July 23, 2009 - Gothics, Armstrong, Upper Wolf Jaw, & Lower Wolf Jaw

The main event of our JBL trip was to climb the mountains in the Northern end of the Great Range. After our unplanned Big Slide climb the day before, we were a little sore but we had a great breakfast and got an early start up the Ore Bed Trail from the JBL. There was a threat of rain all day, but regardless of the forecast, we pressed on.

The trail was great fun, and the trip up Gothics was challenging and exciting. We got to the summit without any rain, but there was only cloud and fog once we go to the top. Undeterred, and after having a little lunch, we marched off towards Armstrong. We got a treat about the same time we got to the second summit; the clouds parted and we got a really nice view.

The trail over to Upper Wolf Jaw was pretty wet; between the wet foliage and the puddles, we got drenched. However, the rain held off and we made it in a little over an hour. Our reward was that the view held out and we could still see a lot of the mountains in the region.

By this point, we were getting tired and we were starting to worry about making it back to the JBL in time for dinner. However, our goal was to also make it over to Lower Wolf Jaw as part of the loop, so we pressed on. We made it to the top (took a lot longer than we anticipated), and just in time for the skies to open up and force us to hustle back to the JBL in time for dinner.

I think we passed out at about 9:00 PM from our biggest hike yet, and easily slept through the night. The total hike was over nine (9) miles and took about 9.5 hours. Eleven (11) High Peaks down; 35 to go.