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.