Lower & Upper Wolfjaw Mountains (Nov. 5, 2024)

Trip Reports

Nov 5

The mountains were smiling upon us today! Tom picked a fantastic day and we knocked off two more High Peaks, both Lower and Upper Wolfjaw. He moved confidently through the mountains, and soaked in every gorgeous view.

We saw only three other people hiking on this unseasonably warm day, but man, everyone else was missing out. The Wolfjaws are an excellent introduction to the Great Range with a long warm-up approach to Johns Brook Lodge from The Garden, moderate elevation gain up to the Wolfjaw notch, and then some steeper, thoughtful rock slabs and other formations to scramble up to their summits.

We did the ~13 miles and ~4000 feet of elevation gain in just over 10 hours. Fall hiking season isn't quite done yet!

Trip Log

6:45am — Departed from The Garden trailhead

8:15am (1.5 hours elapsed) — Reached Johns Brook Lodge (took Orebed/Woodsfall trail up)

9:00am (2.25 hours elapsed) — Reached the Woodsfall/Wolfjaw Trail junction

9:45am (3 hours elapsed) — Reached the Wolfjaw Notch junction

10:30am (3.75 hours elapsed) — Summitted Lower Wolfjaw Mountain (4175 ft; Tom’s 12th ADK High Peak)

11:15am (4.5 hours elapsed) — Reached the Wolfjaw Notch junction

12:45pm (6 hours elapsed) — Summitted Upper Wolfjaw Mountain (4185 ft; Tom’s 13th ADK High Peak; stopped for lunch)

2:15pm (7.5 hours elapsed) — Reached Wolfjaw Notch junction

2:45pm (8 hours elapsed) — Reached Woodsfall Notch junction (took Wolfjaw Brook trail down)

3:30pm (8.75 hours elapsed) — Reached Phelps Trail junction

4:50pm (~10 hours total) — Reached The Garden trailhead (managed without headlamps, though it was close)

Notes

Very few people on the trail today, despite the gorgeous weather
We could have stayed on Upper Wolfjaw for hours — the sun was glorious
I’d probably take the Wolfjaw Trail up from the Phelps Trail junction next time, and bypass Johns Brook Lodge altogether since it was closed up for the season anyway