Saddle Mountain 3-10-18
Posted: March 12th, 2018, 10:18 pm
My son and I hiked this Saturday. The sun was out and so were all the people. The sky was clear and it was a brisk morning, somewhere in the 30s.
Hiking upward, we could tell that there was going to be snow before we got too far. Shortly after visiting the Humbug Mountain viewpoint, we hit the first traces. It was intermittent the entire way up. With the combination of snow and many hikers - getting around problematic areas was a challenge to do safely. I would definitely recommend doing it with microspikes and trekking poles with baskets.
There were also several sections with downed trees crossing the trail. None insurmountable, but we were on a training hike with packs - so they added an extra layer of obstacle. The first summit was probably the furthest I would go without traction devices like poles or yak tracks. It was pretty exposed and had sustained heavy wind in the morning.
Relying only with trekking poles for traction and carrying a 60 lb pack, it was significantly slower going once we got to the saddle. Descending the stairs into the saddle was quite vertical and slippery. Going under downed trees in the snow on a narrow trail was challenging. Getting up to the summit was pretty vertical and the legs got a decent burn. As we ascended, the snow was melting into a small stream down the mountain. The stabilizing muscles in my legs got an extra workout!
I didn't think about the trip report until I got back. Next time I'll try to take pictures with an eye for conveying the conditions. And post them in reverse order. And reduce the resolution to something smaller the first go around. Apparently, 6000x4000 pixels will crash the posting mechanism.
Hiking upward, we could tell that there was going to be snow before we got too far. Shortly after visiting the Humbug Mountain viewpoint, we hit the first traces. It was intermittent the entire way up. With the combination of snow and many hikers - getting around problematic areas was a challenge to do safely. I would definitely recommend doing it with microspikes and trekking poles with baskets.
There were also several sections with downed trees crossing the trail. None insurmountable, but we were on a training hike with packs - so they added an extra layer of obstacle. The first summit was probably the furthest I would go without traction devices like poles or yak tracks. It was pretty exposed and had sustained heavy wind in the morning.
Relying only with trekking poles for traction and carrying a 60 lb pack, it was significantly slower going once we got to the saddle. Descending the stairs into the saddle was quite vertical and slippery. Going under downed trees in the snow on a narrow trail was challenging. Getting up to the summit was pretty vertical and the legs got a decent burn. As we ascended, the snow was melting into a small stream down the mountain. The stabilizing muscles in my legs got an extra workout!
I didn't think about the trip report until I got back. Next time I'll try to take pictures with an eye for conveying the conditions. And post them in reverse order. And reduce the resolution to something smaller the first go around. Apparently, 6000x4000 pixels will crash the posting mechanism.