Phelps Redux

Phelps

4,161 feet  |  ranked 32/46 in height  |  4th peak climbed (repeat)

With both our previous High Peaks hikes of the year out of the AuSable Club trailhead, Erin and I were ready to switch things up a bit.  On the hike out the Lake Road after Sawteeth, we'd discussed our next options and were tempted to take on something more challenging.  Luckily, there are many such options.  Possibly a return to the Sewards?  Or maybe knocking of the rest of the Dix Range?  However, as the middle of the week rolled around and I was drooling all over the weather forecast for the upcoming weekend, Erin expressed some hesitation due to a physical complication that had cropped up since our last hike.  After she consulted her doctor, who wasn't terribly concerned about her going hiking, we talked again.  We both really wanted to get back in the mountains, but weren't entirely sure her doctor fully understood what kind of hike we were contemplating.  The Seward Range is not your average stroll in the park. 

Scenic Sawteeth

 

Sawteeth

4,100 feet  |  ranked 35/46 in height  |  25th peak climbed

Knowing we would be driving to the trailhead that morning, and hence not arriving super early, Erin and I were even more worried than normal about finding available parking.  Hiking on holiday weekends is oft-espoused as something to be avoided, and while I can certainly understand that perspective, our opportunities are few enough that we have to seize them when they come, holiday or no.  We decided we'd have the best chance of finding parking at the AuSable Club trailhead, and Sawteeth has been on the short list for a long time.  I'd wanted to hike the Scenic Trail specifically since hiking a loop of the East and West River Trails in 2008, when I first saw the mountain's profile with the jagged teeth to clamber over.  Erin and I had even set a date to hike it in 2011, but in a case of very bad timing, were derailed by the destruction of Hurricane Irene.