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| View to Gothics from Mount Haystack |
It's a five hour drive from our house to Keene Valley, "Home of the High Peaks." For this reason, we usually plan one or two week-long cabin stays in the ADK every year in order to get in as many hikes as we can. This tends to work better than just going up for long weekends, which can seem like you are spending more time in the car than on the trail. Having a full week also gives me a chance to monitor the weather and use certain conditions for 46er hikes and other conditions for shorter, lower elevation hikes. On a recent Saturday to Saturday stay, the weather finally turned perfect for high elevation hiking on our very last day. The problem -- I had already done a four-peak, 13-mile hike of Hough, South Dix, Grace and Macomb earlier in the week, plus early morning and midday hikes with K and R. All told, I had racked up over 35 miles and 7,000 feet of elevation gain in the first five days of our trip. I was tired and sore and found myself questioning if I had enough in the tank for one more peak.
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| All quiet at the JBL at 7 a.m. |
Sometimes, one needs a bit of added motivation for a big day. For me, it came when I checked the calendar and saw that the date of that Friday was August 1, my dad's birthday. Nobody contributed more to me becoming a hiker than my dad. As soon as we could walk, my younger brother and I were out in the woods, usually with dad, sometimes on our own, exploring existing trails and charting new ones. Our first peak bagging experiences, it could be said, came at ages 6 and 4 on Marvin Mountain and Mount Nimham (my brother will get the joke 🤣). A city kid from New York, dad went all-in with nature in the 1970s, buying our childhood house in the woods upstate and joining his brother-in-law on hiking trips in places as far afield as New England and the Southwest. His love of hiking and the outdoors was infectious, and we learned to appreciate nature as he did. Dad died way back in 2004. I have no doubt that if he were still with us, he'd still be hitting the trails at age 83.
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| 30-year-old NPC Sr., Appalachian Trail, Mount Cube, New Hampshire, 1973 |
Realizing that August 1, his birthday, was coinciding with one of our weeks in the ADK and was going to be a gorgeous, blue bird weather day, I took it as a collective sign that I needed to forget about fatigue and finally do a peak that had long been on my bucket list -- Mount Haystack. I'd had the route all planned out for some time. It would be a straight shot, out and back, from The Garden in Keene Valley via the Phelps Trail. I like hiking out of the Garden for one main reason -- Johns Brook Lodge. The presence of the lodge at a point 3.5 miles in means that you can start your day with empty water bottles and just fill up there. Saving that water weight makes for a quick and easy start to the day over comparatively easy terrain. The lodge also gives you a place to refill and rest on the way out. The hike up and back to Haystack is around 16 miles round trip, but if you don't count the 7 miles to and from the lodge, it's only a 9 mile hike. Piece of cake. At least that's what I told myself.
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| Slant Rock on Phelps Trail |
Pulling into the Garden at 5:45 a.m., I got one of the last two parking spots (Phew!) and was on the trail at 6 a.m. sharp. As expected, I made quick work of the first leg and was at the JBL in just over an hour. After a second breakfast and water fill-up, I hit the trail again, this time with trekking poles since the route starts its rocky, root-ridden ascent here. I was pleased to have the Phelps Trail almost all to myself and only encountered three other hikers before reaching my turnoff to the State Range Trail. The highights in this section are a long, picturesque climb along a wooded spine-like ridge called a "Hogback," Bushnell Falls (accessible via a short spur), and Slant Rock, a huge shelter-affording boulder that served as a historical camping site. Almost immediately after the turn-off from Phelps Trail, the State Range Trail goes almost straight up, requiring the stowing of trekking poles and hand-over-hand climbing and root grabbing the whole way up. This steep climb brings you to the top of an unmarked mini-peak known as "Horse Hill," which has a rocky outcropping offering a striking view to the south of both Little Haystack and Haystack.
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| View to Little Haystack and Haystack from Horse Hill |
From there, it is down and up, then down and up again to the summit of Mount Haystack. The hiking here is largely on open rocks, above tree line, with panoramic 360 views of the entire High Peaks Wilderness and beyond. There are absolutely no signs of civilization for as far as the eye can see. No roads, no towns, no summer homes, no power lines, no windmills. Nothing but nature. I spent a good amount of time admiring the vistas in all directions, picking out various peaks that I had visited in the past, and chatting with some of the many hikers who were doing the same. That's right. The peace and quiet of the trail ended up top since there were numerous groups and individuals coming and going from the Haystack summit. But I wouldn't have expected anything less.
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| On Little Haystack |
I did want some alone time, so I backtracked to the less-busy summit of Little Haystack and took a longer break to look at the mountains and alpine vegetation some more and reflect on how great it is that my home state had the foresight to save this chunk of wilderness for future generations to enjoy. Most other hikers were planning to return via the State Range Trail over Basin and Saddleback. This worked out great for me as I again had the Phelps Trail all to myself for the long return to the JBL. As planned, I stopped there to finish up my food and fill up a 1/2 liter Nalgene for the last 3.5 miles back to the Garden.
I'm not gonna lie. I was hurting at the end of this epic 16+ miles of 4,000+ elevation gain over 9+ hours of trail time to the the third highest peak in New York State.
Now can I have a rest day?
Peak: Mount Haystack
Elevation: 4,915 feet (Gain: 4,443 feet)
Distance: 16.3 miles roundtrip
Route: Up and back, Phelps Trail to State Range Trail to Haystack Trail to State Range Trail to Phelps Trail
Conditions: Mostly sunny, 65 degrees F
Notable Flora/Fauna: American Goshawk, Boreal Chickadee
