2021-06-19: Mount Haystack

As the grand finale of my week of non-stop activity, I drove up to the Adirondack Mountains to hike Mount Haystack. At 4691 feet in elevation, Mount Haystack is the third-highest peak in New York State, and one of the Adirondack "46ers". It is also one of the more remote peaks in the area, with the round-trip journey totaling around eighteen miles from the nearest public trailhead at the Garden in Keene Valley, NY. The length makes this the longest hike I've ever taken, a record that's likely to stand for some time.

The first five miles of the ascent were relatively easy, the trail being flat and uneventful as it travels through beautiful forest parallel to John's Brook. At around the five mile mark, the trail started picking up some slight elevation, and I made a brief side-trip to visit Bushnell Falls, a waterfall just a few hundred feet off the trail.

My wide-angle lens still missing, I had to take this photo of Bushnell Falls with my phone.

The next stop, Slant Rock, was a little under two miles farther up the trail. At this point there was some moderate elevation gain, but most of the upwards climb was still ahead of me. I passed some trail maintenance workers and rested beneath Slant Rock, which was located near a junction in the trail. Two trails lead to Haystack Mountain; one approaches from the western col between Haystack and Marcy, the other from the eastern col between Haystack and Basin. For the ascent, I took the western route.

The boulder in the shade below Slant Rock was a little short to be comfortable, but comfort was secondary as I paused from the already exhausting climb.

The next mile brought me from down in the col to above the treeline along Haystack's subpeaks, and was a bit difficult. Having learned my lesson from last week's disaster in the Great Range, I packed an excessive amount of food and water, which made this climb much easier overall; I never suffered from cramps or exhaustion. Soon I arrived at an unnamed sub-peak of Mount Haystack to its north.

Cairns along Little Haystack, Haystack's only named subpeak, from the knob at its north end.

Basin Mountain has two peaks, although only the larger is named and trailed.

From here it was a short hike to Little Haystack, another subpeak of Haystack, this one just above the treeline. There were some significant winds once I climbed above the trees, but not enough to make moving or breathing too difficult. Although a subpeak, Little Haystack's views were extraordinary due to its proximity to the nearby Mount Marcy and its views of the imposing Haystack to its immediate south.

Haystack's east limb intersects the peaks of the Colvin Range while seemingly endless foothills stretch beyond into the south.

This view of Haystack's summit was the widest possible with my narrow-angle lens.

This wider shot from my phone better shows its dominance of the view, albeit with sub-par processing.

Hikers on Haystack's half-mile distant summit.

Little Nippletop (R) and Haystack's limb, covered in shrub-habit alpine flora.

A view of nearby Mount Marcy, just over a mile to the east. Marcy is snow-free here; when I hiked it a day later last year, there was still a significant snow patch just below the summit. 

A west-facing panorama from Little Haystack's 4692 foot summit. Prominent peaks include Haystack (L), Skylight (C), and Marcy (R).

The hike between Little Haystack and Haystack proper follows a stretch of rock and shrubland known somewhat dramatically as the "Devil's Half Mile". Although there are a handful of steep exposed scrambles, I found the hike to be relatively easy, certainly far easier than the summit approach of Algonquin and several other Adirondack peaks. The summit wasn't too crowded; I shared space with two older men and a family whose young children were all already 46ers (having climbed all 46 Adirondack High Peaks). I stayed at the summit for half an hour, just long enough to get a bad sunburn.

Gothics mountain to the northeast, one of the most recognizable Adirondack peaks due to its many rockslides and bare faces.

A view ten miles northeast to Giant Mountain (L) and Rock Peak Ridge (R), seen over the col between  nearer Pyramid Peak and Sawteeth.

A sixty-two-mile view to Mount Mansfield. Although Mansfield is the highest peak in Vermont, a peak more well-known for its mountains, it's still dwarfed by even Mount Haystack.

Excellent weather made for incredibly long-distance views, including this 95-mile shot of Sommet Rond in southern Quebec.

The ridgeline atop Basin Mountain gives way to the extensive hills and flat plains of northern Vermont and southern Quebec. The massif on the horizon is Mount Yamaska, over a hundred miles away near Granby QC.

The trail took me within a few miles of Big Slide Mountain's summit (left of center). The more distant Cascade Mountain appears above and to the left.

Ski slopes scar the southern face of Whiteface Mountain, eighteen miles to the north.

Farms and fields line the fertile east shores of Lake Champlain, its southern extents hidden behind the nearer foothills.

To the southeast, Dix Mountain was somewhat prominent, with its rocky Beckhorn Peak appearing like a watchtower on its southern (right) side.

Layers upon layers of peaks and hills stretch out to the south beyond the Colvin Range.

A view of the Boreas Ponds, the namesake of a wilderness area at the southern end of the High Peaks region.

I love these views of total, unbroken wilderness, mountains and forests stretching out as far as the eye can see.

Little Nippletop takes the center of this shot of small peaks to Haystack's southwest.

A closer view of the western mountains, showing no end in sight.

"Skylight looks like it should be called Haystack" - a fellow hiker on seeing this view for the first time.

A closer shot of Skylight's summit shows no hikers visible among the man-sized cairns.

A close-up of Marcy's summit shows the same thing. While the mountain is usually very crowded, the combination of low traffic on weekdays and the US-Canada border closure have kept it sparsely populated.

Beautiful cliffs flank the lower slopes of Mount Marcy, invisible from its summit.

Three layers of mountains: Pyramid (front left), Giant (right), and Mansfield (back left).

A close view of some extraordinary barren rockfaces on the east slope of Gothics.

Looking down at Little Haystack from the summit, where some hikers can be seen beginning their descent.

One final shot of Mount Marcy, taken as I packed up and started heading back down.

An east-facing panorama from the summit of Mount Haystack, elevation 4961 ft.

As I descended from Haystack towards its subpeak, I decided to keep my camera out of my pack to get pictures of some of the views along the trail. The alpine environment above and along the treeline is very rare in New York, and it was well worth the minor risk to photograph it.

Numerous attempts to identify this alpine plant have proved unsuccessful. However, these small purple flowers coated the ground in many areas along the summit trail.

A view west reveals fields along the base of some distant hill, tinted blue by late spring haze.

A view of a cliff on the east side of Mount Marcy. Those trees on the top are full height; the cliff is several hundred feet tall, with the crevasse in the middle more than wide enough for someone to fall in.

The descent from Mount Haystack didn't proceed exactly as planned. I missed the trail junction just below Little Haystack and ended up on the wrong path. The trail I took brought me down on the east side of the mountain, in the col between Haystack and Basin. I only realized my mistake when the path began climbing back up along a route called "Shorey's Short Cut", which was more of a long cut for me.

I paused to get my bearings at this overlook along Shorey's Short Cut, looking out over the Colvin Range and foothills to the south.

This impressive view of Mount Haystack told me I was lost; it was on the opposite side from where I expected it to be.

The "short cut" added about two miles to my trip, which upset me probably more than it should have. My troubles were exasperated when I fell and my last water bottle broke, soaking my backpack and clothes. I carried the bottle in my hands the remaining eight miles. On my descent, I got lost where the trail runs parallel to John's Brook farther down the mountain, and a fellow hiker whom I had seen a few times over the course of the day stopped to help me find my way back. Overall the hike was definitely rigorous yet enjoyable, and taught me an excellent lesson of how much fun hiking can be when I properly take care of myself, bringing ample water and food supplies.