothers Trail: 3.8 Miles
Slide Mountain Brook Trail: 2.2 miles
Orebed Brook Trail: 3.1 miles
ADK Range Trail: 0.7 miles
Pyramid/Gothics/Sawteeth Trail: 1.4 miles
Scenic Trail: 3.0 miles
Lake Road / St. Huberts Road: 4.0 miles
Route 73: 2.2 miles
Total Miles: 22.0 miles (6,250 elevation gain)

Trip Report:
-Entering Sunday I had two peaks left to finish off the Adirondack High Peaks and become a "Forty-Sixer." The two peaks I had left where Big Slide and Sawteeth which are not two mountains that are hiked in the same day. However with another day of perfect weather forecast I figured I'd do a huge loop hike that started with a traverse over the Brothers to Big Slide Mountain, a descent down to Johns Brook Valley before heading up and over one of my favorites peaks (Gothics) via the Orebed Brook Trail, followed by a hop over a spectacular non-official 4,000 footer (Pyramid Peak), on my way to my final peak of Sawteeth before heading down to Lower Ausable Lake for some road walking.
- Johns Brook Lane 6:30pm, The Garden 7am, Big Slide 8:50am, Orebed Brook Trail, 9:55am, Saddleback/Gothics Col 11:10am, Gothics 11:45am, Sawteeth 12:35pm, Lake Road 2:30pm, AMR Gate 3:20pm, finished 4:15pm, Home 9pm!
- The Garden parking lot was full so I parked in Keene Valley at a free overnight lot and started hiking at 6:30am up Johns Brook Lane. I wasn't to upset about having to walk the road eventhough it's uphill I figured it was best to get this out of the way now rather than at the end of my hike.
- I made it to the Garden Parking lot at 7am and started the hike up the Brothers Trail to Big Slide Mountain. The borthers trail passes over "The Brothers", three sub peaks of Big Slide Mountain, which have awesome views of the Great Range from the first two brothers. I passed by some overnight hikers who were just getting up, they were calling out for their dog who was up trail a few hundred feet on the ledges of the first brother sniffing around a hiker who was sound asleep in their sleeping bag in the middle of the trail.
- The hike over the brothers went by quickly and so did the ascent up to the summit of Big Slide Mountain. As I was hiking I saw some fresh bear prints in the mud but no bear was to be seen.
- Before heading down from Big Slide Mountain I took in all the terrific views, refueled, and relaxed before I started my next part of my hike.
- I was surprised about the easy the descent off of Big Slide Mountain down the Slide Mountain Brook Trail, it was never really steep and the footing was some of the best in the ADK's I've been on. I passed a couple of hikers near the bottom, one of which was with a dog carrying a huge branch in his mouth not phased at all and wagging his tail the whole way.
- When I reached Johns Brook Valley it was time to hook onto the Orebed Brook Trail and start the long climb to the Gothics/Saddleback Col.
- The Orebed Brook Trail trail has moderate grades until it passes near the Orebed Brook Slide where the trail has been damaged from Hurricane Irene and the slide has been widened from the storm and is filled with debris. The trail now climbs up the left of the slide and you have the option of skirting along the side or just hiking on the slide marked by huge yellow blazes. This was a fun part of the hike, it was steep, and the damage from Hurricane Irene can be see all around and in the slide, making for some pretty wild hiking.
- After leaving the slide the trail climbs steeply up to the col where I would get to hike on one of my favorite sections of trails anywhere up the rock slabs with the cables bolted into the rock to the summit of Gothics.
- Views while hiking along the cables are stunning and dramatic to say the least and the steepness really tires you out but the views make it worth it. I was able to hike up without using the cables, which is not hard if you're an experienced hiker, I was able to do it all while holding onto my trusty camera the whole time while being extra cautious.
- I took a nice break on the summit before the last part of my hike over to Sawteeth. Between Sawteeth and Gothics lies Pyramid Peak, to reach Pyramid you drop off Gothics and then shoot right back up to the summit of pyramid, it's very steep but only a half mile so it's not to bad. The views from Pyramid of the slides of Gothics, Saddleback, and Basin are in your face and phenomenal!
- After taking a bunch of pictures it was time to drop down to the Pyramid/Sawteeth col before heading up to Sawteeth to end my journey of hiking the High Peaks 46R's. It was about a mile but felt much longer, the drop off of Pyramid was steep and so was the ascent up to Sawteeth.
- When I reached the summit there were about ten people at the outlook, they all disappeared within a few minutes and then I stood atop my final peak taking in the view for a half hour or so to eat lunch and relax. The weather could not have been better and I enjoyed every second of it before starting the long nine mile walk back to my car.
- I still had some minor climbing to do here and there as the Scenic Trail down to Lower Ausable Lake heads down and up the "teeth" off Sawteeth, it was nothing to major but was not to fun to have to do. Once past the teeth it was downhill all the way with three awesome outlooks that sit high above Lower Ausable Lake with views of the Colvin Range and across to Indian Head and Fish Cliffs.
- The lower part of the scenic trail travels along the edges of the lake where the members of the private Ausuable Club were in canoes paddling around the lake.
- At the end of the trail I traveled on Lake Road for a few miles, passed by the golf course, and out to Route 73 where I made sure to not get run over on the final two mile plus road walk back to my car. My car was parked near the Noonmark Diner which has an ice cream stand where I celebrated with some refreshing ice cream before jumping in my car and heading back to RI.
- It was a long day hiking just as I like it and I could not have asked for a better hike to finish off my first spring/summer/fall hiking the Adirondack High Peaks!

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