Saddleback
Mtn,
Keene Valley NY
05/7/07
I was originally going to do this hike with a friend, but it was too overwhelming for him and we turned back. Nevertheless I came back up the next day and completed what I started. This was definitely the most dangerous peak I've ever done, mainly because of the approach I did. Rather then go up the trail, I went up a landslide from the north... turns out the slide was more of a cliff. I found myself repeatedly jumping through spruce trees, holding my body weight up from a fall by only my fingertips, and staring down a 1400 foot cliff for over an hour. At a few points I became so stuck I thought I was gonna have to call the rangers for a helicopter rescue. I was so close to the top though, I simply dove through the tress, getting scratched, cut and lashed to make it the final 500 feet. Like I said, I'll never be doing this approach again.
