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Upper and Lower Wolfjaws - 21 July 2012

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  • Upper and Lower Wolfjaws - 21 July 2012

    Well the original plan was for my son and I to go for Colvin and Blake, but with a wonky knee giving me grief, the plan changed to Lower Wolfjaws and then if it felt alright we could go for Upper Wolfjaws. The weekend forecast was way too nice to cancel altogether.

    Another reason not to cancel was that this was to be our first time staying at the Keene Valley Hostel. What nice people and what a nice place. Being close to the trailhead and the money being right I can tell we will be staying there again in the future.

    We got to the St. Hubert's parking lot around 0540 and signed in at the trailhead at 0600. It was really nice as when arriving at the trailhead there was a deer standing right next to the log in book. I guess she was doing her own hike that day.


    The start didn't go so smoothly. My knee felt fine but Kai kept coming down with stomach aches. We were part way along the West River trail when we just decided to sit for about half an hour. Some more food and some gatorade and the stomach started to feel better. Off we started again and were passed by a trail runner/hiker around 7:30. We said our hello's and off he went. I joked with Kai about beating him to the summit.

    The trail up to the Wolfjaws notch wasn't too tough and knee and all we made pretty decent time. We even saw a bunch more deer. We probably saw about 10 on the day. The trail up to Lower Wolfjaws was fairly steep but after already doing Elk Pass and the Scenic trail earlier this year we were well prepared. We reached the summit of Lower Wolfjaws at 0945.

    Being a great day we had some really nice views. We were on Big Slide a couple weeks ago and it was nice to look back the other way. After some pics we headed back down. Soon after leaving the summit we were passed by the same trail runner/hiker on his way up to Lower Wolfjaws summit. We said hello again and he mentioned that he had already been up Gothics, Armstrong and Upper Wolfjaws. Counting Lower Wolfjaws this means that had 4 peaks in 3 hours. After we parted I leaned over to Kai and said "told you we would beat him to the summit!"

    We reached the notch and my knee was fine and we were both feeling we had enough energy for Upper Wolfjaws as well. Up we went. We could tell our pace we getting slower, but we still felt good. To me I found the trail to upper seemed harder than to Lower, even though most other hikers we met talked about Lower being harder. It might be just because we were tiring...actually at this point I should just saying that it was me that was tiring. Kai these days doesn't seem to get tired. I guess it would be nice to be 12 again...although I don't think was that fit when I was 12.

    We reached the summit at 12:00 and enjoyed some really nice views and had lunch. We met some local hikers as well as some hikers from Rochester. we sat for about half an hour and then started to head back down. Stopping for that length of time is always a double-edged sword for me. Sure I get some rest, but then I also start to stiffen up. My decent speed was noticeably slower but the good thing was that my knee was still feeling good.

    Heading down was fairly uneventful except we were starting to meet a bunch of hikers headed up. As well we were being passed by quite a few hikers headed down. When we reached the West River Trail my knee started to ache. From there on I was wishing I hadn't forgotten the ibuprofen in the car. Oh well, lesson learned.

    We signed out at 4:30 giving us a 10 1/2 hour day plus the to and from the parking lot. It was an awesome day. Great views and an great trip. Now it was time for a Noonmark Diner milkshake, a stop at the Mountaineer for a patch, and a 4 1/2 hour drive home.

    Just to note - the trails were in great shape and the bugs weren't bugging.

    Can't wait to get back down, hopefully once or twice more this year.

    Cheers

    Blair and Kai

    ADK 12/46

  • #2
    Nice TR. I was hoping to do those same peaks yesterday, but had too many work and home commitments to juggle. It would have been nice to meet some other forum members on the trails.

    You sure picked a great day too. My Plan B for heading up today was squashed after seeing the Ironman competition notice and tomorrow's weather forecast is a hot mess of t-storm warnings, possible hail and strong gusty winds. The Wolfy's will have to wait a little longer.
    http://www.adkhighpeaksforheroes.com

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    • #3
      We must've missed each other on the LWJ by ~20 min or so. We came up via the slide (starting at the Garden), came down to the notch and then went to UWJ and exited via Interior Outpost Phelps trail back to the garden.We saw the Rochester folks too (college students from RIT).
      46/46 as of August 1st, 2014!

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      • #4
        Nice TR. Seems we both are afflicted with a bum knee.
        ADKGurl occasionally has tummy trouble on the trail, I carry some pepto bismal in my first aid pouch along with children's Tylenol and my candy of choice Aleve.

        I can sympathize with you - ADKGurl is beginning to bury me on the trail, I think we have past the day where we were equals. This time when we backpacked in I gave her the tent and fly (I kept the poles), slowed her a little - next time she gets all of it.
        Enjoying the journey with my favorite hiking partner.
        Please visit ADKGurl's Blog: 46-High-Peaks

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