Hannah the hiker

Lower Wolfjaw is one of the 46 Adirondack High Peaks located near Keene Valley. This was also my 46th high peak! I started the trail at 2:30 pm on June 18th.

Lower Wolfjaw is normally done with Upper Wolfjaw, Armstrong, and Gothics. However when I did that hike, my hiking partner and I did not have enough time to add on Lower Wolfjaw so I just did it as an “orphan” hike. There are a couple different ways to get to Lower Wolfjaw, I took the White Trail to the summit. This seemed like the best option to me because it was only 7.2 miles and required no parking permit or parking fee. This trail is right next to Route 73 and can be easy to miss. I parked in the parking spots for a trail to Giant Mountain which is right on the side of the road. From here I crossed the road to the sign for the trail. There is no trail register so just make sure you let someone know if you are hiking here because it is not a popular trail.

The trail brings you by a couple houses since it is ultimately private land. There are a couple signs stating this so please respect people’s privacy when you are hiking out this way. This trail can be closed because of hikers trespassing off of the trail so keep that in mind.

This trail reminded me a lot of the trail to Giant because it is just a straight climb to the top, there is no warmup.

In the beginning you are on the Deer Brook trail and it can be difficult to see the footpath so keep an eye out for the trail markers on the trees. At about the 1 mile mark you switch onto the White Trail. There are a bunch of signs posted in the area telling you which paths will take you to which mountain so it is easy to navigate and understand how to get to the summit of Lower Wolfjaw. This trail will take you all the way to the summit and you will gain about 1,100 feet in elevation along the way.

The summit is at the 3.5 mile mark. Near the summit there is a rock slide that can be pretty difficult to navigate. There is a herdpath that dips into the woods to the left of the slide but is narrow and more of a bushwhack than anything else. There is also the option of going up the slide and pulling yourself up on the rock. I used my hands to pull myself up the slide and was able to navigate this part of the trail relatively easy. If you are bringing a dog this part would be difficult to have them travel up so maybe check out a different route to Lower Wolfjaw.

After the rock slide it is just a little walk in the woods until the summit! I reached the top at 5:40 pm. Instead of taking a couple pictures and heading back to the car I sat down and enjoyed the feeling of having climbed my 46th high peak. There were no views because of the rainy and windy weather conditions but there were a couple spots to sit down and not get whipped around. To celebrate being a 46er I enjoyed a can of Lambrusco and a payday at the summit.

Even if there are no views on the mountaintop I have reached it still leaves me with a feeling of accomplishment. A “bad” day hiking is still one of the best days of my life.

Overall thoughts on the trail

Since this hike kind of marked the end of my 46er journey it makes me a bit sentimental.

It was a short and steep hike, and easy to navigate. There wasn’t too much mud and only one real difficult section. Be prepared for lots of switchbacks!

Also, it is important to note that this trail is literally right next to route 73 which is a super busy road. Take some caution when hiking/parking for the trail.

What I brought

Since I am preparing for my thru hike I carried my fully loaded backpack, so I am not going to list all of that here.

• 50 L backpack
• Rain pants
• Rain jacket
• T-shirt
• Trail runners
• Wool hiking socks
• 32 oz nalgene
• 2 32 oz water bottles
• Beanie
• Gloves
• Trekking poles
  • Food!
  • Peanut butter sandwich
  • Apple
  • Cliff bar