My buddy BPDPTI and I began at the Santanoni Trailhead at 7:10am under clear blue skies. We made quick work of the road walk, turning onto the trail some 30 minutes later. The walking was pleasant and despite having been on this trail maybe a dozen times or so in the past, it felt good to be back. Took a break on Panther Brook where you can look back at the North River Range. It was warming up but was still pretty comfortable.
Made it to the Bradley Pond Lean-To after about 2 hours of hiking and took a nice break there. From that point onward, the trail became much more wild. In fact, once we lost elevation on the trail down and hit the valley floor, this trail quickly became one of my favorites. Seldom-used, hard to follow (at times) with majestic views scattered here and there. The tread was barely 10 inches wide at times. Very cool.
We reached Duck Hole and marveled in the fantastic views. I'm sure this place was even more amazing before the dam breached, but it’s still a sight to behold. Much-deserved break at the lean-to.
The crux of the day was the half mile or so that we took north on the NPT before bushwhacking up to the summit of Sawtooth #13. Yes, there is a Sawtooth #13. It was only a 0.25 mile bushwhack but with 500 feet of elevation gain and countless cliff bands, it felt pretty punishing. We found some nice views up there - some screened views over toward Sawtooth #3 and and some semi-open ledges with views of the Preston Ponds and Duck Hole below.
Back on the trail, we began our long hike out, taking the trail past Preston Ponds. This long hike out was made all the more enjoyable by the periodic landmarks along the way: the eastern edge of Duck Hole, Lower Preston Pond, Hunter Pond, Upper Preston Pond and the Henderson Lean-to on Henderson Lake. Bugs became a little annoying during this stretch but never enough to pull out the head net.
Somewhat grinding hike back to Upper Works, and then another mile and a half on the road back to the Santanoni trailhead where we signed out some 8.5 hours after having signed in. Great day in the high peaks!