Haystack summit

Haystack summit
Originally uploaded by kenmore_photos.

Sunday came around and decisions were to be made. The guys had been telling me - for months it seems - all about their great hike last year to Haystack. Of course on Sunday they wanted to go up Mt. Marcy (a peak I’d been to)..... but I wanted to do Haystack !!! Actually it worked out really well. We were able to follow the same trail approaching these two mountians for most of the day. In the col between the two peaks I went left (to Haystack) and they went right (to Marcy). After my climb I went back down the col and then almost to the top of Marcy where I met the guys coming down and we then hiked back to the lodge. In the end we only hiked seperately for maybe 2 hours and we all got to do the peak we wanted so it worked out great.

Haystack has to be the one of the best hikes I've done in a long time. It is centrally located amongst a large group of the high peaks and the last 3/4 of a mile are above treeline with nice rock scrambles to the summit. I arrived on the summit completely alone. I had my lunch, took photos, dried my socks out and then finally packed up and headed down. Only then did I meet a group heading for the top.

In contrast, Mt Marcy - the highest mountain in NY - has a more gradual climbing trail and draws big crowds on a sunny day. Today was no exception. Once I got over to the Marcy trail it was like merging onto a superhighway. There was such a variety of people marching to the top. Some poorly equipped but all wanting to climb the highest peak. Families (their children toting teddy bears), college kids in running shoes, a kindly grandmother (who left clothes pins at the trail junctions to tell her "slower husband" which way she went(?)), young couples having heated discussions (because one was hell bent on summiting and the other "just wanted to go home!"). Dozens of people on the summit - it was a real zoo!! It certainly made for a contrast to my solo walk on Haystack just a short distance away.

That said it was a perfect day out and one I won't soon forget. We all made it back to a Mexican feast at the lodge and were in our bunks asleep by 9:30. A great weekend overall.