July 24, 2009 - Saddleback & Basin Mountain

For the last day of our big hiking trip, we had originally planned to have an easy day; maybe walking up to Bushnell Falls and relaxing before we head back to civilization. However, Jack felt great and said that he would love to add another peak to his list and suggested that we head out to Saddleback Mountain. The trip up was reasonably easy, and we had a fun trip back up the Ore Bed Trail to the top. Finally, we had a great day with a beautiful view.

From that first peak, Jack felt like it would be a waste not to head over to Basin Mountain and conquer that as well. Since we had no time constraints, we headed in that direction. The trail was a little tougher than we thought, but we made it, even though it took us well over two (2) hours. It was worth it, as we had the best views of our entire trip.

After our accomplishment, we were still faced with a serious walk back to the JBL before our long trip back to the car (and dark). We made decent time, but it was a very long day. As soon as we got to the lodge and strapped on our gear, the skies opened up and we were treated to "biblical" rain during our trip to the car. We had an OUTSTANDING few days, and can't wait to go back.

After our hikes, we went to watch Aunt Kate compete in the Lake Placid Ironman. She did OK, but it has to be a lot easier when you're not hoofing it over boulders, cliffs, and roots. The third day's hiking was well over twelve (12) miles total, and took almost 12 hours. Thirteen (13) High Peaks down, 33 to go. That's over 30 miles and seven (7) High Peaks in three (3) days. Not bad.