Gothics — 46 Hiking Highs

We started from the parking lot at the Ausable Club, near the southern Ausable Road entrance at 8:45 a.m. I’d never been here before and was struck by what an odd place it was to start out a back-country hike! We hiked up a paved road, past a golf course, and tennis courts, neat little homes on the property, and the club’s grand hotel. This was very different from my other Adirondack experiences. It was a cold morning, with temperatures in the upper 20s. We hiked through the Ausable Club grounds, signed in and entered the Lake Road Trail.

This is a dirt road, just past the wooden gate. It was an easy hike, that slowly ascended over several miles. It was equally strange, since instead of a trail, we were hiking on a road. Eventually, 4 miles in from the car, the road came to Lower Ausable Lake dam, with beautiful views of the lake and mountains. At 10:15 a.m., we crossed over the bridge behind the dam, and onto a typical wooded trail. We bypassed the trail to Rainbow Falls (saving it for the way back), and began a steep, leaf-covered ascent to the view at the top of the falls. There was lots of water going over the falls, with the recent heavy rains.

We continued upwards. The trail moderated at points, and we rested for a bit at the junction between Sawteeth and Gothics around 11:30. Turing to the right, towards Pyramid and Gothics, the trail became rockier, with some slopes and an occasional view to the east. My mind wasn’t really into the hike at this point, the rocks were slick, with occasional icy spots, and there were some smooth slabs that I was not very happy scrambling over. There was also one particular rock edge that I dared not look over, though it probably wasn’t bad at all. I’d considered stopping a number of times but continued on.

The dam, with the bridge to the right

Heading up Pyramid

We summitted Pyramid Peak (not a High Peak, but a bump along the way), and found a spectacular view overlooking the cirque with the walls of Gothics, Saddleback, and Basin. The weather held for us, and the clouds stayed above the mountains. I got nowhere near as close to the edge as the others did, so my vantage point was a bit more limited, but it was still amazing. The wind was non-existent, and we took in the great views for several minutes. We’d arrived at Pyramid’s summit around 12:15 p.m. Some foliage was still present, and the air temperature was probably just shy of 40 degrees, which was great for a hike like this.

View of the cirque from Pyramid Peak

Group shot atop Pyramid

We then began our descent into the col between Pyramid and Gothics. There a few open exposures, and at this point, my nerves got the best of me. I announced that my fear of heights was causing a big problem, and I did not want to continue further. However, after a lot of coaxing and encouragement, the group persuaded me to continue. We descended the col and climbed to Gothics’ summit. This took me quite a bit longer than the others, since I lost my nerves again on some bare rock faces, hugging rocks, and one ledge in particular really scared me, even just seeing Jeff and John H standing on it. John, who’d done this hike many times told me I was basically there, and I really shouldn’t give up now. Keeping my eyes and body looking and leaning southwest (away from the open views on the other side of this ledge), I made it along. We arrived at the summit with the others after only about 30 minutes from Pyramid, arriving around 1:30 pm.

John and Jeff casually chatting, while I’m getting freaked out about where they are standing.

The peak of Gothics was beautiful as we walked along the ridge with stupendous views on both sides. The ridge was broad enough that I felt comfortable. Although the others sat a lot closer to the edge when we ate lunch. We lingered for about a half hour while we ate. The trails were mostly empty today, with only four others atop Gothics. I made sure to touch the survey marker, to make it official, and we prepared to head back. Here we split into two groups. John L, Joe, and Don also wanted to bag Sawteeth on this hike, so they left Gothics first. Jeff, John H, and I opted to descend directly (I suspect Jeff and John would have done Sawteeth too, but graciously opted to accompany me on the way down, without saying so directly).

Mission accomplished! The guys atop Gothics

Time for lunch! (I’ll stay more comfortably in the back, further from the edge, thank you!)

The top of Gothics does make a pretty nice lunch spot!

Leaving Gothics, the view of Pyramid was astounding—clearly showing the shape that gave it its name. I even managed to snap a shot of our three companions back on its summit again. We returned to Pyramid, then began our way down the mountain. I twisted my left knee slightly on the way down, but with minimal problems. John lent me a pole to aid with the descent. We passed a group of six women from the Glens Falls Adirondack Chapter on the way down, and chatted a bit, but other than that, there was almost no one else out today. We took the detour trail to Rainbow Falls on the way back, where John L, Joe, and Don caught back up with us. The falls were very impressive, large, and wet!

Descending Gothics, with Pyramid before us (and our friends as small specks on top)

My final climb over some rocks for a view of Rainbow Falls

We hiked at a fast pace once we were back out the road, and got to the cars at 5:45 p.m., just as it started to rain and get dark. We stopped for some celebratory beers, went out for dinner, and slept again at the hostel. The next morning, we awoke to snow—nice timing!