Saddle Mountain, Nov 30th

I would have to call this hike the bitter sweet hike to Saddle Mountain. This is a hike I’ve done probably 5 or 6 times as it’s close to home, easy to get to and a good option when you want to get out but don’t have a long day. Sunday was such a day. One of the things I’ve been waiting to get from this hike though was the promised views from the top. I really can’t recall, in all the previous times, going up there on a clear day and being able to see the coast and the ocean. This day though, it was looking pretty promising. It was a spectacular fall day with clear crisp blue skies. It was also cold and very windy. The night before we had a small snow dusting at low elevation so we found the trail partially covered in snow, also a new for this route. Val and I started with a quick pace, not to get up there quickly but just to warm up. The first part thru the forest went quick with sun rays coming at a low angle illuminating everything around us. Then we got to the open section of the trail and were welcomed with incredible views of the valley below us and even more wind. At a certain point, the trail makes a switchback in front of a rock outcrop that’s usually a good spot for pictures and that’s when I saw it first. Out in the distance I was able to see a faint yellow line and some more blue in a different hue than the sky. It was clearly the ocean. That right there almost made the hike. It was going to happen. We pushed up as the trail got more frozen solid and the wind picked up. We passed a hiker coming back down that mentioned he was not able to get to the top. We thought it was because he didn’t have proper gear. We had our microspikes with us so we were set. WE got to a second view point that extends to the south were the view of the ocean was even better. At that moment, when I was taking a picture, a strong gust almost knocked me over. We got back on the trail on the cover of some trees and continued. The next portion of the trail was very exposed and slippery so we put on our spikes and continued fighting the wind and being careful not to slip. Once we got to the point where the trail makes a sharp turn to descend to the stairs to nowhere things changed a bit. From that point we could see the saddle before the final push to the summit. Wind was howling and blowing snow across the saddle. It looked pretty intense. We thought about for a minute or two and tested it a bit and were almost blown away. Seeing that the rest of the hike, after the saddle was an open slope all the way to the summit with no wind protection made us think twice about it and decide to turn around. We made a second stop at the view point where I took another picture towards the coast, just to prove I saw it. I guess Saddle Mountain just doesn’t like to show those views.