TMax
New member
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2005
- Messages
- 589
- Reaction score
- 85
On Sunday, Hikethe115 and I were headed south on the northway headed home. When we emerged from having done Allen to more gray and overcast skies, I decided to head home instead of doing the planned Basin/Haystack hike. I just didn't have the psychic energy to hike in the rain. When we got to a place where we had cell service, we had messages from Mcorsar saying he and Harryk had decided to join us. I turned the radio on and immediately got a weather report that called for a sunny day! Needless to say, I turned the car around and we headed back up
! We found a place to set up the tent to dry it out and to try to dry out boots and gaiters while we went into Lake Placid for dinner. Got a good night's sleep and were at the Garden by 6:00 a.m. and on the trail by 6:30. We expected Mcorsar and Harryk to catch up with us at any moment. The trail is in great shape with the mud holes starting to dry up. We made good time up to JBL and during a short break Mcorsar came along. No Harryk. (have there been any Harryk sightings out there???) The day was absolutely beautiful with rising temperatures and bright sunshine. Up at Bushnell Falls, PinPin came hopping by and we asked about any Harryk sighting...no luck. At the junction for Shorey Short Cut, Mcorsar and I parted ways with Hikethe115 who was planning on doing just Haystack where she could sit and enjoy the views while waiting for us to schlep over from Basin. This was my first time on the short cut and I found it not nearly so bad as others have commented. It is steep in sections and you do have to climb up to about 4300' then give up LOTS of that gain to get down to the range trail before you have to repeat the elevation to get up Basin, but aside from that it was good! There was lots of water on the trails but on a day like this it was welcome...I was continually able to get cold water to pour over my head to cool off. The .7 mile from the junction of Shorey Short Cut up to Basin is fantastic! Lots of cool, steep scrambles and a vertical ladder (not made for short people!) takes far more time than the distance would suggest. The views from the top are incredible! There was one couple on the top and then another kid joined us so we sat in relative peace for nearly an hour soaking it in. We could look over to Haystack and see the ant-colony of people making the trek along the ridge to the summit. Knowing that Hikethe115 was waiting for us we finally dragged ourselves off the summit. Dropping DOWN into the col between the two peaks we filtered more water before starting up Haystack. The grade was more moderate than on Basin and didn't have the fun scrambles. When we met up with people coming down we asked for Hikethe115 sightings (Mcorsar and I seem to be losing hiking buddies at an alarming pace!!). People had seen her on the summit of Little Haystack. At the junction just below Little Haystack we ran into a group that had spent time with Hikethe115 at the top but told us she had moved on. We figured the bugs and/or the sun had gotten the best of her. Up we climbed with increasingly awe-inspiring views. Mcorsar said to me at one point "when was the last time you saw me speechless" it was that incredible up there! Up over Little Haystack over to the summit of Haystack where we had it all to ourselves, the crowds having cleared out. Mcorsar spotted a Luna moth clinging on to the side of a rock on the summit... what'r you doin up here??? Eventually two women joined us and recognized my Jerry bear as an identifying feature that Hikethe115 had told them about. They told us she was on her way down but was starting to worry about us. Oops, maybe we shouldn't have dawdled so much on the summits. So we finished lunch and begrudgingly headed down. The bugs seemed to be getting worse, especially in the swampy sections so this kept our now-tiring pace up. We hurried back down to Slant Rock, hoping Hikethe115 would be there, she wasn't. We made another stop to filter more water (went through lots of that this day!!) and kept on trekking. We maintained a good steady pace as the terrain became increasingly easy. At Bushnell Falls I refused to go down that little bit of elevation just to re-gain it but Mcorsar headed over for a peak. I boogied down to JBL, still hoping to catch Hikethe115...I didn't. Sat on the porch and waited for Mcorsar. Copped a peanut toffee BUZZ power bar off him, got more water and down we went. When we got near the trail for Big Slide I briefly contemplated heading up, but with two failed attempts on it, I figured I was courting disaster thinking of hiking it with a headlamp! As darkness grew up from the floor of the forest, the mud became more difficult to see. This was kind of nice so we didn't bother with headlamps. At the trail register I hollered for HIkethe115, no answer...where'd she go?? Opened the trail register, turned on the headlamp to see it, and saw that two friends of ours had signed in. I figured she had hooked up with them. Sure enough, Mcorsar found a note on the car, she was down at the Ausable Inn with her feet up I'm sure! Quick change of clothes and then I drove down to pick her up and start the long ride home. What an absolutely amazing day...#44 and 45 for me (Big Slide here I come!!!) and 41 and 42 for Mcorsar.
! We found a place to set up the tent to dry it out and to try to dry out boots and gaiters while we went into Lake Placid for dinner. Got a good night's sleep and were at the Garden by 6:00 a.m. and on the trail by 6:30. We expected Mcorsar and Harryk to catch up with us at any moment. The trail is in great shape with the mud holes starting to dry up. We made good time up to JBL and during a short break Mcorsar came along. No Harryk. (have there been any Harryk sightings out there???) The day was absolutely beautiful with rising temperatures and bright sunshine. Up at Bushnell Falls, PinPin came hopping by and we asked about any Harryk sighting...no luck. At the junction for Shorey Short Cut, Mcorsar and I parted ways with Hikethe115 who was planning on doing just Haystack where she could sit and enjoy the views while waiting for us to schlep over from Basin. This was my first time on the short cut and I found it not nearly so bad as others have commented. It is steep in sections and you do have to climb up to about 4300' then give up LOTS of that gain to get down to the range trail before you have to repeat the elevation to get up Basin, but aside from that it was good! There was lots of water on the trails but on a day like this it was welcome...I was continually able to get cold water to pour over my head to cool off. The .7 mile from the junction of Shorey Short Cut up to Basin is fantastic! Lots of cool, steep scrambles and a vertical ladder (not made for short people!) takes far more time than the distance would suggest. The views from the top are incredible! There was one couple on the top and then another kid joined us so we sat in relative peace for nearly an hour soaking it in. We could look over to Haystack and see the ant-colony of people making the trek along the ridge to the summit. Knowing that Hikethe115 was waiting for us we finally dragged ourselves off the summit. Dropping DOWN into the col between the two peaks we filtered more water before starting up Haystack. The grade was more moderate than on Basin and didn't have the fun scrambles. When we met up with people coming down we asked for Hikethe115 sightings (Mcorsar and I seem to be losing hiking buddies at an alarming pace!!). People had seen her on the summit of Little Haystack. At the junction just below Little Haystack we ran into a group that had spent time with Hikethe115 at the top but told us she had moved on. We figured the bugs and/or the sun had gotten the best of her. Up we climbed with increasingly awe-inspiring views. Mcorsar said to me at one point "when was the last time you saw me speechless" it was that incredible up there! Up over Little Haystack over to the summit of Haystack where we had it all to ourselves, the crowds having cleared out. Mcorsar spotted a Luna moth clinging on to the side of a rock on the summit... what'r you doin up here??? Eventually two women joined us and recognized my Jerry bear as an identifying feature that Hikethe115 had told them about. They told us she was on her way down but was starting to worry about us. Oops, maybe we shouldn't have dawdled so much on the summits. So we finished lunch and begrudgingly headed down. The bugs seemed to be getting worse, especially in the swampy sections so this kept our now-tiring pace up. We hurried back down to Slant Rock, hoping Hikethe115 would be there, she wasn't. We made another stop to filter more water (went through lots of that this day!!) and kept on trekking. We maintained a good steady pace as the terrain became increasingly easy. At Bushnell Falls I refused to go down that little bit of elevation just to re-gain it but Mcorsar headed over for a peak. I boogied down to JBL, still hoping to catch Hikethe115...I didn't. Sat on the porch and waited for Mcorsar. Copped a peanut toffee BUZZ power bar off him, got more water and down we went. When we got near the trail for Big Slide I briefly contemplated heading up, but with two failed attempts on it, I figured I was courting disaster thinking of hiking it with a headlamp! As darkness grew up from the floor of the forest, the mud became more difficult to see. This was kind of nice so we didn't bother with headlamps. At the trail register I hollered for HIkethe115, no answer...where'd she go?? Opened the trail register, turned on the headlamp to see it, and saw that two friends of ours had signed in. I figured she had hooked up with them. Sure enough, Mcorsar found a note on the car, she was down at the Ausable Inn with her feet up I'm sure! Quick change of clothes and then I drove down to pick her up and start the long ride home. What an absolutely amazing day...#44 and 45 for me (Big Slide here I come!!!) and 41 and 42 for Mcorsar.
