Trail Conditions: Bomb proof crust in snowshoe path; bare booted it to about 1.5 mi. beyond JBL then after falling went to crampons. I stayed in crampons until I was back at the JBL. Just a dusting of new snow up high. Iced trees across the trail mostly above Slant Rock hampered progress. Little Haystack and Haystack were very icy.
Special Equipment: Crampons a must, poles were helpful, snowshoes enjoyed the ride.
Comments: I was cruising until above Slant Rock then little things started to go wrong (not as planned). The ice build up on trees became progressively heavier and more trees were blocking the trail. So much so that I missed my turn and was heading off to Marcy. I thought it was a T-intersection with a sign? Not today. Anyway, I retraced my steps until I saw a snowshoe track heading off. This was a bushwhack over to the correct trail. I should have back tracked further and saved lots of energy.
I went over Little Haystack and got to the the "crux" move near the bottom. Everything was ice. I could see water melted by filtered sunshine flowing behind the ice but I couldn't get any purchase. It seemed to risky to make the move. I went up some and over to the right but got stuck again. After wasting lots of time, I climbed back over Little Haystack and contoured from the large erratic (about half way down) around to the right (Panther Gorge side). That was real easy and I was on my way. Almost no snow on Haystack but good ice for crampons.
Light winds, mild temps, filtered sunshine and some good but limited views. I could see nothing to SE. Marcy's summit was in view most of the time and most of Skylight was visible.
On the way back, I wanted to see if the sun had done its work on the one tricky spot on Little Haystack. It had. I was able to shatter the ice shield enough to put the heel of my hand on some rock and I was up.
I gave up on my plans to include Marcy while I was up there. It was getting late and I was lazy. Another great day in the mountains. (10 hrs., 21F at start, 35F in the afternoon)
Special Equipment: Crampons a must, poles were helpful, snowshoes enjoyed the ride.
Comments: I was cruising until above Slant Rock then little things started to go wrong (not as planned). The ice build up on trees became progressively heavier and more trees were blocking the trail. So much so that I missed my turn and was heading off to Marcy. I thought it was a T-intersection with a sign? Not today. Anyway, I retraced my steps until I saw a snowshoe track heading off. This was a bushwhack over to the correct trail. I should have back tracked further and saved lots of energy.
I went over Little Haystack and got to the the "crux" move near the bottom. Everything was ice. I could see water melted by filtered sunshine flowing behind the ice but I couldn't get any purchase. It seemed to risky to make the move. I went up some and over to the right but got stuck again. After wasting lots of time, I climbed back over Little Haystack and contoured from the large erratic (about half way down) around to the right (Panther Gorge side). That was real easy and I was on my way. Almost no snow on Haystack but good ice for crampons.
Light winds, mild temps, filtered sunshine and some good but limited views. I could see nothing to SE. Marcy's summit was in view most of the time and most of Skylight was visible.
On the way back, I wanted to see if the sun had done its work on the one tricky spot on Little Haystack. It had. I was able to shatter the ice shield enough to put the heel of my hand on some rock and I was up.
I gave up on my plans to include Marcy while I was up there. It was getting late and I was lazy. Another great day in the mountains. (10 hrs., 21F at start, 35F in the afternoon)
