Mount Haystack

"Take my love, take my land 
Take me where I cannot stand 
I don't care, I'm still free 
You can't take the sky from me 
Take me out to the black 
Tell them I ain't comin' back 
Burn the land and boil the sea 
You can't take the sky from me 
There's no place I can be 
Since I found Serenity 
But you can't take the sky from me..."

 I had always heard that Mount Haystack had the best view in the Adirondacks with front-row seats for viewing Marcy.  If you remember from my Skylight posting, I had planned to hike Marcy and Haystack together when I was camping at Lake Colden a couple years ago.  However, I had gotten a late start and didn't have enough daylight then to do it, so I had opted for Skylight instead.  Last year I made the solitary commitment to conquer Haystack, dedicating my entire backpacking trip to it.

Why is Haystack so difficult?  It is almost 19 miles round trip from the nearest approach, for one.  Such a distance, even if flat, would be grueling as a dayhike; as such, it is recommended as an overnight trip, which many hikers don't enjoy as much or have the time for.  Secondly, the mountain is very steep on all sides - there is no easy way to address it.  And lastly, no matter which approach you decide to take, you will have to navigate over several streams, up boulder-y valleys, and grind your way through a lot of elevation gain and loss, as all approaches are like winding roller coasters.

I chose the nearest and what is regarded as the easiest approach, starting from The Garden.  Once agin, I was hiking alone because I could not find anyone who wanted to put themselves through this misery (or what I know as "fun") and who could also get the time off.  I worked a 7 am - 3 pm shift at the hotel then drove straight up to the trailhead, making a quick stop at my favorite hiking store around, The Mountaineer in Keene, in order to rent trekking poles, and hit the trail around 5:30-6 pm.  My goal for the first day was Slant Rock, about 5 miles in.

The hike up Johns Brook valley is one of the most beautiful in the Adirondacks.  By leaving so late in the day, I was granted more solitude than normal.  The Garden is the second most used trailhead in the park, but since I left in the late afternoon, the only hikers I met were on their way back to their vehicles.  Ahhh, the smell of the trees blended with the rushing brook, the vibrant greens, the soft whooshing of the breeze, and complete lack of any human sounds...nothing is better.  It gets darker earlier in the mountains since they block the setting sun, so I quickened my pace to try to reach my target destination.

Just past Bushnell Falls, however, you have to cross a small stream where Marcy Brook (yes, there are more than one of the same name in the High Peaks) meets Chicken Coop Brook.  Due to a couple days of steady rain prior to my trip, the stream was swollen and raging.  I removed my pack and tossed it across along with my bear canister and attempted to cross, using my trekking poles for balance.  I managed to get across safely, but now my hiking shoes were soaked, my feet were wet, and it was getting later in the day, giving a nip to the air.  Deciding it was best not to continue, I set up camp at the leanto just beyond the stream.  The nearest human beings were probably over a mile away.

The next morning I was awakened by a band of school children from a local camp, since the leanto is situated directly on the trail.  I quickly ate and headed the remaining 1.5 miles to Slant Rock, where I set up my pup tent, threw some supplies in my daypack, and continued onward.

This is where it gets tough.

Soon after Slant Rock there's a marked change in the steepness of the trail.  While this is a welcome sign, as it means you're that much closer to your goal, it's also fairly difficult after already carrying a full pack for a few miles that day.  I came to an intersection giving the choice to stay straight ahead towards Mount Marcy or take a left over the Shorey Shortcut.  I had one of my worst High Peaks memories on this one-mile long trail and was dreading it; it turned out to not be that bad, though.  Apparently, the only reason it had seemed so bad before was due to my dehydrated, anxiety ridden brain and broken, weary body.

At the end of the Shortcut trail, you'll meet the trail to head left up Basin or right up Haystack.  Taking the right here, almost immediately there's a campsite on your left.  I can't imagine a much more secluded bivuoac in the High Peaks.  You could pretty much do whatever you want here, I'm guessing, since what Ranger is stopping by in the col between Haystack, Marcy, and the Great Range, practically at the head of Panther Gorge ;-)  Good luck carrying a 35-40 pound pack there, though haha.

Then, it jumps on you.  Like many High Peaks, it seems the mountain appears out of nowhere, and you're at the base of your last stretch of hiking.  Don't be fooled, though - Haystack still has a trick up its sleeve.  You must first trek up and over Little Haystack, then descend about 200 feet into a col, before ascending another 600 up Haystack proper.  Many people would be cursing at this point.  I, however, was loving it.

I couldn't spend much time on the summit.  The wind was whipping and it was brutally cold, the forecast called for showers, and I still had notions of summitting Marcy as well that day.  If the mountains could talk, they would have scoffed at me: "Hahahaha, you sad, strange little man.  How many years have you been hiking me, and yet you are this naive?  It seems I still have much to teach you..."

I hiked back down and over Little Haystack and examined my map once more to make sure I knew where I was going.  You can make a loop trip, using the Shorey Shortcut as one half of the circle, and the other half circle cuts over to the base of Marcy from where I was.  It's a fun, very remote trail with a lot of steep, smooth rock.  When I got to the base of Marcy, it was only 0.7 miles to the summit with 1,000 feet of elevation gain.  This would have been very steep, and while in most case I would have accepted the challenge, my body and the weather had other ideas.  My knees were absolutely screaming at me and it had started to lightly drizzle.  If I had attempted this summit, I would have been in such severe pain while coming down, most likely in a drenching downpour.  In cases like that, you have to reason yourself down - it would have been very slippery and life-threatening, especially this far from help.  As a beginning hiker I probably would have gone after Marcy and gotten myself into trouble.  Now I know better.

I hobbled the couple miles back to my tent.  By the time I arrived, it was pouring, so I slipped into my tent (barely able to bend my knees at this point), laid flat on my back, and passed out for a couple hours.  When I woke up, the rain had subsided for a short time.  I figured I should take advantage of this, so I cooked myself some Mountain House dinner and scarfed it down just in time for the skies to open up again.

The next day I had work from 3-11 pm, so I had to "book it" back home.  Slant Rock is approximately seven miles from The Garden, but I found the way back to be pretty easy.  Another successful trip, in my eyes :)  "There's no place I can be since I found serenity.  You can't take the sky from me..."