Saddleback Mountain via Johns Brook Lodge

  Saddleback

4,515 feet  |  ranked 17/46 in height  |  32nd peak climbed 

I have long been curious about Johns Brook Lodge (JBL), the backcounty hut run by the Adirondack Mountain Club.  I thought I might walk by it last summer when I hiked the Gothics-Armstrong-Upper Wolfjaw loop from the Garden, but I turned left by the second register and passed by the rangers cabin instead.  After hearing a favorable report from friends who stayed there with kids, I told Frankie about it and asked if he wanted to go.  Of course he did!  Erwin was less enthusiastic; he was deterred by the prospect of shared sleeping quarters and no showers.  However, he said he didn't mind if Frankie and I went for a few nights - he would meet us in Keene for some shared adventures afterwards.  So I booked Frankie and I for two nights, with the rough plan of driving up and hiking into JBL on Wednesday, hiking a high peak on Thursday, then hiking back out to meet Erwin on Friday.

For our high peak hike, I selected Saddleback Mountain via the Orebed Trail, both out and back.  This has the advantage of separating Saddleback from the cliffs that lie on the mountain's western slopes, on the trail between Saddleback and Basin.  I have not hiked the cliffs, but given their exposure and reputation, I wasn't about to take Frankie that way.  However, I had read that Saddleback hiked by itself via the Orebed is a relatively easy day.  I hiked the Orebed last year, up to the split towards the Gothics cable route, anyway, a mere half mile from Saddleback's summit, and knew Frankie could handle that portion at least.  Plus, the Orebed slide itself is stunning -- that way if we had to turn back without reaching the summit, or the summit was in the clouds, we would still have something interesting to see. 

After making the reservations, I ordered Frankie a small backpack from Gossamer Gear that weighs just 1 pound, so that he could carry his own sleeping bag into JBL without exceeding 10% of his body weight.  [We also used this as a carry-on for the flight to Ireland and for plenty of day hikes to get him used to it.]  He also carried two small stuffed animals and two small water bottles.  I carried everything else in my giant old backpack.  The size of the thing seemed insane for two nights at JBL, where all food and shelter are provided.  I unpacked it and repacked it twice thinking I must have too much stuff, that I should leave something out, but I couldn't, as I'd been judicious all along.  The weight wasn't actually too bad, as most of the top part of the bag was filled with my day pack to wear while hiking Saddleback.  My daypack is big.  It is lightweight (just 2 pounds), but it's stiff and inflexible, so it added a lot of bulk.  No way around it. 

Here we are, setting off from the Garden parking lot early Wednesday afternoon.  I left us lots of time to hike into JBL before dinner, knowing we might be slow with the big bags.  This is the first time Frankie has ever carried a sleeping bag. 

photo by Frankie

random benchmark along the trail

We took a short break or two for to drink water (it was HOT) and for Frankie to snack.  I was a little worried he would refuse to eat the provided food, as he can be picky, and had brought cut up veggies for him to eat this afternoon: red pepper, cucumber, celery.  But I was anxious about the timing and kept the breaks short, 10 minutes or less. 

Then we arrived at the second register sooner that expected, where signs let us know we were only half a mile from JBL.  Right around the bend there was a spur trail down to the river.  It was only 4 o'clock and we were so close!  Sure... we can drop packs and play in the river.  Why not?  Look at that gorgeous blue sky!  Famous last words. 

In just a few minutes storm clouds filled the sky.  Frankie was reluctant to go, but I didn't relish the thought of everything getting soaked, and soon even he could see the sense in moving on. 

dark clouds roiling above Frankie's head

Well, we didn't make it without getting drenched.  We were hustling along, trying to beat the rain, when we passed a high bridge on the left.  Ever the explorer, Frankie begged to run up on it, so I relented, telling him to hurry.  When he got out to the middle, above the open water, he announced it was sprinkling out there.  The rain hadn't yet penetrated the forest canopy where I was, so I called him back, and we rushed forward again.  We started running, but the rain came harder and harder.  We finally paused briefly to add pack covers, so everything wouldn't get completely soaked, then kept running.  The sky dumped buckets on us; the trail turned into a river.  We arrived at JBL a pair of drowned rats. 

Luckily check-in was easy and we were soon settled in our bunkroom, changed into dry clothes, and playing cards in the common room.  We needn't have packed in our mini deck of cards; JBL is well stocked with games.  They even had a hardcover copy of A Bear Called Paddington, which Frankie excitedly secured (he had been terribly disappointed to hear I hadn't packed in his current library books).  When the rain stopped, we went down to check out Johns Brook briefly before dinner.

playing garbage

my view out the window during the card games

heading back up to JBL for dinner

The place was crawling with kids, mostly older than Frankie, but kids all the same.  That first night there may have been more kids than adults.  Our roommates consisted of a mother and her 11-year old daughter.  We ate with a family with a 7-year old and a 10-year old.  They had climbed Big Slide today and also been caught in the rain.  After dinner they invited us back down to the creek and the three kids played and swam in their underwear.  We dragged them back to the lodge as darkness set in, but the fun didn't stop there.  Their 7-year old was chatty and came into our room to visit more with Frankie, super cute, but not particularly helpful when I wanted to have the excited kid be winding down.  Finally our roommates announced they wanted to go to bed soon, so I was able to get Frankie and myself settled as well.

Here we are the next morning, getting a later start than I had hoped, but setting off for Saddleback.  The only pack covers I have are for the giant bag, but I put them on our day packs as it had rained again overnight and all the vegetation was dripping.  

We paused for a break at the pool and waterfall about a mile up the trail, not for a rest or a snack but to play.  Frankie simply cannot pass by a body of water without throwing things.  It sprinkled a bit here, but didn't rain hard.

Frankie starting speaking of hunger shortly after 11 am.  I had been hoping to eat lunch on the slide, so delayed him a bit.  I promised we'd stop in half an hour, whether we were there or not, and that placated him.  Luckily we arrived at the slide before time was up, so we enjoyed our lunches from this beautiful spot. 

JBL sends a sign up sheet out after dinner, giving guests their choice of sandwiches; Frankie and I both selected turkey.  I was very pleased with the sandwich, as it was on a nice wheatberry bread and also included lettuce.  Frankie much less so - he did not appreciate the bits in his bread.  I had to make him eat it, as he needed the energy for the rest of our climb, but boy he nursed that thing.  We were there long enough that Frankie got cold and had to add layers.  The bag lunches also included trail mix (peanuts, chocolate chips, banana chips) and two cookies each.  We saved those for later and set off again, climbing up the slide rather than returning to the trail.   

Entering the slide this early was probably a mistake, as it eventually split and then got too choked with debris, and too slippery.  Well, for me anyway.  Frankie would have been happy to continue all the way up the mountain on the slide, but I wasn't feeling it; I have to worry for the both of us.  The slide is gorgeous and we had a lot of fun out there.  However, we had to backtrack a bit to get back on the trail and lost some time.

leaving the slide to get back on the trail

The trail in the woods was much quicker and we motored on safely.  After a while the trail leads over a small bridge back out onto the slide.  Looking back down, we could see the slide below us was thick with trees washed down, and I felt good about the choice to return to the marked path.  Frankie was happy we got to traverse more of the slide, this time following yellow blazes across the rock. 

Soon the slide grows more steep, and the blazes lead back to the edge of the woods to climb the stairway to heaven.  I had told Frankie about these stairs and he was happy to have reached them. 

half a mile to go

I had prepared Frankie for the saddle shape of the mountain, so he knew that the first "top" we reached wouldn't be the true summit.  Still, we couldn't resist stopping briefly to check out the views from the false summit. 

Then we pushed on to the true summit, which was down a bit, then a little more climbing.  About 10 more minutes of hiking.  We made it!!  Saddleback Mountain is high peak number 32/46 for me and Frankie's third.  There were views when we first arrived, but it wasn't long before thick soupy clouds rolled in.  

We had some more food, gradually adding layers as we cooled off and the temperature dropped inside the cloud.  Eventually I had Frankie put his boots back on and we explored the summit a bit, not to get different views in different directions (they were all the same at that point) but just for the fun of it.  I was curious to see the top of the infamous cliffs, but with the cloud, they didn't look like much.  The top was nothing alarming, but I couldn't see far enough to tell much. 

 

I made another strategic error in spending so much time up here.  We had set a turn around time, at which we would turn back if we hadn't reached the summit yet.  Well, we got to the top before the turnaround time, but then I was so wrapped up in the joy of being there that I forgot to keep an eye on the time.  It was well after 4 pm by the time we started our descent, which didn't give us quite enough time to get back by 6:30 pm, when dinner would be served.  We couldn't really rush much at first, either, because scrambling down the steep wet sections is almost trickier than scrambling up. 

back at the false summit

Frankie counted the stairs on the way down: 368 steps

Once we got back out of the steeps, I really stepped up the pace.  Normally I keep Frankie in front, and let him determine our speed, but unfortunately he was just going too slow.  I figured that as long as we got back sometime during supper, we'd be fine -- it is served family style, so we could just grab whatever was left.  But I dreaded the thought of missing it altogether, as I didn't want to put staff in the position of feeling like they had to get things back out for us.  Frankie did great, and I slipped him a few Starburst as we hiked, but he really could have used a more substantial snack/break on the way down.   

As we crossed back over Johns Brook, we could see the lodge and smell the food.  It was 6:40 pm, so we were late, but not egregiously so.  Hurray!  I asked Frankie to guess what it might be from the smell, but he couldn't tell, so I told him to look in the windows as we walked across the porch.  Pasta!!  This was absolutely thrilling news, as it would have been my dear boy's first choice if asked to pick.  We ditched our boots and packs, and briefly washed up, then ecstatically joined the table already set with two extra plates, waiting just for us.  Spagetti with red sauce, chicken parmigan, tossed salad, roasted green beans, bread and butter, lemonade.  It was an amazing meal, and Frankie was happy as a clam!  He read some more Paddington after dinner, and with our chatty friends from last night and many of the other families already checked out, we had a quieter evening.

In the morning, Frankie finished the Paddington book while I packed up.  Our roommates were also checking out.  After we moms got the four bags packed, they invited us to play cards together, which was very exciting for Frankie.  They taught us to play Kent, a team game with secret signs that the daughter had learned at camp.  Finally we convinced the kids we had to stop playing, and our roommates went outside to put their boots on for the hike out.  Frankie looked around and realized we were the last guests left: everyone else had either checked out already or were out hiking for the day.  He decided all in a rush that he wanted to hike out with our new friends.  Our bags were all packed, so we thanked the staff and headed outside to lace up our boots.  We all hiked out together and enjoyed the conversation. 

last parting shot -- I love you, JBL! 

This was an amazing adventure to take with my boy, and we both had such a terrific time!  I am already planning to return to JBL again next year.  [I just need to manage our time a tiny bit better so the poor kid doesn't have to rush as much at the end of the big hiking day.]  The Adirondack Mountain Club does such a fantastic job with this property, and the sheer fun of it made me want to check out other backcountry/mountain huts in other places.  Somehow, it ramps up the excitement compared to staying in town, and the beds and hot meals make it so much more comfortable than backpacking (not to mention easier to plan and execute).  It was also great to see so many other families out in the mountains.