Peak Experiences: Danger, Death, and Daring in the Mountains of the Northeast

Fall from Saddleback Cliff

Marian Zimmerman Fall from Saddleback Cliff Bob Zayhowski and I decided to hike three peaks in the Great Range of the Adirondack High Peaks—4,960-foot Mount Haystack, 4,827-foot Basin Mountain, and 4,515-foot Saddleback Mountain. We were unable to get up to the Garden parking area due to ice, so we parked in town and climbed the extra 1.6 miles to the trailhead. At Johns Brook Lodge, 3.5 miles in, we met other hikers who described icy conditions on the peaks. We barebooted it past Bushnell Falls and Slant Rock until the pitch became so steep that we needed crampons and snowshoes. We summited Haystack with minor difficulty in icy spots, then dropped below tree line beyond Little Haystack to eat lunch. We continued on to Basin where conditions were good, as was our progress. As we climbed near the summit of Basin, the wind increased, requiring additional layers of clothing. Coming down Basin, some very steep spots required care but we negotiated them without undue difficulty. We arrived at the steep cliff of Saddleback at 3:20 p.m., just as two other hikers were descending. This is a particularly difficult spot, and we spent over an hour trying to find our way around the thin skin of ice and snow. We decided to try to work our way east along the edge of the rock. Eventually we came to a place 20 feet below the summit that was impassable; we doubled back and picked up the regular trail on the rocks. We were so close! Once up to the summit it would be an easy 8.3 miles back to Keene Valley. Bob and I had been having an ongoing dialogue about whether the peak was doable under these conditions. After a short way on the icy trail, Bob prevailed upon me to give up the quest. But, as I was turning around, I lost my footing. I will never know exactly what happened, but I somehow slipped, then fell about 60 feet. Much of what happened after that remains in a fog. What I did know, after Bob helped me up, was that I was not going to be walking out. Bob remembered our conversation with Maciej Domanski and Arkadiusz (Arek) Pasikowski, the hikers we’d met at the cliff’s base; they were camping that night in the Saddleback Basin col. He took me a quarter-mile to Maciej To the summit! Photo by Ben Potter 81 r escues i n t h e m o u n t a i n s and Arek, then left me in their care. (Returning in another season, I was amazed that I was able to cover that distance.) Bob retraced our steps to the accident site and gathered the scattered contents of my pack’s map compartment; he also encountered another hiker camping in the col, who accompanied him back over Basin to get help. The wind had picked up, obliterating our tracks, and they had difficulty following the trail. It was only because we had just been there that Bob could remember the trail off Basin and find the way. They arrived at Johns Brook Lodge between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. An Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) volunteer radioed for help at daybreak. It seems that the pilot thought we were at Slant Rock and it took some sorting out to locate us. Then, after the helicopter first came to the col between Saddleback and Basin (where we were) it left before anyone came to us on the ground. All we could do was to wait and wonder why it had left and when it would return. Maciej and Arek were very supportive and reassuring. What I do remember is the pain of them putting me into Maciej’s sleeping bag. We were fortunate that it was relatively warm, 10 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit. I could not have asked for two kinder, more thoughtful helpers. Maciej and Arek stayed up the entire night heating tea to keep me hydrated and warm. One funny tidbit: as they sat up through the night with me, they talked . . . in Polish. In my fog, I thought that French had really gotten away from me, because I couldn’t understand a thing they were saying! When the helicopter returned I was airlifted to an emergency room. The paramedic explained my options...