Sawteeth, Pyramid, Gothics, Armstrong, Ankle Injury, Upper Wolf Jaw

[Bminer]

Ok Here we go..
This Journey consisted of my wife and I, and 4 friends. 2 of which are new to our hiking group. To in retrospect, "set the pace for the day", I forgot my 3 Liter Hydration bladder at home. I still managed to muster up 3 and a half liters for the hike.
We arrived at the DEC Parking just off of 73 at the Ausable Club at 7:00am. We signed the register at 7:18am and we were off, down the Lake Rd.. As many of you know the trek along this road to Lower Ausable Lake is relatively uneventful. We arrived at the lake by 8:30am. We then proceeded up the trail and into Rainbow Falls. We were so taken in by this awe inspiring sight, that we stayed there for 45 minutes.
We continued up the trail towards the Sawteeth Gothics Col. We found this to be one of the more rigorous sections of this hike. When we made it to the col where the trail junction sign was, we grabbed a snack. I noticed the sign said .5 mile to Sawteeth with only 500' ascent. Then we thought, well, if we were to come back to solo either Sawteeth or Lower Wolf Jaw, we would rather solo Lower Wolf Jaw assuming it would be a shorter hike than Sawteeth.
So we dropped our packs and tagged Sawteeth. Made our way back down to the junction, grabbed our packs and headed for Gothics via Pyramid Peak. We reached Pyramid Peak about 45 minutes later. This panorama was breathtaking. We sat and absorbed the view and some rays. It was a beautiful day, hardly any wind and not a cloud in the sky. We moved on to hit Gothics. Took the requisite pics and rested for 45 minutes.
We gathered our gear and headed out towards Armstrong. The trek into the Gothics/Armstrong col and up onto Armstrong was an easy one. In fact, I believe, besides the Lake Rd., this was the easiest part of the route we used. We enjoyed Armstrong's Summit for about 20 minutes and we headed down off of Armstrong. Let me tell you, this is a very steep descent. Scrambles and ladders, oh my. Just past the 21 rung ladder we ran into a lull in the path, or as i affectionately refer to them as, "A Very Welcomed Plateau". However, I was forced to eat my sentimental phrase. I stepped off of a flat rock that was only a foot off of the ground. There was a little sapling stump that was only about as big around as a silver dollar and sticking out of the ground about and inch and a half. It was camouflaged by dirt and debris. Well, you guessed it. As I stepped off of the rock on to the ground, I landed on the mini stump. I rolled my ankle with all of my body weight. In as quickly as I could manage, I lifted my leg to alleviate the weight and fell like a 210 pound sack of potatoes. I did manage to pull a super nifty ninja roll to disperse the kinetic energy. I really thought I broke my ankle. Immediately I grabbed my medikit. I painfully learned a very valuable lesson. When I reached into my dollar store medikit, you know what I found. Bandaids! That's it!
I was embarrassed and ashamed. Luckily one of my friends had some ibuprofen to address the swelling that had turned my ankle into a baseball. Another friend had an ace bandage. So here we were almost down into the col between Armstrong and Upper Wolf Jaw. We decided bushwhacking was out of the question due to the condition of my ankle, and going back up Armstrong and down into the col to link up with the trail leading out. Or, heading up over Upper Wolf Jaw and down into Wolf Jaw's Notch and heading out the way our original route intended. The latter was our decision.
We wrapped up my ankle and slowly made our way. We reached the summit of UWJ, but dared not stay long as it was after 5pm and we were moving alot slower than usual. So we headed out towards Wolf Jaw Notch. When we got to the junction, there was some question as to which way to go. A group was sitting there resting. We saw a sign that read" to St. John's Brook, and this group told us that is the way we wanted to go to get back to St. Huberts. I read my quick reference map that I had prepared, and determined that we wanted to go towards Lower Wolf Jaw. My group wasn't sure of my decision. They soon realized, despite the pain I was enduring, that my map reading skills were intact.
From the notch to the Lake Rd. seemed like a never ending descent...lol... in fact I remember hearing a group member mumble, "and....we're still descending....". I remember one spot that descended steeply onto a nicely constructed bridge. It's descent was a narrow herd path in switchbacks. I remember agreeing with a group member, that it resembled the landscape of Rivendell. Amazing! Halfway down it turned dark on us. Luckily we all had torches. and safely made our way back to the Ausable Club.
From register to register the hike took us 12 hours 54 minutes. From the car to car it took us 13 hours 25 minutes. Obviously, the ankle injury I sustained slowed us by at least an hour. Also, a few members that were with us took alot of breaks. More than the rest of us are used to taking. I am not complaining, it was a beautiful day for it. It was an Epic Hike! The most difficult thus far. For my wife and I, this makes 28 mountains hiked this year since April 3rd. 16 of which, High Peaks, since May 1st.
Good Journey and Hike on!
~Beau

[Gerard01]

Excellent TR, Bminer. Sorry about your ankle. I'll be thinking to take an Ace bandage and some cold wrap with when I hike Phelps.

[billandjudy]

Nice job gimping out Rule #1...Never ask directions in the ADK's...Just carry and read your map

[PA Ridgerunner]

Dang...coming down off of Upper Wolfjaw must have been a bear with your ankle hurting! Nice job.

[Bminer]

Originally Posted by Gerard01

Excellent TR, Bminer. Sorry about your ankle. I'll be thinking to take an Ace bandage and some cold wrap with when I hike Phelps.

It can never hurt to bring an Ace Bandage, that's for sure!...lol

Originally Posted by billandjudy

Nice job gimping out Rule #1...Never ask directions in the ADK's...Just carry and read your map

I agree. I pour over the maps... track the route... and keep mental notes as to where landmarks are , and where they are in conjunction to other landmarks...etc...

Originally Posted by PA Ridgerunner

Dang...coming down off of Upper Wolfjaw must have been a bear with your ankle hurting! Nice job.

Upper Wolf Jaw was a bear... quite painful.....I think armstrong was steeper. I would not of wanted to come down that after an ankle sprain...I have read, that Armstrong has claimed many broken ankles and legs.... I count myself lucky.

[SummitHat]

What a mix of good and bad luck - a most spectacular trail and very crappy spot to injure your ankle. It sounds like you may have tore your anterior talofibular ligament. A Ranger told me this was kind of a rite of passage for a lot of mountain hikers, and I think the most common reason for evacuating a hiker or camper .

I wish you a complete and speedy recovery so you can get back into the mountains where you belong!

[Bminer]

Originally Posted by SummitHat

What a mix of good and bad luck - a most spectacular trail and very crappy spot to injure your ankle. It sounds like you may have tore your anterior talofibular ligament. A Ranger told me this was kind of a rite of passage for a lot of mountain hikers, and I think the most common reason for evacuating a hiker or camper .

I wish you a complete and speedy recovery so you can get back into the mountains where you belong!

I am not sure about the specific ligament ... i know it hurts mainly on the inside of my ankle. I did get x-rays... at a glance the doctor said he didn't see any fractures.... but i will get a call when the radiologist reviews it.
Thanks! I hope it recovers in time for me to get a few more peaks in this fall.
I do belong in the mountains man....I never feel as whole and pure anywhere else. I am very fortunate that I can share this with my wife. I feel that her being a part of that is indeed an active ingredient. However, she will not join me when i start the Winter 46.

[mirabela]

Oh, man. I'm sorry about your injury; what a way to cut into your fun, and what a particularly gnarly area of trail for it to happen in.

I did something very similar coming down Colden four summers ago. The bad news: my ankle hurt, especially at night, for many months. The good news: I can now roll my left ankle, and nothing bad happens! No pain, no swelling, nothing! Walk away on it like it didn't even happen! I think this means I completely severed some kind of ankle part, but I think it also means the body knows how to rebuild and compensate with the parts that are left.

Anyway ... take care, heal soon, and be back out there.