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Upper and Lower Wolfjaw
(peaks 8 and 9)

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This was my third solo trip. It's still only late October, but as you can see from the photos here, and in the photo album, it's winter on the peaks! This first picture is my partner, about 2.5 hrs into the hike The sun came out for a bit, so I got a picture of shadow. This was my first TRUE solo. On both previous solo trips there were so may people on the trail that I never felt alone. This trip was different.

(Mouse over the picture to see the image full size.)

Started out from the parking lot by Roaring Brook in St Hubert's and walked through the gold course to 'the gate'. I think I signed in around 730am. Hiked in from the West River trail which starts behind the guards cabin.

Got in to the Wedge Brook trail which goes to the col between Upper and Lower Wolfjaw at about 9am. Met one other person on the trail here, a man who had misplaced his wife and daughter! He dropped his pack and headed back down the trail to try to find them. Never did see him again, but we had a similar agenda, both heading to Upper Wolfjaw. I ended up following his tracks later in the day.

Trails to summit of Lower Wolfjaw were like Algonquin from last weekend. Before heading for summit of Lower, I strapped on the ever handy Icer's and had a lunch break. I was on the summit of Lower at about 1120am, and back down to the col at about 1140am. The ice was better formed than on Algonquin, and not as covered by snow. The shot above is of the trail to the summit of Lower.

Life got interesting on the trip to the summit of Upper. It's only a mile from the col, and I thought I could be there in an hour, by 1pm. The person I encountered down on Wedge brook trail lower end, had broken trail for me. When I got to this one ice covered rock outcropping, he headed off trail. As you can see there is a split in the rock, and I thought his trail went up and around to the right, so I gave it a shot. The rocks had just enough angle that I lost traction, and slid/bumped/fell off - about 8 ft vertical. I tried it again after regaining my wits, wedging my feet into the crack, and made it up in one shot.

This was a definite eye opener. When I was attempting the first try, I 'knew' I was going to fall - so much so that I moved a rock out of the way to provide a 'landing' spot. After falling, sitting on my bum, I thought a little about things that could have gone wrong - simple stuff like a sprained/broken ankle or wrist. This little 'safe' experience lead me to the understanding that I can't esperiment like this, when I am by myself. Lesson learned.

My trail breaking partner's tracks were at the top of the rock formation and I followed on slowly - always lots of ice. The Icers continued to do great on normal trail, but I noticed that the heels were slipping just a little. I think the screws in the bottom were a little worn from walking on bare rock somtimes, so I'm going to replace the screws. Soon I saw where he left the trail again, and I followed this time, instead of playing on the ice. We had to go about 20 yards off the trail in dense scrub to find a way around the rock structure. This detour was good - I found a shell he had dropped which I left at the sign in.

I made the Summit of Upper Wolfjaw at about 130pm, and it was decision time. The original plan called for going to Armstrong too - but now I'd had a couple bad experiences, and I did not know what I would encounter, and I was only moving farther into the mountains, and may not make the road before dark. Since the lower trails were almost completely filled in with leaves, I decided to do an about face, and work with the bad trail I already knew about.

Decent was uneventful. The rest of the pics are in the photo album. A good time was had by all (me, and the shadow).