Tweet
Hi there Fellow ADKers. I just returned to NYC last night from my trip to the Adirondacks. The weather was mostly nice and there were surprisingly few bugs!
On Sunday the 18th we did a warm-up hike up Buck Mt. It was a beautiful day and the views were great, but the highlight of our trip was without a doubt our backpacking trip in the Great Range on tuesday the 20th and wednesday the 21st.
THE CAST
Me (Lou, a 22 year-old drummer from NYC with a passion for hiking but limited experience in the mountains. No experience backpacking)
Joe (My brother, a 21 year-old marketing major at NYU with a passion for jogging and a taste for adventure. No experience backpacking)
Justin (A good friend of mine from college, also a 22 year-old drummer from NYC, with a newfound love for hiking that began with our hike up over the Wolfjaws, Armstrong and Gothics in 2004. No experience backpacking.)
Lisa (A 19 year-old vocalist from NYC, the singer in my band, Justin’s girlfriend, the third of the trio that hiked Gothics in ’04. No experience backpacking.)
Roman (A 25 year-old Honda-employed mechanic from NYC with a passion for fast cars. Had only hiked 2 mountains, Crane and Buck, before this trip. No experience backpacking.)
THE ROUTE
From the Garden Trailhead to JBL. From JBL to the Orebed Brook Trail. Up the Orebed Brook trail to the junction with the range trail in the Gothics-Saddleback Col. Up and Over Saddle Back and Basin on our way to the Sno Bird campsite in the Basin-Haystack Col. From the campsite to Haystack and back, then over the Shorey Shortcut to the Phelps trail to JBL. From JBL to the Garden. Aside from the trail to JBL, none of us had even been on any of these trails. Duration: 2 days (6/20, 6/21)
THE OUTFIT
2 2-person tents for the five of us, one of them rented from tents and trails in NYC.
4 Lafuma extreme 600 sleeping bags. Rated to 48 degrees. 45$ each
1 thicker, warmer down sleeping bag.
1 inflatable mat
1 thick foam mat
1 thin foam aerobics mat
1 cloth sleeping bag to unzip and use as a 2–person mat.
2 headlamps
1 energizer battery-powered lantern.
1 Katadyn mini water filter
1 first-aid kit
1 large blue tarp
2 packs of water-proof matches.
3 ponchos (For 5 People)
5 fleece jackets.
5 sets of thermal underwear
5 extra pairs of socks
5 knit hats
1 pair of North Face Hiking Boots.
4 pairs of New Balance Sneakers
2 large aluminum-frame packs
2 normal backpacks with waists traps, one of them a camelback with hydration pack.
1 Jansport backpack with only shoulder straps
20 PB&J sandwiches, 12 hard-boiled eggs, 5 brownies, trailmix, dried Goji Berries, 10 Vitacoco natural Electrolyte-replacing drinks.
0 bear canisters
1 Adirondack High Peaks Guide Book.
THE HIKE
The night before we left, I slept only a few hours because I was up worrying that we were unprepared for the trip. I had realized that I only had 3 mats, one of them a very thin one, for people to sleep on inside the tents. Two people would have to sleep with nothing between their sleeping bag and the cold ground at Sno Bird but a thin layer of tent. To make matters worse, 4 of the 5 of us had bought Lafuma Extreme 600 sleeping bags, which are pretty much the lightest (and coldest) bag you could buy. At some point while tossing and turning I decided that we had to bring an extra sleeping bag that had been lent to us so that we could unzip it and use it as a pad. This realization ended up being crucial to the success of our trip.
The next morning (tuesday)we had planned on leaving by 9, but naturally we didn’t end up leaving our house near Lake Luzerne until about 11:15. Then, fifteen minutes into our drive, I realized that I had forgotten the stakes for my tent so we were forced to turn back.
When all was said and done, we didn’t reach the garden trailhead until about 12:45. We had only 7.5 hours before dark, and we had 9 miles of intense hiking to do. We were in a race against the sun. Justin and I were carrying the large aluminum-frame packs containing the tents tarps, and mats, and the others were carry food water and clothes.We signed in and set off.
As usual the first 3.5 miles on the way to JBL from the garden flew by in no time at all, and we were full of enthusiasm and excitement. Just past JBL on the way to Orebed Brook, I made the bonehead move of hiking with my head down, so I missed the junction with the trail and we headed a half-mile in the wrong direction, towards the wolfjaws. Once I finally realized my mistake we practically ran back down to the junction and began are push up the Orebed trail.
Just as the trail began to get steeper, the weather began to get cloudier and three of our five hikers began to move slower. Joe and I were setting a blistering pace up the trail, but I was forced to constantly stop and yell back to the other three to keep up the pace. I knew that we didn’t have much time, and the last thing I wanted was to get stuck in the dark trying to set up camp in a cold rain (which was forecasted for the evening).
When we came to the section where we had to scramble up over steep wet rocks, I noticed some ominous dark clouds hovering above us. Our pace came to a crawl as each rock provided a new challenge for us to conquer with our heavy packs. At one spot, Lisa slipped and cut her hand pretty badly. We had to stop completely as we found the med-kit and tended to her wound. We pushed on, .but were forced to stop again once I realized the Orebed Brook would be our last water source until we reached Haystack Brook, all the way on the other side of Saddle back and Basin. As high up the trail as we were, Orebed brook was more like a trickle with a few puddles, so we found a nice looking puddle and gave my brand-new Katadyn filter its first use. The water did retain a bit of its brownish hue, but it tasted much better than it looked!
We reached the junction with the ridge trail and three of us had already donned our 3 ponchos, as the weather was threatening to soak us at any moment. I noted the “no camping” sign in the col and realized that this would be where we would end up camping if we didn’t make it over the Saddleback cliffs. We continued along the ridge trail and ascended towards the summit of Saddleback, all the while feeling like the higher we got, the whiter,winder and and mistier it got. Sure enough, when we reached the top, we came to a lookout of pure white nothingness accompanied by howling winds and biting gusts of mist. We were in a cloud! What a surreal feeling, looking out into a sea of dense white. As the others sat and ate sandwiches, I continued on to survey to stretch of trail ahead. My guidebook was right. All of you here on the board were right. The cliffs on saddleback are impressive and intimidating indeed! Especially when the winds are howling and mist is gusting and the cloud is so thick that you can’t see the bottom. I returned to the group with a concerned look in my eye. They could tell that I had seen something kinda crazy. Lisa started to get scared and was urging that we turn back. I calculated that we only had 2.5 miles left to hike before we reaching the campsite. I knew that the cliffs had been descended in wet conditions with full packs before (Thanks Lumberzac
)I looked around at my group and their eyes seemed to be saying “Its your call Lou. You’re the Leader”. Then, I looked at Joe. Joe had a severe, determined look in his eye. “This is it.” he said “This is gonna be epic”. There was no trace of competitiveness or foolishness in his voice. I nodded, and we headed on, beginning our descent into the complete unknown.
It was 6:15 P.M. With our heavy packs weighing us down, the going was slow as we repeatedly stopped and removed our packs for the last person to lower down to us. On one stretch of super-steep rock, I was lowering myself down on my butt when I noticed that my pack had caught on the rock. Suddenly the wind kicked up and my poncho blew up into my face, threatening to suffocate me. I could budge with the pack on, so I desperately tore off the pack and threw it off the cliff. The others thought I had gone crazy. I managed to lower myself to the bottom of the rock and found my pack intact. I looked up and saw the other four still struggling down the cliff. Lisa slipped and fell right into Justin, who managed to keep his balance and block her fall. I was yelling instructions at the top of my lungs to be heard over the wind, telling them to go one at a time, and very slow. As roman was inching down on his butt he lost control and started sliding down the rock. As he was passing by, Justin threw his arm out and managed to stop his slide. Horah for Justin!!!!
Once we hit the bottom of the cliffs, I looked back up at what we had done and was screaming profanities back at the mountain in victorious fashion. We had no time to savor our accomplishment, however, because we had to push on over Basin to get to camp before dark. The hike up to Basin is a blur because we all did it with such intense focus on getting to the top. Plus, there were no views to speak of because we were once again up in the clouds.
We summited Basin and, without stopping, we headed down into the long, steep descent of Basin’s W face. Our descent was highlighted by a momentary clearing of the cloud that gave us our first views of the day; mighty Haystack looming above us. As the clouds parted we could see clear skies and pinkish sunset to the south, but our view was fleeting as the mist rolled in again and we continued on.
In the Basin-Haystack Col, we passed the junction with Shorey Shortcut and I knew that we had just a bit more climbing to do to reach the Sno Bird campsite. We hiked on and came to a small clearing. Directly to our left below the trail was a tiny patch of moss with a downed tree through the middle. Could this be the campsite? I saw a sign further down the trail marking the junction with the trail to upper Ausable Lake, so I knew that we were in the right place. The five of us hesitantly decided to attempt to pitch our tents in the little patch below the trail. We had no choice really, because dusk was setting in. I inspected the spot, and found that if I pushed my hand into the moss, water came up. We were going to setup camp in a bog! We wasted no time clearing the debris from the ground, and we layed out our tarp across the moss. We had just barely enough room for two tents. As Justin was pitching his, I began to get nervous that the site wouldn’t work, that the ground would be so wet that it would leak over the tarp and we would get soaked through. I managed to get my tent up just as it was getting dark, so I , removed my wet, muddy shoes and climbed in. I immediately took off my wet clothes and put on my dry thermal underwear. My brother entered and did the same. We unrolled out two mats and, to my surprise, we were warm and cozy in the tent. The other three had piled into their tent and layed out there mats, one of them a thin excersize mat, and another one an unrolled sleeping bag.
As we attempted to drift off to sleep, Justin kept thinking he heard Bears. He was scared that the bears would smell our food, which was still in our packs just twenty feet away from our tents. Sure enough, his fear spread to me and Lisa and the three of us tossed and turned the whole night freaking out whenever we heard a sound.
We had set our cell phone alarm to go off at 4am so that we could get to Haystack for sunrise. I was awake most of the night, and as it neared 4, I noticed my brother moaning and shivering as he lay in his paper thin sleeping bag. I noticed that he was resting his head on a pile of damp clothing. When the alarm sounded, he complained of a headache and started asking for Tylenol. I told him that we didn’t bring any, and he quickly got up and stumbled out of the tent to vomit. Now I was really worried that Joe was getting sick. However, once he was finished throwing up, he said he felt much better and was ready to hike. What a trooper! Roman awoke and said that he had froze over night. He was sleeping on the thin aerobics mat, and he said the ground had chilled him to the bone. NOTE TO SELF - BRING 5 REAL CAMPING MATS. Lisa awoke and went off to pee. Then she let out a yell. She had found the actual campsite, which was about 15 feet off the trail along a little path. We had missed that path completely and camped in a mossy bog instead. DOH
We piled out and put our wet sneakers back on, with pieces of plastic bags inside to keep our socks dry-ish. I had no dry clothes, so I was forced to hike in my thermal underwear and a fleece. Instantly we were racing up the trail, no longer burdened by our heavy packs. We came to the trail junction leading to the left towards Haystack, and we began our scramble over COLD rock face. The night air must have chilled these rocks, because our hands came back stinging every time we used them to get up and over the rock .By the time Joe and I reached little Haystack, the sun was just poking out from behind the range. What a sight!!! The sky was perfectly clear and we could see forever.
The others had fallen behind, so Joe and I wasted no time descending the steep drop off of Little Haystack into the mini-col and back up towards Haystack. I had eaten nothing but a brownie and had just a few swigs of water, but I still practically ran up over the rocks towards the summit. However, as Joe continued on, I made a wrong turn, ignoring the yellow arrows, and found myself stuck on some rocks with nothing but thick brambles all around me. I looked up and saw the summit, but couldn’t get to it without heading through the thicket. I didn’t want to waste any time, so I jumped through the bushes and grabbed and clambered and found my way back up to the trail. Sorry alpine vegetation. I hope that didn’t hurt too bad!
I looked ahead of me and saw Joe standing at the summit, looking back at me with his hair blowing in the wind. I reached the top and we had a moment, hugging each other with relief and pride. The view at sunrise was beyond belief. There was a thick fog rolling through the valleys, so it looked like the mountains were rising out of a sea of mist. Anyone who has been up in the high peaks at dawn must know what I mean. Its almost impossible to describe how beautiful this looked. I looked back at Little Haystack and saw the other three atop the false peak, not venturing any further. Then I remembered that Joe and I weren’t carrying any water, that Lisa had been carrying it for the two of us. I screamed at them from across the peaks that they weren’t at Haystack yet, that they should keep going. They yelled back that they couldn’t keep going, it was too steep. I yelled that we needed water, but they still didn’t budge from Little Haystack. Then they turned around and it looked like they had turned back. I was very frustrated that Joe and I hadn’t brought our own water from camp, and that the others didn’t make it to Haystack. After a very brief stay atop the summit, I decided we had to go back because I didn’t want the two of us to be stranded with no water. Goodbye Haystack!!
On our way back we found them crouching behind a rock on Little Haystack, so we stopped, drank some water, enjoyed more views, and took a few pictures of the five of us. The wind was strong so we soon decided to leave this beautiful view and head back to camp.
We packed our stuff, applied moleskin to our blisters, freshened the plastic bags in our wet shoes, put on our heavy packs, and began our hike back to the car. I hiked the rest of the day in thermal underwear, as the rest of my clothes were soaked. I probably looked really funny to anyone that passed us by.
I had mistakenly told the group that the way down was a gradual descent all the way to JBL, and they were all very sore with me when we found that the Shorey Shortcut was actually extremely steep going. *****BEWARE****** THE PORTION OF THE SHORTCUT THAT DESCENDS DOWN TO SLANT ROCK IS IN VERY BAD SHAPE, WITH MASSIVE BLOWDOWN AND SECTIONS OF IMPASSABLE TRAIL. BUSHWACKING IS NECESSARY TO GET AROUND THE BLOWDOWN***** The 1.1 miles from the junction with the range trail to Slant rock was, without a doubt, the LONGEST 1.1 miles I’ve ever hiked. I was sure wed gone 3 miles once we reached slant rock. What a steep, rugged trail that “shortcut” is.
The hike towards JBL along the Phelps trail was very pleasant, and we took one extended break to sit on the rocks in Johns Brook and let our tired bare feet dip in the brook and bake in the sun. What a beautiful day and what a beautiful location. Now I know why they set up a lodge there. I could spend all day relaxing on Johns Brook.
Of course, the last 3.5 heading back to the garden felt like an interminable death march. Around every bend I was expecting to see cars, but no cars were there. I asked one hiker who was going in the opposite direction “How much farther”? “Just over a half-mile”, he said. I trudged on and finally came to a sign. Surely it would say .1, maybe .2 miles to the garden. NO. It read.5 miles to go
!!!!!! What a torturous last half-mile that was. I was the last of the five of us to return to the car, and I don’t think I would have made it if the garden was any further away.
WE MADE IT!!!!!!
We stuffed our faces at the Noon Mark (where I limped in wearing nothing but blue thermal underwear and Muddy sneakers), and drove home with music blasting in victorious fashion. What an amazing and humbling trip through the great range. Can’t wait to do it again. Only more prepared and better equipped. – LouTheMeXiKaN
On Sunday the 18th we did a warm-up hike up Buck Mt. It was a beautiful day and the views were great, but the highlight of our trip was without a doubt our backpacking trip in the Great Range on tuesday the 20th and wednesday the 21st.
THE CAST
Me (Lou, a 22 year-old drummer from NYC with a passion for hiking but limited experience in the mountains. No experience backpacking)
Joe (My brother, a 21 year-old marketing major at NYU with a passion for jogging and a taste for adventure. No experience backpacking)
Justin (A good friend of mine from college, also a 22 year-old drummer from NYC, with a newfound love for hiking that began with our hike up over the Wolfjaws, Armstrong and Gothics in 2004. No experience backpacking.)
Lisa (A 19 year-old vocalist from NYC, the singer in my band, Justin’s girlfriend, the third of the trio that hiked Gothics in ’04. No experience backpacking.)
Roman (A 25 year-old Honda-employed mechanic from NYC with a passion for fast cars. Had only hiked 2 mountains, Crane and Buck, before this trip. No experience backpacking.)
THE ROUTE
From the Garden Trailhead to JBL. From JBL to the Orebed Brook Trail. Up the Orebed Brook trail to the junction with the range trail in the Gothics-Saddleback Col. Up and Over Saddle Back and Basin on our way to the Sno Bird campsite in the Basin-Haystack Col. From the campsite to Haystack and back, then over the Shorey Shortcut to the Phelps trail to JBL. From JBL to the Garden. Aside from the trail to JBL, none of us had even been on any of these trails. Duration: 2 days (6/20, 6/21)
THE OUTFIT
2 2-person tents for the five of us, one of them rented from tents and trails in NYC.
4 Lafuma extreme 600 sleeping bags. Rated to 48 degrees. 45$ each
1 thicker, warmer down sleeping bag.
1 inflatable mat
1 thick foam mat
1 thin foam aerobics mat
1 cloth sleeping bag to unzip and use as a 2–person mat.
2 headlamps
1 energizer battery-powered lantern.
1 Katadyn mini water filter
1 first-aid kit
1 large blue tarp
2 packs of water-proof matches.
3 ponchos (For 5 People)
5 fleece jackets.
5 sets of thermal underwear
5 extra pairs of socks
5 knit hats
1 pair of North Face Hiking Boots.
4 pairs of New Balance Sneakers
2 large aluminum-frame packs
2 normal backpacks with waists traps, one of them a camelback with hydration pack.
1 Jansport backpack with only shoulder straps
20 PB&J sandwiches, 12 hard-boiled eggs, 5 brownies, trailmix, dried Goji Berries, 10 Vitacoco natural Electrolyte-replacing drinks.
0 bear canisters
1 Adirondack High Peaks Guide Book.
THE HIKE
The night before we left, I slept only a few hours because I was up worrying that we were unprepared for the trip. I had realized that I only had 3 mats, one of them a very thin one, for people to sleep on inside the tents. Two people would have to sleep with nothing between their sleeping bag and the cold ground at Sno Bird but a thin layer of tent. To make matters worse, 4 of the 5 of us had bought Lafuma Extreme 600 sleeping bags, which are pretty much the lightest (and coldest) bag you could buy. At some point while tossing and turning I decided that we had to bring an extra sleeping bag that had been lent to us so that we could unzip it and use it as a pad. This realization ended up being crucial to the success of our trip.
The next morning (tuesday)we had planned on leaving by 9, but naturally we didn’t end up leaving our house near Lake Luzerne until about 11:15. Then, fifteen minutes into our drive, I realized that I had forgotten the stakes for my tent so we were forced to turn back.
When all was said and done, we didn’t reach the garden trailhead until about 12:45. We had only 7.5 hours before dark, and we had 9 miles of intense hiking to do. We were in a race against the sun. Justin and I were carrying the large aluminum-frame packs containing the tents tarps, and mats, and the others were carry food water and clothes.We signed in and set off.
As usual the first 3.5 miles on the way to JBL from the garden flew by in no time at all, and we were full of enthusiasm and excitement. Just past JBL on the way to Orebed Brook, I made the bonehead move of hiking with my head down, so I missed the junction with the trail and we headed a half-mile in the wrong direction, towards the wolfjaws. Once I finally realized my mistake we practically ran back down to the junction and began are push up the Orebed trail.
Just as the trail began to get steeper, the weather began to get cloudier and three of our five hikers began to move slower. Joe and I were setting a blistering pace up the trail, but I was forced to constantly stop and yell back to the other three to keep up the pace. I knew that we didn’t have much time, and the last thing I wanted was to get stuck in the dark trying to set up camp in a cold rain (which was forecasted for the evening).
When we came to the section where we had to scramble up over steep wet rocks, I noticed some ominous dark clouds hovering above us. Our pace came to a crawl as each rock provided a new challenge for us to conquer with our heavy packs. At one spot, Lisa slipped and cut her hand pretty badly. We had to stop completely as we found the med-kit and tended to her wound. We pushed on, .but were forced to stop again once I realized the Orebed Brook would be our last water source until we reached Haystack Brook, all the way on the other side of Saddle back and Basin. As high up the trail as we were, Orebed brook was more like a trickle with a few puddles, so we found a nice looking puddle and gave my brand-new Katadyn filter its first use. The water did retain a bit of its brownish hue, but it tasted much better than it looked!
We reached the junction with the ridge trail and three of us had already donned our 3 ponchos, as the weather was threatening to soak us at any moment. I noted the “no camping” sign in the col and realized that this would be where we would end up camping if we didn’t make it over the Saddleback cliffs. We continued along the ridge trail and ascended towards the summit of Saddleback, all the while feeling like the higher we got, the whiter,winder and and mistier it got. Sure enough, when we reached the top, we came to a lookout of pure white nothingness accompanied by howling winds and biting gusts of mist. We were in a cloud! What a surreal feeling, looking out into a sea of dense white. As the others sat and ate sandwiches, I continued on to survey to stretch of trail ahead. My guidebook was right. All of you here on the board were right. The cliffs on saddleback are impressive and intimidating indeed! Especially when the winds are howling and mist is gusting and the cloud is so thick that you can’t see the bottom. I returned to the group with a concerned look in my eye. They could tell that I had seen something kinda crazy. Lisa started to get scared and was urging that we turn back. I calculated that we only had 2.5 miles left to hike before we reaching the campsite. I knew that the cliffs had been descended in wet conditions with full packs before (Thanks Lumberzac
)I looked around at my group and their eyes seemed to be saying “Its your call Lou. You’re the Leader”. Then, I looked at Joe. Joe had a severe, determined look in his eye. “This is it.” he said “This is gonna be epic”. There was no trace of competitiveness or foolishness in his voice. I nodded, and we headed on, beginning our descent into the complete unknown.It was 6:15 P.M. With our heavy packs weighing us down, the going was slow as we repeatedly stopped and removed our packs for the last person to lower down to us. On one stretch of super-steep rock, I was lowering myself down on my butt when I noticed that my pack had caught on the rock. Suddenly the wind kicked up and my poncho blew up into my face, threatening to suffocate me. I could budge with the pack on, so I desperately tore off the pack and threw it off the cliff. The others thought I had gone crazy. I managed to lower myself to the bottom of the rock and found my pack intact. I looked up and saw the other four still struggling down the cliff. Lisa slipped and fell right into Justin, who managed to keep his balance and block her fall. I was yelling instructions at the top of my lungs to be heard over the wind, telling them to go one at a time, and very slow. As roman was inching down on his butt he lost control and started sliding down the rock. As he was passing by, Justin threw his arm out and managed to stop his slide. Horah for Justin!!!!
Once we hit the bottom of the cliffs, I looked back up at what we had done and was screaming profanities back at the mountain in victorious fashion. We had no time to savor our accomplishment, however, because we had to push on over Basin to get to camp before dark. The hike up to Basin is a blur because we all did it with such intense focus on getting to the top. Plus, there were no views to speak of because we were once again up in the clouds.
We summited Basin and, without stopping, we headed down into the long, steep descent of Basin’s W face. Our descent was highlighted by a momentary clearing of the cloud that gave us our first views of the day; mighty Haystack looming above us. As the clouds parted we could see clear skies and pinkish sunset to the south, but our view was fleeting as the mist rolled in again and we continued on.
In the Basin-Haystack Col, we passed the junction with Shorey Shortcut and I knew that we had just a bit more climbing to do to reach the Sno Bird campsite. We hiked on and came to a small clearing. Directly to our left below the trail was a tiny patch of moss with a downed tree through the middle. Could this be the campsite? I saw a sign further down the trail marking the junction with the trail to upper Ausable Lake, so I knew that we were in the right place. The five of us hesitantly decided to attempt to pitch our tents in the little patch below the trail. We had no choice really, because dusk was setting in. I inspected the spot, and found that if I pushed my hand into the moss, water came up. We were going to setup camp in a bog! We wasted no time clearing the debris from the ground, and we layed out our tarp across the moss. We had just barely enough room for two tents. As Justin was pitching his, I began to get nervous that the site wouldn’t work, that the ground would be so wet that it would leak over the tarp and we would get soaked through. I managed to get my tent up just as it was getting dark, so I , removed my wet, muddy shoes and climbed in. I immediately took off my wet clothes and put on my dry thermal underwear. My brother entered and did the same. We unrolled out two mats and, to my surprise, we were warm and cozy in the tent. The other three had piled into their tent and layed out there mats, one of them a thin excersize mat, and another one an unrolled sleeping bag.
As we attempted to drift off to sleep, Justin kept thinking he heard Bears. He was scared that the bears would smell our food, which was still in our packs just twenty feet away from our tents. Sure enough, his fear spread to me and Lisa and the three of us tossed and turned the whole night freaking out whenever we heard a sound.
We had set our cell phone alarm to go off at 4am so that we could get to Haystack for sunrise. I was awake most of the night, and as it neared 4, I noticed my brother moaning and shivering as he lay in his paper thin sleeping bag. I noticed that he was resting his head on a pile of damp clothing. When the alarm sounded, he complained of a headache and started asking for Tylenol. I told him that we didn’t bring any, and he quickly got up and stumbled out of the tent to vomit. Now I was really worried that Joe was getting sick. However, once he was finished throwing up, he said he felt much better and was ready to hike. What a trooper! Roman awoke and said that he had froze over night. He was sleeping on the thin aerobics mat, and he said the ground had chilled him to the bone. NOTE TO SELF - BRING 5 REAL CAMPING MATS. Lisa awoke and went off to pee. Then she let out a yell. She had found the actual campsite, which was about 15 feet off the trail along a little path. We had missed that path completely and camped in a mossy bog instead. DOH
We piled out and put our wet sneakers back on, with pieces of plastic bags inside to keep our socks dry-ish. I had no dry clothes, so I was forced to hike in my thermal underwear and a fleece. Instantly we were racing up the trail, no longer burdened by our heavy packs. We came to the trail junction leading to the left towards Haystack, and we began our scramble over COLD rock face. The night air must have chilled these rocks, because our hands came back stinging every time we used them to get up and over the rock .By the time Joe and I reached little Haystack, the sun was just poking out from behind the range. What a sight!!! The sky was perfectly clear and we could see forever.
The others had fallen behind, so Joe and I wasted no time descending the steep drop off of Little Haystack into the mini-col and back up towards Haystack. I had eaten nothing but a brownie and had just a few swigs of water, but I still practically ran up over the rocks towards the summit. However, as Joe continued on, I made a wrong turn, ignoring the yellow arrows, and found myself stuck on some rocks with nothing but thick brambles all around me. I looked up and saw the summit, but couldn’t get to it without heading through the thicket. I didn’t want to waste any time, so I jumped through the bushes and grabbed and clambered and found my way back up to the trail. Sorry alpine vegetation. I hope that didn’t hurt too bad!
I looked ahead of me and saw Joe standing at the summit, looking back at me with his hair blowing in the wind. I reached the top and we had a moment, hugging each other with relief and pride. The view at sunrise was beyond belief. There was a thick fog rolling through the valleys, so it looked like the mountains were rising out of a sea of mist. Anyone who has been up in the high peaks at dawn must know what I mean. Its almost impossible to describe how beautiful this looked. I looked back at Little Haystack and saw the other three atop the false peak, not venturing any further. Then I remembered that Joe and I weren’t carrying any water, that Lisa had been carrying it for the two of us. I screamed at them from across the peaks that they weren’t at Haystack yet, that they should keep going. They yelled back that they couldn’t keep going, it was too steep. I yelled that we needed water, but they still didn’t budge from Little Haystack. Then they turned around and it looked like they had turned back. I was very frustrated that Joe and I hadn’t brought our own water from camp, and that the others didn’t make it to Haystack. After a very brief stay atop the summit, I decided we had to go back because I didn’t want the two of us to be stranded with no water. Goodbye Haystack!!
On our way back we found them crouching behind a rock on Little Haystack, so we stopped, drank some water, enjoyed more views, and took a few pictures of the five of us. The wind was strong so we soon decided to leave this beautiful view and head back to camp.
We packed our stuff, applied moleskin to our blisters, freshened the plastic bags in our wet shoes, put on our heavy packs, and began our hike back to the car. I hiked the rest of the day in thermal underwear, as the rest of my clothes were soaked. I probably looked really funny to anyone that passed us by.
I had mistakenly told the group that the way down was a gradual descent all the way to JBL, and they were all very sore with me when we found that the Shorey Shortcut was actually extremely steep going. *****BEWARE****** THE PORTION OF THE SHORTCUT THAT DESCENDS DOWN TO SLANT ROCK IS IN VERY BAD SHAPE, WITH MASSIVE BLOWDOWN AND SECTIONS OF IMPASSABLE TRAIL. BUSHWACKING IS NECESSARY TO GET AROUND THE BLOWDOWN***** The 1.1 miles from the junction with the range trail to Slant rock was, without a doubt, the LONGEST 1.1 miles I’ve ever hiked. I was sure wed gone 3 miles once we reached slant rock. What a steep, rugged trail that “shortcut” is.
The hike towards JBL along the Phelps trail was very pleasant, and we took one extended break to sit on the rocks in Johns Brook and let our tired bare feet dip in the brook and bake in the sun. What a beautiful day and what a beautiful location. Now I know why they set up a lodge there. I could spend all day relaxing on Johns Brook.
Of course, the last 3.5 heading back to the garden felt like an interminable death march. Around every bend I was expecting to see cars, but no cars were there. I asked one hiker who was going in the opposite direction “How much farther”? “Just over a half-mile”, he said. I trudged on and finally came to a sign. Surely it would say .1, maybe .2 miles to the garden. NO. It read.5 miles to go
!!!!!! What a torturous last half-mile that was. I was the last of the five of us to return to the car, and I don’t think I would have made it if the garden was any further away.WE MADE IT!!!!!!
We stuffed our faces at the Noon Mark (where I limped in wearing nothing but blue thermal underwear and Muddy sneakers), and drove home with music blasting in victorious fashion. What an amazing and humbling trip through the great range. Can’t wait to do it again. Only more prepared and better equipped.
– LouTheMeXiKaN
Hey there Lou how are you today..CONGRATS ..I bet you all are feeling much better now after the hike.. 
...Myself and a friend of mine did this exact hike the opposite way almost 4 years ago this same weekend 
When we finally reached the summit it was nice to know this day was almost done 
It was windy and drizzly again so we pitched the 2-person tent under the trees for more cover, broke out the stove, ate, obtained and purified water for the next day...When we crashed and awoke the next morning it was completely refreshing to see the sun breaking through the clouds after not seeing it for 2 days 
Comment