Gail
05-13-2007, 05:11 PM
Mimi and I left Montreal at 5 am for our hike. We were so happy to be hiking; the sky was blue when we arrived in the Adirondacks except for a few wispy clouds. What a great day we had ahead of us.
We brought crampons and snowshoes. Joe Cedar had communicated with Mimi and thought we would need them as he had done this hike at the end of April and there was still a considerable amount of snow.
The trail to JBL was pretty dry with a few muddy patches.
After JBL we stared to come to some snowy here and there. We couldn’t cross the brook since the water was so high but followed some tracks and found the metal suspension bridge up ahead a little and were very happy for that! The snow continued to get deeper and after Slant Rock we put on our snowshoes when we headed up the trail to the Great Range trail. We really needed the snowshoes, and thank Joe Cedar very much for his advice to bring them! We took the snowshoes off near the summit of Basin.
The views were spectacular! The visibility was fantastic. We were still happy to be out in the mountains. I say still because we didn’t know what was yet to come. Heading down Basin the trail was extremely icy and seemed to drop off to nowhere! I was a little scared but with Mimi’s coaching managed my way across the ice and down the trail. We were fine. The snow was deep in the mountains, between 4 and 6 feet in some places!
Between Basin and Saddleback we were careful, there were a few icy patches, but it wasn’t too bad. We saw a young man in running shoes and another hiker going towards Basin from Saddleback. We had met three other people that day and that is it.
The last time I did this hike it started to rain and I saw nothing; maybe it was better that way, not knowing what lay ahead! When we arrived at the slabs of rock up to the summit of Saddleback, I thought it wasn’t as bad as I remembered it, well, I was wrong.
Mimi boosted me up a little and then she pilled some rocks to help her up the first section. She looked so funny, like a little kid trying to reach cookies in the cookie jar, which was out of reach. It was pretty funny. Mimi asked that no one remove those rocks so that other little people will have a way up!
The next section was not so funny. I lost half of the skin on my knees on Saddleback, at one point I told Mimi to put her hand where the blood was on the rock! Now we can laugh but we weren’t then. We lost a lot of time just trying to figure out how to get up.
I threw my pack ahead and grabbed Mimi’s and tossed it as well. I guess with all our winter gear it made things a little trickier. It was easier to get up the rock without the weight of the packs on us. I am sure if someone could have seen up they would have laughed, thinking back on it, it must have looked pretty funny but we were really scared. The rock is steep and after slipping all day on ice and snow you sort of lose a bit of faith in your boots! We were so distressed that when we reached the top of Saddleback we only stopped for a minute and then headed down. We had to go back because we forgot to get a picture of this, Mimi’s 25th peak.
The trip back was fine, a lot of snow but we managed fine in boots. At JBL we crossed the first stream no problem and then took the new bridge across the brook and headed on our way to the garden parking lot. We didn’t even mind the walk out that day; nothing could have been as bad as the way up Saddleback. There must be a better way up and I wish we had taken the time to check it out.
Well, we made it out safely and I guess in the end that is what counts. We will never forget Saddleback.
Mimi will post the pictures.
We brought crampons and snowshoes. Joe Cedar had communicated with Mimi and thought we would need them as he had done this hike at the end of April and there was still a considerable amount of snow.
The trail to JBL was pretty dry with a few muddy patches.
After JBL we stared to come to some snowy here and there. We couldn’t cross the brook since the water was so high but followed some tracks and found the metal suspension bridge up ahead a little and were very happy for that! The snow continued to get deeper and after Slant Rock we put on our snowshoes when we headed up the trail to the Great Range trail. We really needed the snowshoes, and thank Joe Cedar very much for his advice to bring them! We took the snowshoes off near the summit of Basin.
The views were spectacular! The visibility was fantastic. We were still happy to be out in the mountains. I say still because we didn’t know what was yet to come. Heading down Basin the trail was extremely icy and seemed to drop off to nowhere! I was a little scared but with Mimi’s coaching managed my way across the ice and down the trail. We were fine. The snow was deep in the mountains, between 4 and 6 feet in some places!
Between Basin and Saddleback we were careful, there were a few icy patches, but it wasn’t too bad. We saw a young man in running shoes and another hiker going towards Basin from Saddleback. We had met three other people that day and that is it.
The last time I did this hike it started to rain and I saw nothing; maybe it was better that way, not knowing what lay ahead! When we arrived at the slabs of rock up to the summit of Saddleback, I thought it wasn’t as bad as I remembered it, well, I was wrong.
Mimi boosted me up a little and then she pilled some rocks to help her up the first section. She looked so funny, like a little kid trying to reach cookies in the cookie jar, which was out of reach. It was pretty funny. Mimi asked that no one remove those rocks so that other little people will have a way up!
The next section was not so funny. I lost half of the skin on my knees on Saddleback, at one point I told Mimi to put her hand where the blood was on the rock! Now we can laugh but we weren’t then. We lost a lot of time just trying to figure out how to get up.
I threw my pack ahead and grabbed Mimi’s and tossed it as well. I guess with all our winter gear it made things a little trickier. It was easier to get up the rock without the weight of the packs on us. I am sure if someone could have seen up they would have laughed, thinking back on it, it must have looked pretty funny but we were really scared. The rock is steep and after slipping all day on ice and snow you sort of lose a bit of faith in your boots! We were so distressed that when we reached the top of Saddleback we only stopped for a minute and then headed down. We had to go back because we forgot to get a picture of this, Mimi’s 25th peak.
The trip back was fine, a lot of snow but we managed fine in boots. At JBL we crossed the first stream no problem and then took the new bridge across the brook and headed on our way to the garden parking lot. We didn’t even mind the walk out that day; nothing could have been as bad as the way up Saddleback. There must be a better way up and I wish we had taken the time to check it out.
Well, we made it out safely and I guess in the end that is what counts. We will never forget Saddleback.
Mimi will post the pictures.