Alpine1
07-17-2011, 07:12 PM
This week was going to be an off week for hiking due to the two previous journeys that put a bit too much wear and tear on the dogs, the weather didn’t cooperate:D Friday was forecast to be an excellent day for hiking so plans were made for Colvin Blake and an elevator ride to Sawteeth. This would be the first time Oliver would not hike and be home alone, not really alone though as he would be staying with his new hiking/carousing partner Zowie. The hardest part of the entire day was I worrying about separation anxiety. We returned home after 14 hrs to two very happy puppies and no disasters.
We left the AMR hikers parking lot at 6am destined for the Gill brk trail. Based on info obtained from HPF we traveled much lighter with respects to water than I have in the past. The temperature was a glorious 48 degrees this would not last. By 8:30 we reached the Elk pass intersection. We searched abit for the Fairy Ladder Falls HP but decided this trip could wait for another time. The trails from here on were a bit rougher but very dry so we made good time not having to contend with slippery mud and wet rocks.:tup: Just before the summit a lone hiker caught up with us, we would meet him again on Blake. By 9:30 we were on the summit of Colvin. The views of the range and the valley that would eventually take us along the third leg of our trip were spectacular.
The descent to the C/B col went very quickly. The two new ladders here will certainly be helpful for many hikers, sadly two rungs on the lower ladder are split; one will not survive much longer. We dropped our packs and were on the summit of Blake by 11:45 where we sat and chatted for a bit with (I’ll call him Teva :)) the guy who passed us earlier. C&B were his 43rd & 44th mountain; he is finishing Sat on Esther & Whiteface:drink:. He told of his hike of the AT and the troubles he had with his feet. With recommendations from others he met along the AT he stopped and bought a pair of Tevas’s and now has happy feet. We bid him farewell and made quick work of the descent back to our packs where we ate a few snacks and readied ourselves for uncharted territory, the elevator shaft!!! :eek:
The descent from Blake to the bridge between Ausable lakes took 1.5hrs. The trail was easy to follow except one spot where we followed the brook and the trail actually went left:twisted:. The correction was made quickly and the rest of the descent was uneventful ;). We ate lunch by the bridge while enjoying the views of Sawteeth. I lamented on how much water to carry at this point, as there was to be water on the ascent to Sawteeth just above the AMR/Wilderness border. Filling up here seemed to be a wise choice rather than take our chances with the unknown ahead.
It was 1:00pm and time to move along. We were still feeling very strong; the trek along the road to the Warden’s camp was pleasant and passed quickly. We stopped to chat with the young warden for a few minutes. He gave us a bit of history of the AMR and pointed us towards the trailhead. By 1:30 we crossed Shanty Brk on our way up a trail that obviously gets very little use. Along the way it appeared the trail at some time must have gone a slightly different route. I also wondered if I had missed the loop trail that the Nat Geo map showed. My GPS track would later confirm that a reroute of the trail must have happened at sometime in the past. We finally reached the brook at the AMR/State border, which would be our last water source until we descended towards the AMR. The brook was very low and we were thankful that we refilled our water bladders earlier. To this point the ascent had been gradual. The next .08 were much steeper and the morning temps that were so pleasant had subsided a bit :). The views of first Haystack, then Basin teased us but the summer foliage never gave way to the spectacular views that awaited at the summit. We would walk in short bursts:whip: then rest long enough to relieve our burning calves. This section took nearly an hour. At the summit we took lots of pictures refueled our bodies and after a short rest headed towards the Weld trail and Rainbow Falls. Having never used this trail the decent was very easy on the lower extremities. It took 45 minutes to reach the base of the falls. At 5:30 we reached the dam and were looking forward to a nice leisurely plod along the AMR road:tup::tup:. We signed out at 6:30.
Filtering water and switching to trail running shoes made today’s journey one of the best hikes I have had in the HP’s. Lastly. Sharing an awesome journey with someone special was the icing on the cake….Thanks Honey :kiss:
Water Intake: 3.5L & 2.5L
The Journey: 19.2 total miles. 6,136 ft of total ascent. 1.5 mph overall avg. 2.2 mph moving avg. moving time 8:44 min. stop time 4:19 min.
Pictures (https://picasaweb.google.com/107330580361227011511/ColvinBlakeSawteeth71511?authkey=Gv1sRgCK-P5-2Rg9j2dA)
We left the AMR hikers parking lot at 6am destined for the Gill brk trail. Based on info obtained from HPF we traveled much lighter with respects to water than I have in the past. The temperature was a glorious 48 degrees this would not last. By 8:30 we reached the Elk pass intersection. We searched abit for the Fairy Ladder Falls HP but decided this trip could wait for another time. The trails from here on were a bit rougher but very dry so we made good time not having to contend with slippery mud and wet rocks.:tup: Just before the summit a lone hiker caught up with us, we would meet him again on Blake. By 9:30 we were on the summit of Colvin. The views of the range and the valley that would eventually take us along the third leg of our trip were spectacular.
The descent to the C/B col went very quickly. The two new ladders here will certainly be helpful for many hikers, sadly two rungs on the lower ladder are split; one will not survive much longer. We dropped our packs and were on the summit of Blake by 11:45 where we sat and chatted for a bit with (I’ll call him Teva :)) the guy who passed us earlier. C&B were his 43rd & 44th mountain; he is finishing Sat on Esther & Whiteface:drink:. He told of his hike of the AT and the troubles he had with his feet. With recommendations from others he met along the AT he stopped and bought a pair of Tevas’s and now has happy feet. We bid him farewell and made quick work of the descent back to our packs where we ate a few snacks and readied ourselves for uncharted territory, the elevator shaft!!! :eek:
The descent from Blake to the bridge between Ausable lakes took 1.5hrs. The trail was easy to follow except one spot where we followed the brook and the trail actually went left:twisted:. The correction was made quickly and the rest of the descent was uneventful ;). We ate lunch by the bridge while enjoying the views of Sawteeth. I lamented on how much water to carry at this point, as there was to be water on the ascent to Sawteeth just above the AMR/Wilderness border. Filling up here seemed to be a wise choice rather than take our chances with the unknown ahead.
It was 1:00pm and time to move along. We were still feeling very strong; the trek along the road to the Warden’s camp was pleasant and passed quickly. We stopped to chat with the young warden for a few minutes. He gave us a bit of history of the AMR and pointed us towards the trailhead. By 1:30 we crossed Shanty Brk on our way up a trail that obviously gets very little use. Along the way it appeared the trail at some time must have gone a slightly different route. I also wondered if I had missed the loop trail that the Nat Geo map showed. My GPS track would later confirm that a reroute of the trail must have happened at sometime in the past. We finally reached the brook at the AMR/State border, which would be our last water source until we descended towards the AMR. The brook was very low and we were thankful that we refilled our water bladders earlier. To this point the ascent had been gradual. The next .08 were much steeper and the morning temps that were so pleasant had subsided a bit :). The views of first Haystack, then Basin teased us but the summer foliage never gave way to the spectacular views that awaited at the summit. We would walk in short bursts:whip: then rest long enough to relieve our burning calves. This section took nearly an hour. At the summit we took lots of pictures refueled our bodies and after a short rest headed towards the Weld trail and Rainbow Falls. Having never used this trail the decent was very easy on the lower extremities. It took 45 minutes to reach the base of the falls. At 5:30 we reached the dam and were looking forward to a nice leisurely plod along the AMR road:tup::tup:. We signed out at 6:30.
Filtering water and switching to trail running shoes made today’s journey one of the best hikes I have had in the HP’s. Lastly. Sharing an awesome journey with someone special was the icing on the cake….Thanks Honey :kiss:
Water Intake: 3.5L & 2.5L
The Journey: 19.2 total miles. 6,136 ft of total ascent. 1.5 mph overall avg. 2.2 mph moving avg. moving time 8:44 min. stop time 4:19 min.
Pictures (https://picasaweb.google.com/107330580361227011511/ColvinBlakeSawteeth71511?authkey=Gv1sRgCK-P5-2Rg9j2dA)