Basin (4827 ft) & Saddleback (4528 ft), Adirondack Mountains, NY (46er)

Two years ago, we had a great plan to hike the Basin and Saddleback peaks, in the Adirondacks. We were eager and full of energy to do it, the weather was perfect, but one thing happened. We met a bear, I mean literally the bear encountered us. He smelled our food, approached us, and when we stepped back he went through our backpacks. He spent quite a long time to look through our stuff and ate everything we had. Unfortunately, his big claws destroyed our water bottles and camel bags.

We didn't have enough water to continue the hike, or time to get a refill. We went back to Johns' Brook lodge and we could only admire the mountains from the distance. This year, we wanted to repeat the whole adventure.

The best way to hike the Basin and Saddleback is to sleep in the mountains. We decided to spend two nights at Johns Brook Lodge, a 2h hike from Garden Parking Lot. You need to book a stay there in advance, especially when you go there during the weekend. On Saturday, we drove from New York, and hiked to Johns Brook Lodge. Garden Parking Lot is the best place to park your car. You have to pay $10 per night per car, but it's right at the trail head so it's worth it. The only challenge is to get a spot. There are a lot of trails from this parking lot, so it gets quite full easily.

We were lucky – maybe because we got there around 1 pm. This is a good time because people who sleep in the mountains go back, so sometimes it's better to be late than early. If you don't get a space there you have to park at Marcy Field. It's in Kenee Valley. There is a shuttle on Saturdays and Sundays, so it's not bad to park there. The problem is when you finish your hike on a week day and have to hike an additional 1 h – 1.5h to get to the car. Since we planned to finish our hike on Monday, we were extremely happy to get a spot at the Garden Parking lot.

The hike from the parking lot to Johns Brook Lodge is relatively easy. A lot of people hike it with huge backpacks, but as I said, it's not a challenge because the trail is well maintained, and goes smoothly up.
We reached Johns Brook Lodge in less than 2 hours. If you want, you can also sleep at nearby campsites. This area is definitely a great base camp. You can do some hikes and leave your heavy backpack.

Dinner is at 6:30 pm at Johns Brook, so you still might have some time to hike before dinner. I recommend hiking Big Slide. It's steep, but a relatively short hike. Big Slide is a part of 46ers, so of course, you need to hike it at some point anyway. One person from our party decided to hike Big Slide, the rest of us hiked this peak earlier, so we stayed in the lodge, enjoying the nice weather and relaxing on the porch. ​

Johns Brook lodge provides breakfast, dinner, and a packed lunch if you stay there. You also have unlimited water, coffee, and tea. I prefer to carry my own water. Their water is safe to drink, but you can taste chemicals that they use to clean it, so it doesn't taste good. On Saturdays, after dinner, one of the crew members do a lecture. This time we learned about birding. We learned how the birds sing, what the difference between call vs. singing is, what birds in this area eat, how they breed, and many more things.

The quiet hours are from 10 - 7, so after dinner, and lecture, we didn't have much time, and we just went to sleep. The next day we woke up around 6:30 am. We didn't expect to approach any bears this time. The crew from the lodge told us that the bear was still alive, but after they shot him with rubber bullets he moved to Colden Lake. There are more campsites there, so he probably liked it better. This time the weather was a challenge.

Like somebody said – there is no bad weather, there are only people who are not well prepared. After breakfast, not to waste time, we put on our rain jackets, and we began our adventure. The recommended trail to do first is Basin and then Saddleback. People in the lodge didn't recommend us doing this an a rainy day, but we didn't really have an option. We already hiked all other peaks in this area. We decided to try and walk as far as we can.

Now, I understand why it's better to do Basin and than Saddleback, and why good weather is essential. The first part of the trail is easy. You walk steadily up to Slam Rock. That's the place where last time the bear approached us. Having bad experience in mind, we passed it quickly, and we walked further to the fork. At this point, one trail goes straight to Marcy, and the other goes left to Basin and Haystack.

From this moment, the trail gets steeper, but still nothing technical. After another mile is another fork. Again left to Basin, right to Haystack. From this moment the real climb begins. The trail goes steep up, you have to use your hands to climb the rocks, and think twice where to put your legs. The trail was muddy, and slippery, but still manageable. 

The higher we hiked, the less rain it was – that was the advantage. At some point we were in the clouds, so the rain didn't bother us. After an hour we reached Basin Peak. We found a marker (very small), took a picture to prove, and went further. There was no point to stay at the top. It was windy, and there were no views. Saddleback is a smaller peak, but there is a valley between those two peaks. So, you have to go down around 500 ft, and then climb 300 ft.

It's the Adirondacks, so there is no easy way down. There are no zig-zags, the trail is not maintained, there is a lot of roots and rocks, but that's why we love these mountains, don't we? The way down can take you the same amount of time as going up. You still need to be careful not to twist or break your legs. 

After less than an hour we were in the valley. From this point on it's only up. We took a quick lunch break and started the hike. We thought that the worst was behind us. Now we only had 0.5 mile and 300 feet. Shouldn't be that bad, and it wasn't – until the last part. Just before the peak, there is a huge slide. I think that was the most difficult part I ever hiked in the Adirondacks. Later at the lodge a lot of people admitted the same.

Luckily, the wind dried out the rocks. I can't imagine how to climb it when the rocks were wet and slippery. Good boots are also half of the success. The soil stuck to the rocks and we were able to climb up. It still took us some time to figure out the best trail. At this point, there's no turning back. I mean you can but you don't want to. You have two choices, deal with the rocks and climb them, or go back through Basin, but it's a longer hike with some though terrain as well.

We made it – uffff – safety we reached the top of Saddleback. Again, there were no views and it was quite windy. We decided then to proceed further, this time down, straight to the lodge. This part of the trail surprised us the most. I was literally in shock that they made stairs. There is a huge slide on a way down, and they made nice wooden stairs. Volunteers maintain trails in Adirondacks, but it's still in most cases rough terrain. This trail was like trails in National Parks where everything was nicely maintained.

So, if you are afraid of exposure, and don't want to climb the rocks between Saddleback and Basin, you can hike those peaks separately. The trail from the lodge to the Saddleback peak is pure pleasure, it's easy, steady up, and well maintained. Then, you can do Basin some other time, maybe even combine with Haystack.

We reached the lodge in perfect time for the dinner. We were proud of ourselves, happy that nothing changed our plans, and glad to be in dry clothes again. The next day, we only had to hike back to the car, and drive to New York. That's the best feeling – feeling when you can say “I did it!”. It wasn't easy, but we did it! And it's great to be without cell phone service for 2 days – it's easy to forget how nice it is.