Haystack, Yes and No, May 16, 2008

[BlackSpruce]

Gary and I started from Elk Lake, overall trails are very dry, little blowdown till Boreas/Colvin Ridge height of land, section down to Marcy Swamp last March ice storm took countless beech trees down, it’s bad till about the 2400’ altitude. Further up no blowdown only deep snow (2 to 3’ sometimes more) here and there and then everywhere starting a mile away Panther Gorge lean-to. Snowshoes would have been of no help as there are many dry areas and often the snow was hiding wet water. Needless to say the going was tedious and rather annoying. Partway up the .8-mile to Bartlett Ridge I had more than enough and decided to go home even though Gary likely being hit by summit fever try to convince me that the conditions were improving.. yeah, right! He found deep snow all the way to the Bartlett Ridge intersection but mostly a dry clear trail the last .8-mile to the summit of Haystack. Panther Gorge lean-to is still surrounded by deep snow but for its very front where the mud is 18 inches deep, just lovely… and this year it appears that the black flies didn’t wait for the snow to leave before coming back… at lower elevation there were even more numerous and rather aggressive.. must be spring. Only tracks we saw were of a large moose which traveled the trail near Elk Lake for at least a mile this week, no climber had been to Panther Gorge lean-to since the end of January from Elk Lake. It must have been some work-out, from Clear Pond, to break trail for 11 miles before going to bed! The lean-to had another visit a couple of weeks ago by hikers coming from Four-Corners and likely out the same way. Looking at next week forecast we will found snow in the mountains till mid-June this year as the temperature will go on going below freezing every night.