August 25, 2012 - Mount Haystack

The number of peaks Jack and Rich have left to climb before hitting our goal is getting very short.  Outstanding weather was in the forecast when we left the house early with the objective of getting a spot in the Garden parking lot before it filled up.  As it turned out, 7:20 AM wasn’t early enough on this busy day, so we parked at Marcy airfield and took the shuttle back to the trail head.  The attendant reminded us that the last shuttle departed at 7:00 PM, so we didn’t waste any time in getting started on the trail. 

Concerned about making good time, we moved pretty quickly along the Phelps Trail towards Johns Brook Lodge.  The only break we took was to stop to admire a deer that was sitting in the trail feeding off a newly felled tree; it seemed unfazed by us, even when we got within a few feet.  Once we reached JBL, we took a quick snack break sitting on the newly remodeled deck.  The trails were pretty crowded on this warm, late Summer day, and we met many interesting people along the route.  One group that we passed included a man who was climbing Haystack as his 46^th High Peak.

Given that all our recent hikes were along unmarked herd paths, being able to make fast progress along a wide, well marked trail was a luxury.  When we cleared the tree line onto Little Haystack, we were treated to a spectacular view of the bare intermediate peak, with big Mount Haystack behind it.  It was quite an impressive view.

After taking a few pictures, we quickly climbed the final pitch and made it to the summit before Noon (less than 4 hours).  We both agreed that the Haystack summit might have yielded the best view in the entire High Peaks region.  Since we were so far ahead of our schedule, we were able to have a leisurely lunch and spend almost an hour relaxing on top, swapping stories with numerous other hikers we met.  When the hiker we passed earlier arrived at the peak, we joined a number of others in cheering the newest 46er.

The summit started to become very crowded as more groups arrived, so we decided it would be a good time to start our descent towards the trail head.  The trip back down to the lower elevations was mostly uneventful, at least until Jack stumbled on a bee's nest that got him stung a couple of times on the legs.  Once we merged back onto the Phelps trail, we determined that we had plenty of slack in our schedule to catch the shuttle, and we would fill in that time with a visit to Bushnell Falls.

Having passed the juncture to the falls multiple times in the past, without any spare time to enjoy a visit, we were excited to finally be able to see that site.  We relaxed at the foot of the falls for almost 40 minutes, chatting with a father / daughter couple that was also cooling off following their own hike.  Back on the trail for the final segment, we were amused to discover that the deer we had spotted that morning was still feeding along the same section of trail.  On the return, we were able to get within inches of him without generating any alarm.

We got back to the Garden parking lot well before the 7:00 PM cut-off, and caught the shuttle back to our car with plenty of time to spare.  The total hike was 17.9 miles in 9:40; pretty quick considering 2 long breaks.  Forty-four High Peaks down; 2 to go.

August 19, 2012 - Mount Marshall

With only a few High Peaks left to conquer, and Summer winding down, Rich and Jack decided to take advantage of a clear, cool August weekend to make some more progress on the list.  Since Jack was facing a long run as part of cross country practice the next day, we decided on the shortest of the remaining hikes for this trip.  It is amazing that we now consider a 14+ mile hike to be a “short” trip.

We were a little later than planned in arriving at the Upper Works trail head at 8:30 AM, and slid into the last legitimate parking spot in that lot.  The sky was completely clear and the car’s thermostat registered 49 degrees when we started.  The route was familiar, as we had traversed the Calamity Brook trail a little over a month ago.  The familiarity and dry conditions made for fast travels, allowing us to complete the 4.5 mile trip to the Flowed Lands in well under 2 hours.  The trails were significantly more crowded than recent hikes, with lots of large groups travelling in both directions.  At the Flowed Lands trail register we met a pair of experienced 46ers that were leading a group of novice young girls up Mount Colden.

The cairn that marks the start of the herd path on Marshall was easily found, and after a brief snack at that juncture we started up the path.  The early going was through a beautiful dense forest along the Marshall Brook, but as soon as we gained elevation it allowed us to quickly climb the slide that encompasses much of the path that the brook follows.  Clouds were starting to build as we made progress up the path, but we never felt like there was any threat of rain.

At just under 4000’ elevation, we encountered a trio descending that was moving carefully.  In conversation, we learned that they were from Virginia Beach.  This was interesting in that our family just returned from a vacation there, and it allowed us to trade stories with the group.  As they left us, they told us that they had just left the summit 45 minutes prior, and we were close.  Fifteen minutes later we passed another pair, and quickly arrived on the summit just before Noon.  We had a good laugh at how slow the first group must be moving (or how bad they are at judging time).  There were no great views, but it was nice to see that a new sign marking the summit has been added since Rich visited the previous October. 

We spent about 25 minutes on top, ate our lunch, called Mom, and had a nice conversation with the couple from Burlington that we passed right before the summit.  They told us how they had done a bunch of hiking when they were younger, but can’t remember which peaks they climbed, so they are starting over in attempting all 46 High Peaks.  Just as we were leaving the summit, the pack of young girls that we met at the register arrived.  They informed us that they decided Colden was more aggressive a trip than they planned, and after talking to us decided to divert to Marshall.  We did get some good southerly and easterly views from an outcropping just south of the summit, and a nice view of Iroquois on the way down.

The descent went fast and smooth; predictably, we caught up to the Virginia Beach group, even with a long lunch on top.  The hike back to the Upper Works was pleasant, but uneventful.  It was nice to be able to be back on our way home before 4:00 PM, enabling us to be home in time for dinner with the family.

The total hike was about 14.4 miles in a quick 7:10.  Forty-three High Peaks down; 3 to go.