A beautiful day for a hike! Sunny, low humidity, and temps in the 60's... I had hiked Sawteeth a number of years ago with my dad, doing an up and back on the Scenic trail, but as it turned out didn't quite make it to the top of the actual summit, just the shorter of the two. I decided this time to make a loop of it, going up the Gothics trail, and down the Scenic trail. First time in a while I had to do the entire length of the Lake road, but at least it goes by fast. The trek up on the Gothics trail was pretty straight forward. Shortly into the hike, a great view of Rainbow Falls is available. It is really a sweet view. The rest of the way up to the col and the split in the trail between Sawteeth and Pyramid wasn't too bad; a steep stretch here and there but nothing to demanding. After taking the turn up to the summit of Sawteeth one needs to climb through a crevasse in the rock, but its surface is rough enough that footing isn't too difficult as long as you pay attention. The view from the top of Sawteeth towards the Great Range is fantastic! You get a great up close and personal view of Pyramid, Saddleback and Basin, along with views of Armstrong, Haystack and Marcy. After munching down my PB&J sandwich I continued down the col between the two summits of Sawteeth. It was by far the muddiest part of the trip, which one would expect of cols. Maybe because it had been so long ago that I had climbed Sawteeth via the Scenic trail I had forgotten how absolutely rough and rugged it is! Out of all the trails I have hiked so far, I definitely feel confidant saying it is the most rugged trail I've hiked! Ever step for pretty much the entire length of the trail requires careful thought and effort, whether do to steepness, ruggedness or even the flat spots were across the face of the mountain that requires uneven footing. Even when I had completed all of the decent and arrived at the lake, the trail was nothing but boulder and tree navigation. I know that many times the hike up a mountain takes longer than the decent, but in this case due to the different difficulty of trails, it was exactly the opposite. The Scenic trail does offer some amazing views towards Dix, Nippletop, Dial, Colvin and Blake mountains along with the Lower Ausable lake, Fishhawk cliffs and Indian Head so all the work isn't for nothing. I was happy because even though the decent took allot out of me, especially my feet, I had enough energy to jog my way back down the Lake road to the check out. Another high peak of the list! #12
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