5/9/07
Been a busy
past 3 days. For starters, I got Matt out of the house and hiking with
me (took 3 years). We didn't get far on our planned
route because of
terrain difficulties, so we turned back and went up a small hill for
the view. Irregardless, I wasn't done with my plans, so I went back
up the next day. The
route I was taking was from the Garden parking
lot, to John's Brook Lodge, to Chicken Coop Brook lean-to, up the brook
to the north slide of Saddleback, and climb the slide to the summit.
The hike started out OK, There was only 1 other car in the parking lot (Monday at 9:30am) and nobody else had signed in to go anywhere near the trails I was on. So I signed in and started hiking. I took the left after the first half mile and went down to the 'South Side trail' along side John's Brook. The only difference between the North and South side trails was the South side had no lean-to's or campsites, and you had to find your own way across the river at that point .However the trail didn't change in elevation nearly as much as the North trail. For most of the trail, I thought I was hiking down an ATV trail. Of course after a mile or so, there were a few turns next to the river that were obviously "feet only", but for the most part the trail kicked ass.
When I arrived at the JBL (John's Brook Lodge) I found it locked down for the season. All the snow was gone, but the windows were still covered in plywood, utility closets were padlocked, etc. I didn't care... the picnic table was in the sun, and was clear of snow and debris; perfect for eating lunch. Getting underway, the trail went from a damp-hard dirt, to snowpack. Nothing deep enough for me to fall through, but enough to cool the air [which kicked ass, cause it was 80 out that day]. I arrived at the Chicken Coop Brook and neighboring leanto about an hour later; the trail becoming progressively steeper as the journey continued. I ate a light snack to get some new proteins and carb's in me before going off trail.
Following a brook in the summer months can make bushwhacking an easy task, in the winter it can be more challenging as you can HEAR the water (providing its moving) and maybe follow the terrain; in the spring, you get the worst of all worlds. Snowmelt makes the streams into little rivers with deep pools and fast rapids, almost impossible to simply "walk up". Worse, since the snow hasn't melted fully, hiking on top of the snowpack means post-holing (when your leg drops through the snow into the thawed areas below). My feet were wet from snow in my boots LONG before they touched the stream water.
Long story short, it took me almost 2hrs to go about 1.6 miles. By the time I got out of the woods and to the base of the slide, I could see the sun was just starting its descent. I figured I had 3-4 hours of light left to hike by before the sun went behind Basin Mountain and I'd need a flashlight to hike by. Not slaking off, I immediately began ascending the slide. It was like most the other slides I climbed. Solid slab of rock at a +30 degree angle with some vegetation/rocks/landings in various parts. I was confident I could get to the summit (which was very visible up there) in an hour.
So I started to climb, taking brief moments to relax on the landings I managed to get to. After getting 2/3rds of the way up however, the slide went from challenging to outright-fucking-dangerous! Coming from my mouth about hiking in the Adirondacks... that's something. I managed to climb up an island of dirt and trees in the middle of the slide, but upon coming out the other end, I noticed the slide's angle had risen dramatically. It went from a mere 30-45 degrees, to a STEEP 75 degrees! So after some internal deliberation, I decided to backtrack a bit and see if I could get around this steep part. Some quick investigating showed there was no shallower area to climb... I was screwed. So rather then climb UP the slide, I went up the slide, grabbing onto trees and pulling myself up with my legs, and using their branches/roots as leverage. This worked wonders until the slide got even steeper, and I wasn't able to pull myself up any farther (I can't fight gravity with a handful of maple branches). In a few spots I was able to grab onto the rock and pull myself up, but I found later this only dug my hole deeper.
At a point, I realized I was stuck... big time. About 1800' back down to the forest... vertically, with a slab of rock varying between 80 and 30 degrees. I was standing on a 1x1 foot ledge between the slide, and a spruce tree. To my back was a rock with a 12 foot, flat, vertical wall; to my front was an excellent view of the neighboring peaks. This was probably the closest I've ever come to death due to my own actions. There was no way down, as any slip on the way down meant I'd be thrown feet-over-head for at LEAST 90 seconds as I tumble to the bottom, breaking every bone in my body (literally). My corpse wouldn't be found til summer. I don't know anyone who can jump 12 feet to grab a rock like the one behind me, and the backpack I had on wasn't making me any more agile. I was honestly considering calling in a Ranger for a helicopter evac; the ultimate humiliation. Getting in over my head and having to call the big guy with the big engine to drop me a line. Suddenly, going back down was looking like a more honorable, though less-sane approach.
Putting all personal safety aside, I did the only other thing I could think of. I dove into a tightly packed clump of spruce trees growing on the side of me. Spruce grows so thick, I might as well have been trying to jump through a pile of gravel. In one leap I was cut up on every part on both arms, and a few more times on my ankles. The pain and irritation made the next part easy... doing it again and again. I busted through the trees on the slope to get towards the top. Cutting, stabbing, poking, prodding, slashing and pricking... by the time I reached the summit, I couldn't feel my arms, legs, or face (thank god I wore sunglasses). Once above the treeline, the slope wasn't as bad, and I was able to climb the rest of it normally, and get to the summit in a few minutes. I had little red lines all over me, but I got 2 big hits on me. One on my upper left arm from a brach that was broken off and pointing at me; perfect stabbing position. Similar situation with my mid-thigh.
I took maybe... 3-4 pictures at the summit, far less then normal, despite the view. Supposedly you have to move around on the summit to get different views, but I was far, far too tired to go through any more trees unless it meant getting closer to my car. Thus began the journey home, which was surprisingly longer then the trip to the summit. Everything was great coming back until the South Side trail. The trail down Saddleback is so steep downhill I doubt I'll ever be able to climb it (it's steep and long) irregardless of what month/weather/condition it is. The Ore Bed trail is just as good. Not as steep, but still good. Upon returning to the Lodge to unpack some dinner, I find there are boxes all over, the windows are open and curtains are draped. Nice... civilization brought to me for once. Nothing exciting, just ate and got underway. I thought once on the trail there was something watching me behind a knoll. Couldn't have been smaller then a cat, but definitely not as big as a bear (maybe a bear cub though, but with no parent around, it was unlikely). I didn't feel like investigating further, and began moving with haste down the path and merged into the South Side trail. I figured I'd be back to the car in 1.5 hours, easy.
I lost the light on the trail unfortunately. About 7/10ths of the way back too, but I didn't care, I had my flashlight... and even if I had to cross the brook without the sun and get get up to my ankles in water, the car was REAL close... I had a spare pair of shoes, socks, pants, shirt and boxers waiting for me. So I made it to the crossing, only to discover that ALL that snow had caused the brook to turn into a river. It must have risen a few INCHES, and when the brook is 150 feet across, a few inches means tens of thousands of extra gallons per second moving across. Now I was no longer trying not to get wet... I was trying not to get swept away by the incredible current! One false slip and they'd be fishing my body out of the Hudson with a net, 2 days from now. So I kept hiking along the south side of the river, hoping there'd be a better place to cross. Once I found an OK spot, but the current was so strong, when I put my boot down to step on the rock, the water moved it right off and forced me to pull back. Nature wasn't going to give me an inch this time.
So I bushwhacked, must have been 2 miles at least, on the south side of the river in the dark, guided only by a flashlight. I was tired, cold, scared, and starting to get hungry again (I had food, but I didn't want to stop moving, lest I lose heat). I pulled out the map and saw the river went under a bridge up ahead, so if I just kept going forward, I could get onto a road and hitchhike, or simply haul ass back to the car without my backpack (coming back to pick it up of course). After 20 minutes of hiking however, I figured I wasn't getting to the bridge anytime before dawn, so I pulled out my map to see just how far the bridge was from the original river crossing. I noticed a gray area on the map just south of my position.... private property... with houses! That meant roads! I could simply cut through to there and travel back to the main roads that way. I hated to trespass, but there was really no other choice, nature changed the game on me at the last minute. Plus it was 11:45pm, most people were asleep, or at least indoors... I'd pass by unnoticed.
Another 30 minutes of hiking, and I was tired, I had to sit down. I pointed the flashlight at my boots to re-tie the laces, and noticed when I looked up, the faint blue glow of the sky behind me over a hill. A field? Here? Not natural if it was. I packed up quick and made for the top. The hill up was covered in downed trees and gravel, typical for a road that was plowed once or twice over the winter. When I got to the top I was greeted by 3 things: A HUGE field (must have been 500 square yd's), a Cabin, and 4 deer eating dinner in the field. To hell with the deer, I just wanted out. I looked around with my flashlight and saw a dirt road going in the opposite direction I was going in before. I didn't want to go back upstream, but I figured his driveway must have connected to the road farther up. No problem, I got moving, slightly re-energized. After a quarter-mile, I figured I must have been on a hunting road, or ATV road or SOMETHING other then a road for cars and trucks. It was too narrow, too rocky and going in the wrong way. I turned around (adding 0.5 miles already) and went back towards the cabin. The cabin wasn't in use yet, it had all its winter protection on it, I didn't mess with it, I was already trespassing (though if someone called the cops, they'd be helping me greatly).
I went back across the field and into the woods, back towards the river. After hiking another 0.25 miles I saw the same light over a hill, and went back up it. This time.... there was a road. I made good time stumbling back too. There was everything I hoped there'd be to signify people had been here recently. Cars and trucks parked on the side of houses, lights on in the houses, power cables over head, beer bottles placed on tree-stumps... beautiful!
Must have been another mile or so until I came out of the private land and onto the public road. I dropped my backpack behind a boulder and made for the car (another 1.6 miles over paved road). Took only 30 minutes to get to the car then. I changed, went back down to the boulder to get my backpack, and came home... just to go to work at Lowe's the next day at 2pm. 1st day of real work, and when the HR manager saw my arms (all cut up and scratched) she told me to stay in the training room until 10 [when customers leave] then come out and help straighten the place up. I can't believe I was able to simply stand up this morning to go to work.