Riding the choo-choo train up Ha, but no Ba or Sa. 2/5/11

[DSettahr]

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Route Taken: Phelps Trail to Slant Rock, Shorey Shortcut to the Range Trail, then to the summit of Haystack; return via the same route

Trail Condition: Trail had been packed out by multiple groups into JBL; It was quite well packed out to Bushnell Falls by a group that had headed up Marcy, and somewhat broken out to just before Slant Rock by a group of 2 that had camped out the night before, unbroken (and deep) from Slant Rock to the summit

Traction Devices Used: Snowshoes all day

A bit late on this trip report, as I've been incredibly busy during the 2 weeks since, but I figure someone will enjoy reading it, and even if the conditions have changed considerably since, this will help future hikers who climb it in winter better prepare themselves.

Early Saturday morning, I pulled into the parking lot at the Garden. I was surprised at how many cars were parked in the lot- looked like there was a fair number of overnight hikers camped either at the ADK cabins or at various lean-tos and campsites in the John's Brook area. Before long, I was joined by Ken (Kensquest) and we began our trip. Also in the parking area was Badger100, and Ed (not a forum member, but hopefully will be one soon!), both heading for Basin. We started out in the darkness, with Ken's incredibly bright headlamp leading the way through the darkness regardless of whether he was in front or behind.

The trail into JBL was well packed out by all the overnight hikers, and the going was easy. The lean-to at Bear Brook had a tarp across the front, and a tent was pitched in the Deer Brook lean-to. Neither lean-to had any sign of life stirring from within- still too early I guess for the overnighters to consider leaving their warm bags. As we progressed, the sky lightened and we were treated to the sight of bright gold and blue skys appearing over the Wolfjaws peaks to the east. To the west, the slopes of Big Slide and the Brothers were lit with an organge glow courtesy of the rising sun.

Light failed to reach the valley through which we hiked for quite some time, however, and we were still in shadow even when we got to JBL. We passed some tents occupying the campsites around the the ADK property. After a quick break for water and granola bars, we pushed on again. The trail here was still fairly well broken out, and as we climbed to Bushnell Falls we finally started to get some glimpses of the sun through the trees.

I'd been worried about not having a broken out trail, given the amount of snow that had fallen the week before, but so far we'd followed in the footsteps of others and the trail had been in excellent shape. Our luck started to run out at Bushnell Falls, however. A large group had gotten an early start that morning and headed up Marcy, and here, they'd left the Phelps trail, favoring the approach via the Hopkins trail instead. The Phelps trail was somewhat broken out, but not nearly as well as what we'd already traversed.

Fortunately, the trail between Bushnell Falls and Slant Rock is mostly flat, and we were able to continue making good time stepping in the tracks of those who'd gone ahead of us. I was also a bit concerned about crossing John's Brook at Bushnell Falls, but it turns out that I need not have worried- the stream was completely frozen over.

A little ways before Slant Rock we caught up to two gentlemen in the process of taking down camp near the trail. They told us that they'd been trying to get to Slant Rock the night before, but owing to the difficulties of breaking trail had given up at three in the morning and set up camp next to the trail. Beyond, we followed two sets of tracks to Slant Rock itself, where we were faced with another choice- to continue on up the Phelps Tail which was completely unbroken out, or take the Shorey Shortcut, down which the two tracks continued. The tracks almost assuredly belonged to Badger100 and Ed, who'd passed us for good after we'd leapfrogged each other a few times early in the morning.

While the Shorey Shortcut actually presented a longer approach to Haystack, we chose to take this trail for the simple reason that it was partially broken out. We reasoned that even though Badger100 and Ed would be heading east to Basin once they'd reached the range trail, at that point, we'd only have a short distanced to break out compared with the entirety of the Phelps trail approach.

It wasn't long, however, before we'd caught up to Badger100 and Ed. The going was certainly tough, and we volunteered to add ourselves to their trail breaking rotation. This was definitely some of the deepest snow I've ever broken trail through... the steepness of the trail of course added to the difficulty, making what was in reality only thigh or waist deep seem chest deep. A couple of times, whomever was in front lost their footing, and slid back down into the rest of the group in a heap.

Badger100 is an animal, doing most of the trail breaking, and once the trail finally started to level out where it crosses over the shoulder of Haystack and descends to the Range trail, he took off. We soon rounded a corner, and got our first view of Haystack, brilliantly illuminated in the sun. It looked so close, Ken and I reasoned that, as it was still mid-morning, even if we had to break trail ourselves all the way there, we'd still easily make it to the summit and back before the lateness of the hour necessitated a turn around.

The situation changed a little bit, however, when we finally got to the junction with the Range trail. I'd forgotten how much the Shorey Shortcut descends to reach the junction with the Range trail, and from here, Haystack no longer seemed so close... rather it towered overhead. At the junction, we left Ed and Badger100 behind, and started west on the trail... through more impossibly deep snow. It seemed that we were in a pocket that collects much of the snow blowing off of the summit of Haystack, and while Ken and I took turns breaking trail, we were both quickly becoming exhausted due to the herculean efforts required to break trail.

After about half an hour, or perhaps 45 mintues, we'd only made about a tenth of a mile of progress when we heard voices behind us. We'd been hoping for reinforcements since catching up to Ed and Badger100 earlier that morning, and our wishes finally came true on the form of at least 6 hikers. We quickly decided to combine efforts, and after Ken and I had taken a quick break, we joined them in line, each person taking a turn at breaking trail before falling back to the end of the line. Soon, other hikers caught up to us, and they also joined in on the rotation, and before long we had quite the choo-choo train headed up the mountain.

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Continued...

 

[DSettahr]

I was a bit confused when I first heard the dog barking above me on the trail, as I'd not noticed anyone pass us with a canine companion. I soon realized that we were at the junction where the trail to the summit of Haystack splits off from the Range trail... it turned out that other groups had chosen to follow the unbroken Phelps trail from Slant Rock rather than take the same route we'd chosen. Defintely felt a little bit foolish to realize that, even with having to break trail, they'd made better time via their route than we had on ours. Lesson learned: The Phelps trail is the better route to the summit of Haystack than the Shorey Shortcut!

The going from treeline to the summit was a piece of cake in comparison to the effort required simply to get to treeline. Most of the snow had been blown off the summit, and what was there was packed down pretty well. There were a few tricky spots with snowshoes on the descent from Little Haystack down into the col, but nothing unmanageable. The summit itself was swarming with hikers... by far the greatest number of people I've encountered on a High Peak in winter! Just like in summer, it seemed as though there were people from all walks of life, and varying outdoor skill sets... one guy had on jeans and a sweatshirt (and seemed pretty cold but was acting too tough to admit it).

By the time we'd reached the summit, clouds had come out of the west and obscured the sun, foretelling the storm that was closing in. Fortunately, the clouds were still quite high, and we had excellent views of all the peaks around. As I peered over towards Marcy, I noticed a black speck highlighted against the snowpack. As I watched, it slowly moved, and was joined by a few more black specks... hikers approaching the summit of Marcy! As always, pretty neat to see people so clearly from so far away.

Our original plan had been to climb both Basin and Saddleback and return via the Orebed Brook Trail, but as we left the summit of Haystack, it was clear that our plans would have to change as it was starting to get late. My knee had started to bother me, which was a worrisome in that the tought of getting stranded so far from the trailhead due to an injury was not an appealing one. It was a weird injury- going uphill caused no discomfort, but coming downhill caused pain in my right knee whenever it bent. Keeping it straight helped to keep the pain at bay, but this was a difficult proposition while glissading downhill on snow!

When we returned to the junction with the Shorey Shortcut, it was clear to me that while I probably could make it up Basin and back without any serious issues, it wasn't worth the risk, and I told Ken as much. He decided that he'd attempt Basin with two other hikers we'd met earlier that day on the trail, while I started out alone.

The only difficult part of the hike back was the steep descent on the Shorey Shortcut off of the shoulder of Haystack... the quick drops of the trail caused some discomfort, but I was able to buttslide pretty easily on the steepest parts. Before long, I was back at Slant Rock, and from here on the going was much more level and easier on my knee.

My goal was to make it to JBL before putting my headlamp back on, and I succeeded just barely. With the approaching darkness also came the storm. I'd noticed a few flakes hanging ominously in the air when I'd left Ken at the junction on the Range trail, but by the time I reached JBL the snow was coming down fast and hard. The hike out was a lonely, solitary one... the snowfall was so thick around me that my headlamp only lit up a tiny space around my body, and for all I knew, all that existed in the world was 10 foot across puddle of light. There was easily 2 or 3 inches of fresh snow on the trail by the time I finally made it back to the Garden. Everyone, it seemed, had decided to pack up and head out with the storm... all of the tents we'd seen that morning were gone, and both the Deer and Bear Brook lean-tos were empty.

Once back in the car, I waited for Ken just to make sure he made it out ok... he showed up not to much long after me, and said that they'd gotten close to the summit, but that the falling snow and approaching darkness had forced them to turn back. Too bad.

The drive home to Saranac Lake was interesting, to say the least. I don't think I've ever seen roads as bad as they were that night. In places, there were piles of snow to be dodged in the road that were easily 2 feet deep. This was also the night of the winter lightning storm, and the sky was occasionally lit up by a bright blue light. It certainly made me glad to finally be back home at the end of the day.

Both Winter Carnival, and the injury to my knee have convinced me to put off High Peaks for a little bit... I think the knee injury was simply a result of pushing myself too far this winter. Climbing high peaks in the winter certainly is not easy, and doing so many of them, it seems, has taken it's toll on my knee. After a few weeks rest (with easy hikes on the weekends!), I hope to be back out... I need to return, of course, to snag Basin for my Winter 46!