Ascent of Saddleback Mountain on 2012-05-19| Others in Party: | Kaerstin
Gudi
Emay | | Date: | Saturday, May 19, 2012 | | Ascent Type: | Successful Summit Attained | | Peak: | Saddleback Mountain | | Location: | USA-New York | | Elevation: | 4528 ft / 1380 m |
Ascent Trip ReportA very challenging hike with gorgeous views!
Looks like another great weekend for a hike! Lil-Yeti, Red Goat, Emay, Rajasab, Shivaraj and I started from the Garden parking at 8:30am, sun shining and 55 degrees. The walk along the Phelps trail to JBL was easy and we reached the lodge at 9:55 am, where we regrouped to discuss if anyone wanted to go over Big Slide. At 10:10 the entire group continued in the direction of Saddleback via the Orebed Trail. The new slide on Saddleback created by Irene is STEEP! But fun! Gudrun decided it was too steep for her and waved us goodbye as we continued up the slide. Although there are some nice new stairs built on the side of the slide, Lil-Yeti, Emay and I went straight up the slide and as the trail ducked into the woods, Emay was having so much fun he decided to continue straight up the slide. We regrouped higher up the mountain when he bushwhacked his way back onto the trail. We reached the State Range trail at 12:40 pm. Although we have already done Gothics, we decided we need to come back and try this ‘cable’ route.
We reached the summit of Saddleback at 1:15 pm and enjoyed just fantastic views in all directions. We had some lunch and hung out for awhile before we lightened our load, Lil-Yeti left her backpack and Emay left a few of his water bottles in her pack, before we headed for Basin at 1:40pm.
Holy smokes! The exit off of Saddleback is steep, open and a bit scary! I would say this is the most technical section we have done here in the High Peaks. But we all got down safely and now we just are wondering how we are gonna get back up! But usually up is easier than down. The rest of the trip to the summit of Basin went well and we reached the summit at 2:30, where the views were amazing and we spent the next 40 minutes just enjoying the gorgeous weather! At 3:10 we decided we can’t stay here all day and headed off the summit. We reached the steep part of the trail going up Saddleback at 3:40 and the 200 meters took us 20 minutes to get up!
The section from Saddleback to the slide seemed to take much longer than I remembered coming up. Emay and I decided to go down the very steep section of the slide the same way we came up, on all fours going backwards! Lil-Yeti decided the nice new stairs would be more prudent! We reached Johns Brook Lodge at 6:25pm and were back at the Garden parking at 7:45pm. This was a great hike, fantastic views on a perfect day!
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| Summary Total Data | | Elevation Gain: | 4700 ft / 1432 m | | Quality: | 9 (on a subjective 1-10 scale) | | Route Conditions: | Maintained Trail, Scramble, Exposed Scramble | | Weather: | Pleasant, Calm, Clear
Beautiful blue sky! | | Ascent Statistics | | Elevation Gain: | 4700 ft / 1432 m | | Distance: | 15 mi / 24.1 km | | Route: | Phelps, Orebed, State Range Trails | | Trailhead: | Garden Parking -172 ft / -52 m | | Time Up: | 11 Hours 15 Minutes | | Descent Statistics | Ascent Part of Trip: Saddleback-Basin
Complete Trip Sequence:
| GPS Data for Ascent/Trip
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Peaks:  climbed and  unclimbed by Dan Quinlan
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