rbalbs
New member
Route: Shawn D and I started from the Garden. Hiked Phelps trail to Range Junction, over to Haystack, then back to the Range trail up and over Basin and Saddleback. Returned to The Garden via Orebed and Phelps Trail. 13 hour day.
Trail Conditions:
- Phelps trail to Hopkins Jct- 3in of powder over rock hard ice with many open water crossings. Stabilicers came in handy. Johns Brook was running pretty well - we chose to cross only on the High Water Bridges.
- Upper Phelps Trail to Haystack Spur - Snowshoes needed for deepening fluffy snow 6-18 inches on Phelps Trail. The Range trail had several annoying sections on the way up to the bump that overlooks the Haystacks where the track only seemed to be one showshoe width wide. The other foot would end up down in 3 feet of soft fluffy snow!
- Haystack Spur - Snow stopped and the sun came out while we switched into Crampons, face mask, and goggles for the trip over Little Haystack and Mama Haystack. Mix of bare rock, glare ice, and crusty supportive snow. Winds were absolutley howling and were strong enough to push you well off course.
- Range Trail to Basin and Saddleback Cliffs - Snowshoes for mostly soft snow 12-18 " deep though there were many sections of windpacked supportive snow and several ice chutes and ledges.
- Saddbleback Cliffs - Barebooted this part as there was limited ice on the dry cliffs. The strong winds did keep things interesting though.
- Orebed Trail - Snowshoes for 6 " of snow over a very hard base - tough on the joints. The lower flat section had lots of standing water and seemed to go on and on...
Special Equipment Required: Snowshoes and crampons - essential. Stabilicers helped on the way in though with the day's traffic by evening showshoes were a better choice.
Comments: A mixed bag of winter conditions on a long and challenging day. Thought we'd end up with whiteout conditions on Haystack but Mother Nature stopped the snow just in time. At night the skies were incredibly clear - think we saw more stars than ever before.
Rick B
Trail Conditions:
- Phelps trail to Hopkins Jct- 3in of powder over rock hard ice with many open water crossings. Stabilicers came in handy. Johns Brook was running pretty well - we chose to cross only on the High Water Bridges.
- Upper Phelps Trail to Haystack Spur - Snowshoes needed for deepening fluffy snow 6-18 inches on Phelps Trail. The Range trail had several annoying sections on the way up to the bump that overlooks the Haystacks where the track only seemed to be one showshoe width wide. The other foot would end up down in 3 feet of soft fluffy snow!
- Haystack Spur - Snow stopped and the sun came out while we switched into Crampons, face mask, and goggles for the trip over Little Haystack and Mama Haystack. Mix of bare rock, glare ice, and crusty supportive snow. Winds were absolutley howling and were strong enough to push you well off course.
- Range Trail to Basin and Saddleback Cliffs - Snowshoes for mostly soft snow 12-18 " deep though there were many sections of windpacked supportive snow and several ice chutes and ledges.
- Saddbleback Cliffs - Barebooted this part as there was limited ice on the dry cliffs. The strong winds did keep things interesting though.
- Orebed Trail - Snowshoes for 6 " of snow over a very hard base - tough on the joints. The lower flat section had lots of standing water and seemed to go on and on...
Special Equipment Required: Snowshoes and crampons - essential. Stabilicers helped on the way in though with the day's traffic by evening showshoes were a better choice.
Comments: A mixed bag of winter conditions on a long and challenging day. Thought we'd end up with whiteout conditions on Haystack but Mother Nature stopped the snow just in time. At night the skies were incredibly clear - think we saw more stars than ever before.
Rick B
