Jay H
New member
Plans were in motion for a bit for this silly hiker to assist Mudhook and Maria, with Haystack and Basin, as Mudhook needed those two, having done Saddleback a few weeks ago and everybody was telling him how scary Haystack is for those with a fear of exposre, knife edges, and all things somewhat pointy with cliffs on the side.
The day started interestingly enough as we didn't make the cutoff for the Garden lot, so it was full when we got there so I droped Maria and Mudhook off while I drove back down to find a spot. I refuse to take the shuttle and I have never taken it for my 46, didn't feel like making an exception here so I drove back down to Roostercomb and prepared to run back up to the Garden.
I noticed driving up here that I forgot to pack my trail runners, knowing the flatish trail to the garden, this would prove even more key when I wanted to run up to the garden from roostercomb, so I decided just to wear my very holey, old and beat up, sneakers I've worn for like 2 years or so. I procede to pack my boots and don my sneakers for the run back up. In the meantime, the shuttle bus passes me, at least twice, one going down and once going up. But I see a bunch of hikers who just got off the bus and procede to weave myself through them, never even signing in as I was determined to catch up to Mudhook and Maria before JBL, 3.5 miles in and 2 miles uphill from RC. The gauntlet was laid and so I am running down the muddy trail in my sneakers, surely getting interesting looks I'm sure, if not interesting comments when I pass. But nevertheless, I blow by the two leantos along the trail and pass some folks heading to Haystack too.
Just before the Interior Outpost, on the descent to the intersection there, I do manage to catch up to them and they procede to try to tell me they came back from JBL to look for me and was on their way back. I then told them, that I went up Roostercomb and over to LWJ and down the south side trail and then ran towards the JBL... We leave it to the reader to acertain the truth. As the X-files would say, The TRUTH IS OUT THERE!!!!
Anyway, at JBL, I ditch my sneakers with a note to the ADK crew to please clean and polish my now muddy, used to be white, Reeboks. I signed it Pete Hickey and we all left towards Slant Rock.
Somewhere between JBL (not the speaker company) and Slant Rock, I procede to tell Mudhook that there is probably a nice stream at Slant Rock to filter from, but he insists on pumping from a moose turd infested, rat hole, just a few tenths of a mile from SR. So, after a short break, the folks I passed in my little job, passes us and move along their way and we eventually all meet up at Slant Rock.
The climb up the shoulder of marcy just before the trail is uneventful, I point out to them our winter ascent of Haystack and how the sign that points out to Haystack was buried so we wound up going a bit up Marcy before we realized.. hey, Haystack is over there, where the F are we going? Backtracking to find the snowed path to Haystack and comment that anybody going to Marcy is going to be disappointed that our nicely broken out track ends.... HAHAHAHAHA... D'oh. :twisted:
Anyway, the steep pisser climb to Little Haystack is pretty steep, even without snow, so we gingerly ascent the wet slabs and rocks to get a fabulous view of Little haystack proper, and Haystack itself. Comments of our little rabbit friend's winter route around Little Haystack, we head up and over the rocks til we get to the other side. The sun is mostly out, though some darkish wisps of cloud start to make us worry about our "perfect day". We could see the throngs of people on Marcy, like little dominoes in a guinness book of world record's attempt. We get up on Little haystack and a short break to assess the conditions, we head down over the "other side"...... I am pointing out where AJTIV lost his pole and it almost fell into the abyss and how he had to gingerly snowshoe his way to the edge to retrieve it, all the while, looking at a quite steep slope away into nothingness... After threatening mutiny from the clients on this hike, I shut up and just told them where we layed out a short length of rope to a cairn there to make the downclimb of the one crux of this climb a bit easier in winter, and relay stories of my winter ascent of Haystack just to pass the time. No problems to be had here and we are quickly making our way up Haystack, proper. Just a few hundred feet before the summit, we see Imarchant heading down, which I knew was on Haystack but didn't know when. We talk for a bit and he moves on to Basin while we go to the summit for a well deserved lunch break.
Eventually, we get tired of counting the dominoes on Marcy and the views and we get our gear ready for the descent and climb to Basin. Pass a few hikers coming from Basin, we have an uneventful ascent of Basin, except that Maria's legs are getting quite dirty by now. Between the mud and some slips on the slick rock, she's getting plastered with mud. My legs aren't much better, but that's what you get for running in sneakers down the trail to JBL... I should of brought my scouring pad. Oh well.
Basin was a nice climb, lots of water running down the trail, easy to get cooled off and at the summit, we woohoo for a bit, for Jim has now done 2 of the 5 he has left and Maria got another one. Maria needs saddleback, and Mudhook thinks that he wants to do the SB climb, before he chickens out so I talk to them of the options, go back to the Shorrey Short Cut, or go down the CCB or do Saddleback and out via the OreBed trail. We always had the option of bailing out and going down the CCB but that would mean traversing back to the col because the slab off SB is pretty steep as we could see from Basin.
So, we hit the climb up Saddleback and Mudhook goes first, with me next and Maria at the end. I don't think I have ever seen anybody ascend those slabs as quick as I saw Mudhook did!! but sooner than I could say Kentucky Fried Chicken, he was already out of sight!!! So I go up, taking some action shots of Maria since Mudhook is long gone, soon enough, I can see the little Trail sign and knew that was the end of the exposure so all of us get up to the summit cliff and a lot of happiness is going around..> WOOOHOOO!!!
The rest of the hike went fine, I think Mudhook even wanted to do the Gothics cables, which is next on his list but the voice of reason said there isn't enough time, and of course, once your on gothics, might as well go to Armstrong...
So, we return to JBL, I pick up my dirty sneakers (not polished... argh!) and we hike out to the Garden, just to walk down to roostercomb. And we just made it to the Ausable Inn before they stopped serving dinner...
What a day, what a nice hike, with great friends and great weather. Somewhere during the day, we christened Maria to be Mudgirl..
http://picasaweb.google.com/cycleslugyahoo/HaBaSa80109
Way to go Mudhook and Mudgirl...
I will help ya on the Gothics Cables and the Trap Dyke if you just say the word.
Jay
The day started interestingly enough as we didn't make the cutoff for the Garden lot, so it was full when we got there so I droped Maria and Mudhook off while I drove back down to find a spot. I refuse to take the shuttle and I have never taken it for my 46, didn't feel like making an exception here so I drove back down to Roostercomb and prepared to run back up to the Garden.
I noticed driving up here that I forgot to pack my trail runners, knowing the flatish trail to the garden, this would prove even more key when I wanted to run up to the garden from roostercomb, so I decided just to wear my very holey, old and beat up, sneakers I've worn for like 2 years or so. I procede to pack my boots and don my sneakers for the run back up. In the meantime, the shuttle bus passes me, at least twice, one going down and once going up. But I see a bunch of hikers who just got off the bus and procede to weave myself through them, never even signing in as I was determined to catch up to Mudhook and Maria before JBL, 3.5 miles in and 2 miles uphill from RC. The gauntlet was laid and so I am running down the muddy trail in my sneakers, surely getting interesting looks I'm sure, if not interesting comments when I pass. But nevertheless, I blow by the two leantos along the trail and pass some folks heading to Haystack too.
Just before the Interior Outpost, on the descent to the intersection there, I do manage to catch up to them and they procede to try to tell me they came back from JBL to look for me and was on their way back. I then told them, that I went up Roostercomb and over to LWJ and down the south side trail and then ran towards the JBL... We leave it to the reader to acertain the truth. As the X-files would say, The TRUTH IS OUT THERE!!!!
Anyway, at JBL, I ditch my sneakers with a note to the ADK crew to please clean and polish my now muddy, used to be white, Reeboks. I signed it Pete Hickey and we all left towards Slant Rock.
Somewhere between JBL (not the speaker company) and Slant Rock, I procede to tell Mudhook that there is probably a nice stream at Slant Rock to filter from, but he insists on pumping from a moose turd infested, rat hole, just a few tenths of a mile from SR. So, after a short break, the folks I passed in my little job, passes us and move along their way and we eventually all meet up at Slant Rock.
The climb up the shoulder of marcy just before the trail is uneventful, I point out to them our winter ascent of Haystack and how the sign that points out to Haystack was buried so we wound up going a bit up Marcy before we realized.. hey, Haystack is over there, where the F are we going? Backtracking to find the snowed path to Haystack and comment that anybody going to Marcy is going to be disappointed that our nicely broken out track ends.... HAHAHAHAHA... D'oh. :twisted:
Anyway, the steep pisser climb to Little Haystack is pretty steep, even without snow, so we gingerly ascent the wet slabs and rocks to get a fabulous view of Little haystack proper, and Haystack itself. Comments of our little rabbit friend's winter route around Little Haystack, we head up and over the rocks til we get to the other side. The sun is mostly out, though some darkish wisps of cloud start to make us worry about our "perfect day". We could see the throngs of people on Marcy, like little dominoes in a guinness book of world record's attempt. We get up on Little haystack and a short break to assess the conditions, we head down over the "other side"...... I am pointing out where AJTIV lost his pole and it almost fell into the abyss and how he had to gingerly snowshoe his way to the edge to retrieve it, all the while, looking at a quite steep slope away into nothingness... After threatening mutiny from the clients on this hike, I shut up and just told them where we layed out a short length of rope to a cairn there to make the downclimb of the one crux of this climb a bit easier in winter, and relay stories of my winter ascent of Haystack just to pass the time. No problems to be had here and we are quickly making our way up Haystack, proper. Just a few hundred feet before the summit, we see Imarchant heading down, which I knew was on Haystack but didn't know when. We talk for a bit and he moves on to Basin while we go to the summit for a well deserved lunch break.
Eventually, we get tired of counting the dominoes on Marcy and the views and we get our gear ready for the descent and climb to Basin. Pass a few hikers coming from Basin, we have an uneventful ascent of Basin, except that Maria's legs are getting quite dirty by now. Between the mud and some slips on the slick rock, she's getting plastered with mud. My legs aren't much better, but that's what you get for running in sneakers down the trail to JBL... I should of brought my scouring pad. Oh well.
Basin was a nice climb, lots of water running down the trail, easy to get cooled off and at the summit, we woohoo for a bit, for Jim has now done 2 of the 5 he has left and Maria got another one. Maria needs saddleback, and Mudhook thinks that he wants to do the SB climb, before he chickens out so I talk to them of the options, go back to the Shorrey Short Cut, or go down the CCB or do Saddleback and out via the OreBed trail. We always had the option of bailing out and going down the CCB but that would mean traversing back to the col because the slab off SB is pretty steep as we could see from Basin.
So, we hit the climb up Saddleback and Mudhook goes first, with me next and Maria at the end. I don't think I have ever seen anybody ascend those slabs as quick as I saw Mudhook did!! but sooner than I could say Kentucky Fried Chicken, he was already out of sight!!! So I go up, taking some action shots of Maria since Mudhook is long gone, soon enough, I can see the little Trail sign and knew that was the end of the exposure so all of us get up to the summit cliff and a lot of happiness is going around..> WOOOHOOO!!!
The rest of the hike went fine, I think Mudhook even wanted to do the Gothics cables, which is next on his list but the voice of reason said there isn't enough time, and of course, once your on gothics, might as well go to Armstrong...
So, we return to JBL, I pick up my dirty sneakers (not polished... argh!) and we hike out to the Garden, just to walk down to roostercomb. And we just made it to the Ausable Inn before they stopped serving dinner...
What a day, what a nice hike, with great friends and great weather. Somewhere during the day, we christened Maria to be Mudgirl..
http://picasaweb.google.com/cycleslugyahoo/HaBaSa80109
Way to go Mudhook and Mudgirl...
I will help ya on the Gothics Cables and the Trap Dyke if you just say the word.
Jay
