DEC Interior Outpost

From here, we crossed the newly rebuilt suspension bridge over Johns Brook. The bridge was a bit slick with ice, but in very good shape. We followed the Wolfjaw Trail along Wolfjaw Brook, as the trail steepened and climbed. After we made a quick stop at the Wolfjaw lean-to, we continued, carefully navigating some rocky areas that had patches of ice on them. At the junction with the Lower Wolfjaw Trail, we turned south and continued a fairly steep ascent. Other than some nervousness at a couple of icy spots, and a squeeze through a cleaved boulder, the ascent was uneventful, and we hit the summit at 12:40 p.m., where we sat on the bare rock, had lunch, and enjoyed excellent views to the south and the east over the Ausable River Valley and mountains beyond, with cool temperatures, and little to no winds.

View of Giant, looking over a shoulder of Upper Wolfjaw

Lunch break while taking in the views from summit rock of Upper Wolfjaw

From here, the others wanted to continue to Armstrong. I’d read the route could be a bit steep and treacherous and was not eager to do it. However, I did descend about halfway down to the col with Jeff, then opted to turn back. I told him to continue, and that I’d take it slowly heading back to take some more interesting photographs, and let the others catch up. To my surprise, after about 20 minutes, just as I’d passed the Upper Wolfjaw summit once again, I heard Jeff coming up behind me. He’d caught back up with me, saying that he’d also decided not to do Armstrong. (Although, if I know Jeff, if was because he was looking out for me, and didn’t want me to hike alone.)

On our descent, we decided to take the Woodsfall Trail back, and forded the brook to Johns Brook Lodge. I was eager to see the lodge and wasn’t disappointed. It was closing-up weekend, and about a dozen ADK volunteers were closing the lodge for the winter. Jeff and I got a tour of the work they were doing inside (Jeff had a history with ADK), chatted with folks for a while, then proceeded downstream to the “warming hut”. Here we got yet another tour and spent some time talking.

View of Lower Wolfjaw, as we descended Upper Wolfjaw

We decided we were losing daylight and made our way back along the trail we’d come in on. Just before we hit The Garden lot, we found John H heading back up the trail from the lot to find us. Clearly, we should have communicated better when we’d split up, since the others were concerned that they never saw us on their way back. They were all at the lot when we arrived at 6:00 p.m. Although they’d succeeded in getting to the top of Armstrong, parts of the trek had been difficult—especially some slippery ice on a narrow ledge atop a long ladder. In those conditions, even Don (who had talked me through many rough spots on other hikes) needed to be given some encouragement to take some careful steps. I was certainly glad I’d decided not to go that route! All in all, it was an excellent day’s outing.