Basin and Saddleback
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October 28, 2023
Fourteenth annual edition of Mike's fall ADK weekend for the Ottawa section of the Alpine Club. This year we had a
group of fourteen people mingling at Keene Farm, with four different hikes going out on Saturday.
Ivan and Lynne attempted Jay
mountain before rain had them scuttling to the pub. Katharina, David, and Sue tackled Giant. Paul, Eric, and Judy
did a scenic hike of Sawteeth from the AMR by avoiding Lake Road. And finally, I took out the remainder, Andy, Duncan,
Eleanor, Marc, and Phong on a the always adventurous, Basin and Saddleback loop.
We got rolling early and started hiking from the Garden at 06:30. Headlamps remained on most of the way to JBL where
we took our first break short on the porch. The weather followed the theme of most of my hikes this year... just weird.
It was a balmy
twenty degrees, very windy, and a light drizzle which turned on and off over the course of the day. All of us were
down to t-shirts during the hike in, while Eleanor and Duncan both braved the day in shorts. As we arrived at Slant
Rock, the drizzle turned into a more serious rain, so we took shelter in the lean-to for fifteen minutes while munching
on second breakfast.
Duncan keeping dry
Now the climbing began. We got a few dramatic views down Johns Brook Valley with the shoulder of Basin in the
foreground, but unfortunately no sight of Haystack in the fog from the usual vantage point. The group had fun on the
scrambles, and we arrived on the summit of Basin at around the five hour mark of our day. Though we had no views,
the violent wind and fog rushing over the bare rocky summit gave this peak a real alpine feel.
The Basin ladder
Happy hikers on top of Basin
Every time I descend the east side of Basin I feel this trail gets worse. One section was so incredibly eroded, I even
uncoiled the rope for a fifteen meter hand rappel. Climbing the west face of Saddleback was a hoot as always, the
sudden gusts of wind making things a little more challenging than normal. We struggled to get a few summit photos in
while trying not to get blown off the mountain, then descended to the col at the Gothics junction for lunch. Much to
our delight, the sun came out here and we began to dry off a bit as we ate.
Hand rappel down the eroded section
Scrambling the final pitches of Saddleback
Trying not to get blown off the summit
Contemplating the view down to Ausable Lake
With the now glorious weather, climbing Gothics looked tempting, but good food, beer, and friendship awaited us back at
the hut so we turned our tired feet downwards for the long slog out to the Garden. Maybe it was just weary delusion,
but at the base of the Cyrith Ungol stairs we might have seen
some folk from Khazad-dum, and along Johns Brook Valley we ran into a couple not-so-grim reapers along
the trail using their scythes as
hiking poles. Hit the parking lot after almost eleven hours on the go and then quickly drove back to the farm.
The other groups also all had an enjoyable day out, and the anticipated feasting, cheer, and beer lived up to all
expectations. The boisterous party lasted almost until 22:00, when tired and sore, but happy folks started
drifting upstairs to their bunks.
Decending the stairs on the way to Moria
Bouncy bridge
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