August 19: Slant Rock Lean-to   Miles Today : 8.7 Total Miles : 24.9

I woke up this morning bright and early, well rested from a night spend on soft ground with the sound of a nearby brook to keep me relaxed. I spend no time hanging around, however, since I was possibly camped on private land with a dog that was not allowed.

Today I endeavored to traverse the Great Range, a rugged ridgeline consisting of six peaks over 4000 feet in the heart of the High Peaks. The first peak on the range, in the direction that I was heading, is Lower Wolf Jaw, a small wooded hump with some limited views. The climb was not too bad at all, and since this is a popular section of the park I had hope that the trails today would be easier than the trails yesterday. Boy, that thought could not have been further from the truth.

From Lower Wolf Jaw it was across the ridge to the next peak, which is - wait for it - Upper Wolf Jaw. This climb was not too bad, except for the false summit that was about ¾ of the way up the mountain. There was a fine view there and I stopped for a break thinking that I had reached the top, only to find out a few minutes later that there was still more climbing to be done. There were a few more views on the way to the summit, but nothing spectacular. I took a short break on the true summit, and then headed down the ridge, which is when the real fun began.

The descent down Upper Wolf Jaw was difficult, and in several places my hiking poles were a deterrent rather than an aid. Big jumps of over three feet, long sections of steep, slick granite slabs, mud and roots made the trip down an adventure. It was interesting for sure, but the Great Range was just getting me ready for what was to come. As I started back up and onto the third summit, Mount Armstrong, the trail got very interesting. A ladder that scaled a 12-foot vertical rock face had recently collapsed, and a small relocation was completed to route hikers away from this formidable obstacle. With some help, Bear made it up over the relo, but try as I might I just could not do it. The ledge I needed to step up on was too awkward and uneven as well as narrow. A misstep here meant a 12-foot tumble down that rock face where the ladder had been. I searched for a way around, a route I could use besides this terrible relocation trail, but there was none to be had. So I did what I had to do, I scaled the 12-foot rock wall. Following two cracks in the rock face, I climbed my way up to where Bear had been patiently waiting for me, with a very curious look on his face.

The rest of the way up Armstrong was technical and I had to help Bear a few times on some of the bigger jumps that he had to make. Near the top of the mountain I removed his pack and he scaled up the rest of the climb with ease. There is a fine open ledge on the summit of Armstrong, with a view of the next peak, The Gothics, which took my breath away. The Gothics looked so close I almost felt that I could touch it, yet the mountain was so big and the ridge looked so rugged that I felt dwarfed. It was a humbling feeling to sit on this ledge and admire this massive yet beautiful mountain. I was anxious to get to its summit and reap the reward of the first 360º view of the day.

The descent off of Armstrong was not too bad, for the terrain out here at least, but the climb up to the Gothics was a killer. The effort was worthwhile, though, as the summit was fully exposed and there were views in every direction. As was the theme of the day, I took a nice, long break on the top and enjoyed the sun and the fine weather that I was having today. I also had the entire peak to myself, which made the experience that much better. While I was relaxing on top of the Great Range I read a little bit more of the Adirondack Guidebook. I came across a section that cautioned backpackers not to hike over the next two peaks in the direction that I was heading and not to bring dogs because the descents were too difficult. Oops, a little too late for that information. I guess I really should have studied the guidebook a little more closely before I left the other day.

I headed down the backside of Gothics ready to be faced with untold horrors on the other side of the mountain. I was not at all ready for what Gothics had in store for me. On the way down, the trail goes over a long, steep granite face. So long and steep, in fact, that a cable, about one eighth of a mile long, was installed to aid in walking this section. Bear had no problem at all on this section but I was thankful that it was there. What could have been a very tricky section, especially since part of the slide was wet, was a very different and enjoyable part of the hike.

The next peak on the range, Saddleback, was again a tricky and difficult ascent. By this time, Bear needed help at least twice each climb and I was wearing down from constantly fighting the trail. There was a nice view from the top, but there was nothing terribly interesting until I starting my way down the mountain. Of course, this was after a nice long break on the summit. The trail left the summit and traveled over the very exposed and very steep ledges on the West side of the mountain. It was actually a bit scary at the time as it required much scrambling and there were more than a few times when I had to throw my poles down. It took all my wits and limbs to descent some parts of this trail. I even needed to lift Bear down some of the steeper sections since they were too far for him to jump. We both made it down safely, though.

At last, the final climb of the day was before me and I was more than ready. The Basin stood proudly before us, a good climb that was coming after a hard day. We were both pretty tired at this point, but without too much problem we were soon sitting on the expansive summit. Yet another great view with the company of a couple of other backpackers was the perfect this for this part of the day. Bear managed to Yogi a full massage out of two of the women, apparently since he was so cute. I, on the other hand, got nothing. Actually, I did get a little bit of food from them, a sesame square, but I think that was because they felt bad for paying so much attention to my dog. It tasted great nonetheless.

With only a mile to go, we both put our packs back on and headed down off of Basin and again into unknown horrors. Overall, the drop off the mountain was not as bad as the bare ledges on Saddleback, but there was one section that was worse that anything that I had encountered all day. We came across this ladder that went down this 25-foot granite ledge. It was extremely steep and there was no other way around. Getting Bear down that ledge was an adventure, further complicated by the fact that it had started to rain. I went half walk down the ladder and, after a lot of yelling, coaxed Bear to jump down the ledge to me. I caught him, and with one hand held him about halfway down the ledge while all four of him paws were on the rock. He was scared at first, but he quickly relaxed once he realized that he was not going to fall. I got him ready and then I took my hand away, and he ran/fell down the rest of the ledge safely to the bottom.

The rain also changed my camping plans a little bit as well. Instead of camping up on the ridge, which was the original plan, I decided to drop off the ridge a little bit and head to Slant Rock Lean-to. This is another interesting thing, as the old lean-to is gone and a brand new lean-to was constructed to replace it. The only problem is that the new lean-to is not quite finished, so the side trail leading to the new location is still hidden. I had no idea where the trail was, only that it was somewhere in the area of the old one, so I started looking around. It took me a while, and I went down a few dead end paths until finally I found one that opened up to a freshly cut trail. Wow, what a great location they picked for this shelter, just a bit away from the river, up on a hill with a view of three 4000 foot peaks. Incredible, this was much better than the campsite on the ridge. On top of that, the sky had just started to clear and the view improved. I could not have been happier.

After unpacking and getting water from the nearby spring I decided to walk back down to the water to soak my feet and wash up. It was amazing just how dirty I had gotten with all the scrambling I had done today. I was covered in dirt from head to toe. Down by the river I met three girls searching around for the same hidden lean-to that I discovered. Of course, being the gentleman that I am, I showed them the way. That was after washing up, of course, so that I would look my best. Back here at the lean-to, Bear is getting yet another massage from two women while yours truly is again getting nothing. Well, that is not true, one of the girls is sharing her dried fruit with me. I think I am noticing a pattern Ah well, it was almost a perfect day.

-Chomp

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