Haystack and Basin - 6/21/14

It's been 3 weeks since I posted anything.  Sorry folks!  I've got a rental house that was pretty much destroyed by my last tenants and I had to spend a great deal of time there doing repairs.  I'm not done not, so bear with me.  Anyways, this weekend had been planned for awhile the the plans weren't going to be changed to work on a house.

My wife Leesa planned this trip.  She is getting close to finishing her round of climbing the Adirondack 46 high peaks and she wanted to now tackle Haystack and Basin.  This trip is close to 20 miles as a day trip, so she wanted to break it up by staying at an ADK lean-to on the Johns Brook Lodge property.

We made reservations and got the Myers lean-to.  There are 3 lean-tos available for rent.  It's nice because you have the whole lean-to to yourself.  We were able to set up our tent inside the lean-to (to contain our dog Rev).  It eliminated any worries about her for the night.  We reserved the lean-to for both Friday and Saturday nights.

We met at Marcy Field on Friday afternoon after I got out of work.  I left my car there and we drove the other car to the Garden parking lot in Keene Valley.  We paid our $21 for 3 calendar days parking and we were on the trail at 5 PM.

It's a 3.5 mile hike to Johns Brook Lodge and the lean-tos, so we got there in plenty of time to set up before dark.  We turned in and got a great night sleep.  The temperature dropped into the low 40's. The forecast for the entire weekend was perfect so we were psyched.  

Saturday we woke early, had breakfast and were on the trail at 6:30 AM.  This was Leesa's first time on all these trails, so everything was new for her.  The Phelps trail to Slant Rock is a gentle grade and we sauntered there quite easily.

Leesa and Rev at Slant Rock

After Slant Rock, the going gets noticeably steeper.  We slowed our pace and continued on the Phelps Trail until reaching the State Range Trail.  The State Rainge Trail is rocky and steep as you make your way up towards Haystack.  You don't get rewarded with any views until you reach a small bump just shy of Little Haystack.  At this point you are rewarded with views in all directions.

    

A first look at Little Haystack and Haystack

The hardest part of getting to Mount Haystack is getting up Little Haystack and down the backside before you finish up the ridge of Haystack.  I fact, going down the backside of Little Haystack can get quite tricky in wintertime.  Crampons are often needed to safely descent Little Haystack.  No problems on a dry summer day however.

Heading for Haystack and looking back at Little Haystack

Skylight (L) and Marcy (R) from the ridge to Haystack

We hadn't seen anyone all morning, but ran into 3 different groups on Haystack.  It was a beautiful morning.  We were on the summit at around 10:30.  We stayed for awhile and ate an early lunch.

Little Haystack (L) and Basin (R) from Haystack

Look at Pinnacle Ridge.  No wonder I thought it was bumpy when I climbed it last fall!

Leesa on Haystack

Next we continued along on the State Range Trail towards Basin Mountain.  I recalled the last time I did the route in summer, there was only one spot to obtain water.  It was in the col between Haystack and Basin.  This time there seemed to be no shortage of places to get water.

We noticed a tent was set up at the Snobird campsite.  We continued dropping into the col.  It's a long descent before the trail begins its rise for the final .7 miles to Basin.  It's a tough .7 miles, making the climb seem much longer.

The toughest for me is the ladder, about halfway up.  I always have to grab Rev by the harness and carry her up the ladder.  She doesn't appreciate it.  It's even harder going down.

     

The Basin Ladder (I always have to carry Rev up and down this)

  

Haystack from the side of Basin

Knob to the west of Basin

Entering the Alpine Zone on Basin

We just took our time ascending Basin.  We were in no hurry.  It was a beautiful day, cool and breezy with no bugs.  The sun became more prevalent as we neared the top of Basin.  

Saddleback from Basin

We reached the summit and had it to ourselves.  We laid out on the summit and enjoyed the sunsshine.  It was just a perfect day to be in the High Peaks.  We had more food of course.  Rev made sure of that.

Saddleback Cliffs

My favorite pic from this trip (The lower Great Range, Giant and RPR from Basin)  

Zoom of Gothics (with Giant and RPR in the Background) from Basin

Leesa on Basin

Leesa and Rev on Basin (Haystack and Skylight in the background)

I spent some time looking at the knob that lies just west of Basin and decided that someday I would return to investigate.  It looks rather similar to Sheperds Tooth (south of the summit of Iroquois).

  

Basin from Shorey Short Cut

On the return, we took Shorey's Short Cut Trail to get back to the Phelps Trail.  We then made our way back down, taking side trips to look at the Bushnell Falls lean-tos and Bushnell Falls itself.  I was quite impressed by the new Bushnell Falls lean-to #2.  It has been beautifully made, and has been moved to a wonderful location a couple hundred yards off the trail and near an excellent water hole. 

  

The new Bushnell # 2 Leanto.  Awesome!

  

Bushnell Falls

We returned to Johns Brook Lodge to refill our water bottles.  I went inside and purchased a bowl of fabulous Vanilla Fudge Brownie ice cream.  It was the next best thing to heaven.

Afterwards we returned to our lean-to and cooked a dinner before settling in for the night at 8 PM!  Sunday morning Rev woke us up at daybreak so she could go to the bathroom.  She then went back in the tent and went back to sleep.  Leesa and I had breakfast and packed everything until it was time to kick Rev out of the tent to pack it up.  

We took the time to climb the .4 miles to the Short Job overlook before returning to the leanto to shoulder our packs and head back out to the Garden parking lot.  We were back at the car at 11 AM.  We couldn't have asked for a better weekend.  Everything went according to plan and the weather was perfect the entire time.  What more could one ask for.

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  19.8 miles

Hike Time:  ~ 12 hours

Total Vertical Gain:  ~ 4000' 

Most of the route (except the early part of the Phelps Trail) 

    

Basin and Haystack for Rev's ADK 46 High Peaks Finish - 12/1/13

Preface -  (you can skip to the trip report farther down if you don't care about my dog Rev's 46er journey background)

I had this vision in February 2012 that I could do a good deed by rescuing a dog from a shelter.  You always see those postings of dogs waiting to find their "forever" home.  Some get put down, others stay in cages at no-kill shelters.  Since my wife Leesa and I were empty nesters, I theorized that a rescue dog could complete our home and provide companionship for us as well.  Of course, it couldn't be just any dog.  I liked the bigger dogs, Leesa liked the smaller dogs, but it had to be a family dog.  You know, one that is good with people and other animals.  In my mind, a Labrador Retriever would be perfect.  I had owned a Yellow Lab in years past that had been a great easy going family dog.

So what happened?  I saw an ad for a copper colored lab mix named Honey.  She was a year and a half old and was house broken.  My grown daughter went with me to take a look at her.  We found the dog to be friendly, but quite nippy.  I should have taken her, knowing that a little training could easily cure the nipping.  Instead, we asked what other dogs they had.  I told them I wanted a mid-size dog that would be a good hiking dog.  They suggested that I take a look at Rev, who was a 3 year old Harrier Hound mix.  I said OK and they brought her out into the play yard.  Rev was full of energy and she played nicely with us.  She kept flipping a ball into the air and playing with it, then rolling it to our feet for us to throw it.  Well that is all it took and my daughter and I were convinced that she was the one.  I did the paperwork and off we went.

Rev did fine on the car ride home.  We took her in the house and it was obvious that she was not used to being in a house.  We gave her a bone and she tried to claw at the floor because she wanted to bury it!

Anyways, Leesa and I found Rev to be a quick learner.  We also found that a hound is much different than a lab.  She settled into our family life, but she likes to be on the go.  She greatly enjoyed going on hikes.  She didn't care much for being walked down the street, but she loved the woods.  We took Rev on all our hikes.

Rev's 1st ADK High Peak was Tabletop Mountain on March 31, 2012.  She did fine with the climbing and hiking, but had difficulty crossing paths with other dogs.  She looked like she wanted to attack, and she would bark, but she really just wanted to run up to any other dog she would see.  We went through some training with her to work on her dog socialization skills, and while it is still not easy to go past other dogs on the trail, she is getting better (and so are we in terms of how to handle her).

In the summer of 2012, I was focused on finishing my goal of climbing the ADK 46 high peaks.  Rev accompanied me on most trips.  I completed my goal on July 8. 2012, and Rev had 24 by that time.  We continued to hike in the high peaks and I kept track of Rev's progress.  As we got into the winter of 2012-2013, I was re-climbing many of the peaks for my winter round of the ADK 46.  Rev came with me when I thought it would be safe and prudent to have her along.  She was climbing many peaks for the 2nd time, although she had some she hadn't done yet.

When I finished my winter round of the 46 on March 8, 2013, Rev had 31 of the 46.   We continued on after that time, working to climb the peaks that she had not visited (not that it matters to her).  Since dogs are not allowed on the Ausable Club Property, we had to take longer routes on 3 of our trips.  To get to Sawteeth, we started at the Garden and climbed the Orebed Trail to Gothics, then went over Pyramid to Sawteeth and return.  For Blake and Colvin, we climbed from Elk Lake.  To climb Dial and Nippletop, we parked at the Round Pond trail head and followed the Dix Trail to Gravestone Brook, then followed the brook to the trail for Dial and Nip.

In the fall, Allen became number 44 for Rev.  She continued to have no problems negotiating anything.  It was rare that I had to lift her up and over anything.  Only tall vertical ladders or slick ice presented any problems.  For ladders, I lifted her by the handle of her Ruffwear Webmaster harness.  On ice, I made sure to hold onto her via her leash.

Trip Report

Finally I decided it was time to complete her 46.  The weather for December 1st was in our favor.  It was around 32 degrees with very little wind.  It was overcast, and there were flurries all day, but very little precipitation was expected.  I knew we would be in snow and ice all day, but we were prepared.  We got on the trail from the Garden at  6:23 AM.  I was the first one to sign the register for the day.  There was about 2" of snow on the ground.  I used my headlamp for the first 15 minutes.  After 1 hour and 10 minutes we passed Johns Brook Lodge (JBL).  The walking was easy and we continued at a fast clip.  Near Bushnell Falls we saw the only person we would see all day.  This guy had slept overnight at the Slant Rock Lean-to and was now headed out.

 

Rev is on the trail 

 

Slant Rock

We arrived at Shorey's Short Cut Trail in 2 hours, 30 minutes.  Still a good pace after 7 miles.  I put on Microspikes at this point and we began the steep climb to the Range Trail.  There were no new foot tracks from this point on.  No-one had climbed Basin or Haystack in the last few days.  Our pace (my pace) slowed on Shorey's.  It took 50 minutes to go the 1.1 miles to the Range Trail.  At the high point of Shorey's we got a view of Haystack.  The sun was trying to come out but it never did break through.  In any case, visibility was good even though skies were gray.  Once on the Range Trail we turned to climb Basin first.  It is a steep ~ 800' climb in 0.7 miles to reach the summit.  About 2/3 of the way up is a ladder.  I used the handle on top of Rev's harness to help get her up the ladder.  Once at the top of the ladder, there was a sloping patch of ice that we had to climb onto and walk about 5' before we had any tree limb we could grab.  This was the scariest part of our 46er journey together.  I lifted her up onto the ice and held onto her while I got up on the ice.  I then dug in my spikes and got us both to the trees.  If my spikes failed to grab, we would have been in tough shape.



 

A first look at Haystack from Shorey's Short Cut 

 

Trail junction of Shorey's Short Cut with the Range Trail

 

The ladder on the Range Trail before Basin Mountain

 

Looking down at the ladder from above (note the ice)

 

Once past the ice section, the remaining ascent was easier to the top.  At the top we didn't linger long.  There was enough breeze above treeline to make Rev want to go back down.  We retraced our steps back to the ladder, and managed to negotiate the ice once more.  I hoisted Rev down the ladder and we continued downward.  It is tough descending 800' to the col, only to reclimb plus more to get to Haystack.  I bogged down a little more than usual going up the Range Trail towards Haystack. 

 

Haystack from a viewpoint on the shoulder of Basin

 

Rev, facing the wind on Basin 

 

Haystack, Skylight and Marcy in the background

 

 

 

  

 

Soon we got to the open rock on the final approach to Little Haystack.  We didn't follow the true course of the trail in some locations due to drifting snow.  Rev was having no problems so we continued on.  The backside of Little Haystack can be tough under wet or icy conditions, but it was windblown to dry rock and that was good.  The wind was a minimal as we had our way up the final exposed section of Haystack.  I was glad for that.  Finally we tagged the summit.  I gave Rev some "Duck sticks", which are her favorite treat.  That was all she cared about.  Once again we didn't linger.  I wanted to get back to the car by dark if possible.  Trail walking by headlamp always seems like it takes forever (probably because you don't have much to look at.).

 

Rev on Little Haystack

 

Don't worry, she found a way up

 

Skylight and Marcy

 

Little Haystack and Haystack

Going down the Haystack Trail was tough on unconsolidated snow.  I was post-holing, but I didn't want to put on my snowshoes and catch them on roots or rock.  It was a welcome sight to get back to the Phelps Trail.  We managed to regain our quick pace at Slant Rock and were able to get back to the car by 4 PM.  I was happy with that.  Rev got more duck sticks and I gave her a meal in the Garden parking lot.  There was only one other car in the lot at 4 PM on Sunday afternoon.  Only 5 groups had signed the register after me, and all 5 were headed for Big Slide.



 

A winter wonderland

Rev, still leading the way on the way out

 

I'm sure Rev doesn't know that today was a special day, but it felt like one to me.  It's been good having her as a trail companion, especially when I am hiking solo.  Sometimes she pulls a little too hard on the leash (always a concern on the downhill) but her company is great.  I stopped at the Noonmark Diner in Keene Valley and got a burger and fries to go and Rev slept in the car on the way home.  She has climbed 168 peaks with me in the last 20 months!

 

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance:  ~ 19 miles

Hike Time:   9.5 hours

Total Vertical Gain:  ~4800'   

Rev -  2 hours after the hike

National Geographic map showing the route (click to enlarge)

 

Haystack & Basin Mountains - 2/25/13

I take my mountain days when I can get them.  Monday's forecast called for light winds and temps close to freezing.  I've been wanting to head to Haystack on a windless day and this was the first chance, so I took it.

I planned to start at The Garden and climb the Phelps Trail to the State Range trail.  I was then going to make my way north along the Great Range, and if the stars aligned, I would get all the way past Upper Wolf Jaw.

Well the day turned out to be a comedy of errors.  No problem with my pace.  I got started at 6:15 and traveled the first 6.9 miles to Slant Rock by 8:40.  First mistake... just past Slant Rock I mistakenly turned left onto Shorey's Short Cut.  I made the same mistake in summer.  The sign says Mt Marcy straight ahead, and State Range Trail to the left.  It only added .3 miles onto the hike, but Shorey's adds a lot of unnecessary vertical in that extra distance. 

Bushnell Falls Leanto

Slant Rock

Slant Rock Leanto

This sign has messed me up the last 2 times.  Hopefully I'll get it right and stay right  next time

No big deal on Shorey's, it just made extra work for me.  I reached the State Range trail and followed in to Little Haystack.  I made the decision to stay in my snowshoes going down the Hillary Step on the south side of Little Haystack.  That was probably a mistake, but luckily I made it down OK.  I proceeded up Haystack with no issues and reached the summit at 10:30.  Still great progress.

Sign on the Phelps trail to Mount Marcy

Little Haystack from the shoulder of Mount Haystack 

Little Haystack again

Looking to the summit of Mount Haystack

the summit!

Visibility wasn't great.  I couldn't see the summits of any of the surrounding peaks.  They were all in the clouds.  At least I could see the lower parts of the mountains, and the wind was negligible as was predicted.  That was great!

Little Haystack

Looking towards Mount Marcy

This feature on the east side of Basin Mountain is interesting

The summit of Mount Marcy almost visible

Haystack and Little Haystack from the shoulder of Basin Mountain

I left Haystack and made my way north on the State Range Trail past Shorey's Short Cut and up to the summit of Basin Mountain.  It was 11:15 and all was going well, except the lack of visibility.  I started towards Saddleback Mountain and quickly came to the point on the north side of Basin where the trail broke of the mountain in 2012 and the trail crew did a little reroute.

There is a steep descent at that point, then the trail hooks right at the edge of a cliff.  The descent was icy and it made my knees weak to look at it.  I wasn't to keen on putting on my crampons and relying on them to prevent my loss of traction, although I'm sure they would have done just fine.

I took my pack off to have a snack and noticed that my crampons were no longer tied to the side of my pack.  They must have come loose and fell off.  Well that ended any thought of continuing down the north side of Basin.

I turned back the way I had come and found the crampons on the south side of Basin, just a little ways below the ladder, maybe a third of a mile from the summit.  I didn't want to turn around again, so I went back over Shorey's Short Cut and back down the Phelps trail to the car.

This picture and the next are from the summit of Basin.  Nothing was visible

On the way out from John Brook Lodge I stopped to look at the newly redone Wm. Howard Leanto

 

I signed out at 3:15, so the trip was exactly 9 hours.  I wasn't successful in getting the 6 peaks I was hoping for, but I got 2 and an excuse to go back in the near future.

Hike Stats:

Hike Distance: ~20 miles

Hike Time:  9 hours

Total Vertical Gain:  ~ 5000'

My route for the day (Click image to enlarge)

Topo of the Route