We started off the day at the AMR lot and I had jokingly said to someone going to sawteeth that we're doing the disappointing peaks today.  It's not totally true or false, but Blake is not 4000 feet (3960) and Colvin is not much higher at 4057 feet.  So we're planning to do a long hike (planned route was about 14 miles) with a lot of elevation gain (over 4000 feet) for one peak that's just barely 4000 feet that does have some nice views, and a peak that is under 4000 and has zero views.

So, we hit the trail and in no time we find ourselves at the trail register for AMR, sign in and start down lake road.  We get to the gill brook trail about an hour after starting and found that nobody had been up the trail at the trailhead.  What?  I know I saw reports that it was hiked and broken out only a couple days earlier.  Turns out that the group went up a dozen or so feet down the road and we were on fresh snow for only a minute.  As always, Gill Brook never disappoints.  Absolutely beautiful to walk along.  The brook was flowing well, but was icing up beautifully.  The falls and the green/brown ice that was forming in them was just absolutely gorgeous.  What surprised us is that nobody had gone down the scenic options... those 2 turnoffs are always worth going on.  There's a reason they're called scenic.

Before we knew it we were at the turnoff for Indian Head, and that's where the trail starts to get going.  It was the first steeps we saw, and we were very happy to see it was a well packed trail.  We get to the turnoff for Elk Pass and head right, to Colvin.  We were greeted with a very well packed trench from there to the peak of Blake the rest of the hike.  We also quickly found that the reports of a lot of blow downs were not exaggerated.  There were easily 2 dozen trees that crossed the trail and you either had to go over them or under them.  Under is always so much fun when there's an ice axe on your pack as that often gets stuck in the branches.  I honestly haven't been on my knees that much (insert joke about oral sex and/or Catholic mass).  

We were expecting a cloudy and cold day, so when we finally got to the top of Colvin, we were surprised to find clearish sky and views of all the peaks of the Great Range.  It was cold though.  We then went on to Blake.  Once we started heading down, it gets steep, quick.  There were 2 ladders that were fun to get down.  The first one we came to, I got down and when at the bottom, got out my ice axe and chopped out some of the ice in the middle so that it would be easier to traverse,  This was the first time I actually have used the axe, and I was glad I had it.  The second ladder had blowdown at the very top.  We were able to get over it and down the ladder, but there were 2 guys behind us that had a saw and they cut the branches off.  They also took care of another few branches earlier in the trail that we were very thankful that they did.  I now need to add a pack saw to my list of things to bring.

On the way up and at the top of Blake, we were greeted with someone having pissed a heart in the snow.  I had to laugh at it because it reminded me of Brushwood and their heart logo.  As expected, there was no view at the top of Blake, it's treed in.  And nobody had gone the 0.2 further down the trail to the lookout since the last snow.  So, we too turned around as it was getting a little late in the day, and headed back.  Let me say this, Blake has some good butt slides.  We got down in no time, and then worked our way up Colvin again.  When we got to the top, no views, it was all blowing snow and clouds.  Oh well.  Then the most difficult part of the day, trying to get down that one ladder just below the peak.  With some effort, I was able to get to and down the ladder without falling.  I then got into a stable position and helped my partner down.  It wasn't easy to do in shoes.  In retrospect, probably should have changed out to spikes or crampons for that 10 feet of trail.  We were rewarded though with some good long butt slides on the way back to the trail junction with Elk Pass.

It was getting late though, so we booked it back as safely as we could.  We reached the cutoff trail and decided that even though it would add mileage, it was all road mileage which is easy, so we took the cutoff.  About 1/2 way down it we were starting to have trouble seeing the trail.  We stopped, put on our headlamps and changed into microspikes.  In no time we were on the road and it wasn't horribly long before we were at the gate, signed out, and back to the cars.  In total, 14.9 miles over 11 hours, and 4300 feet of elevation gain and loss.  Not bad for a first hike of the year.