I was debating whether or not I wanted to get out and fight the wind today, but temps in the mid 60's, coupled with Homie's morning sighting of a family of bears on the Saddle Rock Trail had me eagerly speeding out the door.
Headed up Amphi/Saddle/Greenman at a 'looking for bears and watching out for widow maker trees' pace and just before the Amphitheater, heard what I thought to be a bear cub make a loud moan, so I paused and looked up the hillside to the right. I slowly backtracked a few paces and looked through the bushes up the hillside. Then I hear a cascade of rocks and boulders, "Cool" I thought, this is my chance to finally see a bear(s) on the trail and was straining my eyes, contemplating a careful pursuit, until I saw a guy rapelling and knocking a slew of rocks. Dammit.
I continued on at a casually moderate pace, constantly on guard. Tagged the summit and took a few minutes to take in the view and headed back down at a moderate pace. Awesome day out despite the wind, it was almost hot by the time I got back to the car.
Splits:
Top of Amphi: 7:??
1st Flat jct.: 13:05
Greenman jct.: 19:58
Summit: 35:08
Descent: 22:30
57:38 RT
