FISHHEAD
Day
5 started sunny but cold. We got up at early, had breakfast, and packed up. From our campsite near Gill Brook, it was a
short walk back to the trail leading to the Fish Hawk Cliffs. We reached the cliffs fairly
early, well ahead of most of the dayhikers
coming up from the Saint Huberts trailhead.
When we arrived, we were greeted with a stunning view of Lower Ausable Lake and peak fall foliage adorning the slopes of
The Sawteeth and Gothics. There was also an icy wind, which made it a
little hard to relax.
I
explored the cliffs and found another great viewpoint towards Indian Head, the
lower end of the lake, and the mountains to the north. I rejoined Larry, and
followed a trail that descended briefly before a steep climb up to the cliffs
of Indian Head. These cliffs offer a
similar view, but it was worth visiting both to get a different perspective on
the lake and the surrounding mountains.
It
was a bright, sunny morning, which was not ideal for photography. The fall color was incredible, but it is
somewhat muted in my photos due to the harsh conditions. The sun also created some harsh shadows along
the east side of the lake. Mid-day may have been the optimal time there in those
conditions, but we had too much planned to wait a couple of hours.
We
packed up and began a long, steep descent to the lake. On the way down we took a short side trail
over to a nice view of Gothics. From
there we backtracked to the trail and continued the descent down to the
lake. Lower Ausable
Lake is a bit unusual. It’s a gorgeous
mountain lake, but it is not a wilderness.
There is an elaborate boat house on the north end, and residents can
drive to it. It was a little weird
seeing cars parked along the lakeshore in the middle of a long, rugged
backpacking trip.
We
enjoyed the views of the fall foliage along the lake before dropping down to
cross a footbridge over the Ausable River just
downstream from the dam. After the
bridge we encountered multiple junctions.
We started on the Weld Trail, which leads to Rainbow Falls, the Sawteeth, and Gothics.
After a short distance we turned onto the “Scenic Trail”. The Scenic Trail follows the west side of
Lower Ausable Lake.
That sounds easy, doesn’t it?
It’s not. Instead of a gentle
stroll along the lake shore, the trail wanders up and down the slope, passing
through cliff bands and boulder gullies.
We
eventually did find our way down to the lake shore. We found a nice sunny spot for lunch, and pulled out all of our wet gear (in other words,
all of our gear) to dry. We ended up
lounging there for far too long, but that spot was too nice to leave.
Originally I was hoping to make it to The Sawteeth that afternoon, but I didn’t have anywhere near
enough time. I suggest to Larry that we
just hike out to a couple of overlooks from cliffs above the west side of the
lake. He decided to stay back and enjoy
the lake, but encouraged me to do it. That worked out well, because I was able to
leave most of my gear out to dry while I did the hike.
The
next stretch of the Scenic Trail was easier, though I did lose the trail at one
point. I regained the trail, and after a
moderate climb I reached a spur trail to the first viewpoint. From there, it was just a short stretch to
the second. Both offered nice views of
the lake, the cliffs, and the fall foliage.
Unfortunately the views were mostly to the
south, towards the sun. Conditions were
even worse for photos than they had been from Indian Head. I thought about continuing to the next
viewpoint, but that one would’ve required a major climb. It was well into the afternoon at this point,
and we still had a long way to go.
I
backtracked, rejoined Larry, and repacked everything. At that point it was time to start the return
journey to the car. First though, there
were a few more sights to see in the Ausable River
valley.
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