Left Ottawa at 11:30 am on Saturday morning after packing the bear barrels in Katie’s garage. Stopped in Malone for lunch at the Market Barn Deli. Decent sandwiches from a counter buried in a large flea market. Bokie’s was right next door, so of course we had to stop by for a small soft serve ice cream.

We arrived at the Garden parking lot at 4:45. There was plenty of parking available. At 5pm, we started our hike to Johns Brook Lodge via the Phelps trail. We arrived at our site around 6pm, consistent with our previous timing. The old high water bridge to the lean-tos was removed, so we had to walk all the way to JBL, cross the brook there, and then back track slightly to the Meyers lean-to.

Trail to JBL from the Garden

When we arrived there were a couple people in the lean-to, but they immediately apologized and packed up. They hadn’t booked ahead and the other lean-tos were occupied. In the end, friendly Caretaker Will let them stay at the next lean-to over.

Meyers lean-to: our home for the weekend

For dinner we enjoyed baguette caprese and a pretty good wine from a bag. We set up our tent in the lean-to in case of bugs, but in the end they really weren’t a problem. The rain started right at bed time and continued throughout the night.

Nothing better than wine and Hickory Sticks

Baguette Caprese coming together

7/7:30 wake-up. We had an epic breakfast of toasted English muffins, leftover cheese and avocado, and hard boiled eggs. We left our site around 9am with a stop to stow away our bear barrels behind the Delcos (old generators from the 1920s). We filled our water up at the tap at JBL.

Hitting the trail from JBL

Carefully crossing Ore Bed Brook

Our hike started along the blue-marked Woodfall trail which continued moderately uphill to the junction with Wolf Jaw trail, just after crossing Wolf Jaw Brook. From there, it was a steady climb through standard Adirondacks terrain (mud, roots, rocks) to Wolf Jaw notch, where there was a turnoff to the summit of Lower Wolf Jaw, 0.5 miles away. There were some scrambles on the way to the small, treed summit. We arrived at 11:15 and had no views in the morning cloud. Back at the turnoff, we had an excellent snack of tropical dried fruit mix and then continued on to Upper Wolf Jaw.

High peak #32: Lower Wolf Jaw

Junction with Wedge Brook Trail

We were now following the yellow-marked ADK Range Trail. Along the way, we got slightly off trail for a moment, descending a very narrow, rock-side route. A quick check of Alltrails confirmed we were off course, so we retraced our steps. There were some pretty big rock scrambles to negotiate along the way – thank goodness for trees and roots to help us haul ourselves up. We got pretty muddy using our knees and butts to scramble up as well.

This was not the trail

Butt sliding for the win

Slightly before the summit, we walked through a more open, flat area, before the trail went up and over another nameless peak. At 1pm, we arrived at the summit of Upper Wolf Jaw, which is 20 yards off the main trail. It was a small rock, with good views of Nippletop, Dial, Dix, etc.

Enjoying a flat bit!

Going back up

At the summit, there were two backpackers taking a break with their dogs, including a beautiful white wolf (aka Mara and her boring friend Nina). We were tickled to see a “wolf” on Wolf Jaw. After some Cajun trail mix, we headed onward to Armstrong.

As we continued toward Armstrong, there were more and more patches of snow, but no need for micro spikes. At one point we were helped out by a long ladder that was still partially buried in the snow. It was slow going over some more challenging boulders that required care to find the best hand holds.

How long is this ladder? No way to say.

Going up

We arrived at the exposed, windy summit around 2:30. We were rewarded with great views of Gothics, the next mountain over. It was so close we could see some people coming down its snowy slope. Next we could see Saddleback and the rest of the Great Range. In the other direction, was the McIntyre Range (Algonquin, etc.) Several groups converged on Armstrong at the same time, including a group of two families with some pretty little kids. They had come up the Ore Bed Trail and cable route on Gothics and had butt slid down all that snow. Impressive!

We ate lunch quickly on the windy summit: our usual salami sandwiches. Then, knowing we’d have to climb up that snowy slope of Gothics if we continued the loop (and descend via the cables), we decided to return the way we came. We went back up and over Upper Wolf Jaw. This time, when we reached the Wolf Jaw trail, we stayed on it, hiking past the Wolf Jaw lean-to. At this point, the trail was easy going, following alongside the brook. The trail ended near the DEC Interior Outpost and the suspension bridge. We looped around JBL and back to our lean to for the night.

Back at camp, we cleaned ourselves up and enjoyed a glass of wine. “Caretaker Will” stopped by and observed that it was wine-o-clock. As we relaxed, we watched three deer crossing the brook. We have seen deer on all three occasions we’ve been in the JBL area.

Dinner was spaghettini alfredo and broccoli, prepared in the rain, unfortunately. After cleaning up, we hunkered down for an early night.

The next morning was beautiful. We slept in and had a slow breakfast. Eventually we decided to hike the approx. 3km round trip to Short Job lookout. Do not recommend. The trail was just a straight incline up, which was hard on already tired calf muscles. At the “top” there really wasn’t much of a lookout at all. I guess this is why you never hear anyone mention this destination.

The view from Short Job lookout. Do not recommend.

We ate lunch back at our lean-to, then packed up and headed back out the Garden parking lot. Unlike last time, we had no mechanical troubles! It was an easy drive back home after another good trip!