"Hiked a section of the Great Range starting from Basin and finishing on Lower Wolfjaw. Came from camp at Slant Rock. Starting with Basin: Hike starts by going over a bit of a ridge from Haystack, then starting the ascent of Basin. This hike is very pleasant with lookout points with views of Marcy and Haystack. Starting at Slant Rock gets you starting the hike pretty high up already, so you are on the summit of Basin in just about no time at all. Would be even quicker if you camp at Sno-Bird. Summit is very nice with views of many of the high peaks to the South, West, and Northwest. The trail towards Saddleback is very tame until the final ascent portion. This part is the most technical portion of this whole route, as you must scramble your way to the summit. Expect to be climbing over large features to ascend this portion of the trail. The summit here is a very nice view of Basin. Another tame descent down Saddleback and another somewhat technical ascent up Gothics. This ascent features cables to help you climb along the large bare and steep alpine area. Be weary and don't put too much trust into these cables as some are broken and others seem ready to give at any moment, but..." — ThermarestCompressiblePillow • Jul 9, 2024

"Hiked out of AMR, not many cars in parking lot. Lake road started to get icy, stopped by rainbow falls, was immaculate (and saw a rainbow, like the name described). quickly realized on the way up to Sawteeth that snowshoes were needed, which we did not have. a day full of post-holing by breathtaking views." — gregoryskiba • Apr 15, 2023

"Attempted a Great Range Traverse on September 23, 2022 But a freak snow storm, freezing temps, 40mph wind, and a soaking wet mountain range said "no". Modified the plan to exit Gothics towards Pyramid, pick up Sawteeth, and head down the Weld Trail. Afterwards we had to walk out 4.5 miles along Lake Road through AMR and another 2.5 back to the Inn along Route 73 after dark. Memorable." — ndru-virus • Sep 23, 2022

"Packed heavy and did an overnight on the way up. First of our high peaks. First time I've ever seen cables guyed to a mountain. I'm glad we summitted on a dry day, I would have been concerned for the members of our group that didn't have solid grip on their shoes. Altras for the win! Incredible views! We ran out of time and energy before attempting Saddleback." — joshuagriffin • Jul 9, 2022

"You hike up using Beaver meadows trail. You will go up and down a lot of ladders. Nice views of Gothics on the way up. When you think you reached the summit keep going. You will spot the summit a little distance away." — Ridgehiker • May 22, 2022

"Parking at the Garden was full upon arrival; after a good deal of searching, found parking at Roostercomb trailhead. Walked up the road to the Garden (took around half an hour) and set out on the Phelps Trail. South Side trail has been abandoned due to storm damage, so I took Phelps Trail up to Johns Brook lodge. Ascended up to Lower Wolf Jaw (tough final half mile!) then back down and up to Upper Wolf Jaw. Path from UWJ to Armstrong to Gothics was quite easy. Impromptu decision to hike Sawteeth, then back up Gothics and descended by Ore Bed Brook trail. Back out and down the road. Phone died 23.5 miles in." — hunterjfrost • Oct 9, 2021

"An epic and picture-perfect day hiking the Lower Great Range with Courtney. We started at a little after 6 am - last time needing to park at the AMR lot and walk up Lake Road! This time we walked all the way out to Lower Ausable Lake about 4 miles on the road before turning off onto the AW Weld trail to head to Sawteeth. We first stopped by Rainbow Falls, which was gorgeous and had rainbows, as advertised. The hike up the Weld trail I had read was "gentle" as compared to the scenic route and we took it to save some time on a big day. I wouldn't have described it quite that way and found it plenty strenuous going up. We summitted Sawteeth about 9:30 am, and the blue skies were amazing. We had definitely worked up a sweat and were surprised when we arrived and some girls were saying the wind was cold up there. We proceeded to the lookout point and made sure to get to the actual summit and then came back to sit on the rocks and enjoy the view and have some snacks and quickly understood as we got chilled sitting there. Time for long sleeve shirt #2. The hike from Sawteeth to Pyramid (which for some reason doesn't count) was some of the steepest of the hike and we worked for that on..." — kvander • Aug 15, 2021

"Beaver Brook Trail, then right on the AMR trail to Armstrong, back through to Gothics, and then on to Pyramids. I'm happy we did it that direction. We wanted to cross the bridge by Rainbow falls and take Lake Road all the way back to the gate, but the bridge was out, so we had to take Lost Lookout across and go down the same Beaver Brook trail to Lake Road." — AmyScrambles • Jul 4, 2020

"Began at Rooster Comb parking area for Great Range Traverse. Humid day with some sun, horrible black flies. We added in Pyramid and ran out of time and energy for Haystack. 7 peaks" — bbergman • Jul 3, 2020

"Tom, Black and I left the Garden lot at 6am on a cloudy, windy day @ 28 degrees. Made the summit of Upper Wolfjaw at 10:30. We broke trail between the rangers cabin and the junction in 6 inches of fresh snow. Trail from UW to Armstrong was a bitch with one major ice flow after another. Twice we had to push and drag Black up and over ice flows. Summited Armstrong at noon. Returned safely to the Garden at 4:45 with all 3 of us being tired and sore! 14 miles rt." — garyogden • Dec 22, 2019