The way down was indeed much easier. A few steep pitches on the way down from Sawteeth to the Sawteeth-Pyramid col were the only difficulties, and they were easy to descend by butt-sliding. From the col, we flew down the Weld trail, which has good footing and relatively easy grades, back to Lower Ausable Lake. We took a short detour at the bottom to get a few pictures of very impressive Rainbow Falls, which had a multitude of fantastic ice formations.
Junction w/trail to Gothics
The trudge down the Lake Road was tedious, taking about an hour's worth of time. We encountered a number of cross-country skiiers on the road on the way down. I wished we had a pair [of skiis] for ourselves!
Sawteeth marked number 31 in my Winter 46er quest. Only fifteen to go! (also, this peak marks Jenn's number 25 of her regular 46).
Also saw fellow hikers Bill and Judy in the parking lot at the end of the hike (we'd met them last year on a climb of Giant). Hi, Guys... hope to meet you guys again on the trail sometime.
Interactive Track and Photo Map - click map to expand.
Start Time:
8:17a.m.
End Time:
4:04p.m.
Duration:
7h47m
Distance:
20.83 km
(12.94 mi)
Average Speed:
2.7 km/hr
(1.7 mph)
Start Elevation:
1272ft
(388m)
*
Max Elevation:
4187ft
(1276m)
*
Min Elevation:
1268ft
(387m)
*
End Elevation:
1284ft
(391m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Total Elevation Gain:
3122ft
(952m)
*
Total Elevation Loss:
3104ft
(946m)
*
* : +/- 75 feet
Elevation Graph
