A Hard Day's Night: A Haystack & Basin Story

After bailing on Basin & Haystack last weekend, Paul and I really weren't sure which trip to do this weekend. We kept a close watch on the weather forecast and while it wasn't great, it was much warmer and that was a bonus. It did look as though it may be windy, though.
We decided to head back to the Garden to make another attempt on Hay & Bay. We figured on getting an early start--to the tune of a midnight start. We thought that should give us a jump on the winds. It was forecast to be calm until about 10am or so, which meant we should be in good shape if we were on and off the peaks by then.
As we drove up, we discussed other options and once at the Garden, decided that sleeping for 2 or so hours was not worth it. We donned our gear and left the car about 9:30pm Friday night.
We've done a trip like this just once before. That was in the Dix Range last winter. The "hike through the night without sleep" hikes are really tough. They usually start out ok, but somewhere in the middle of the night we tend to go through some sort of "funk". It's hard to explain, but for me, I just feel very out of sorts. It's robotic in a way. A very odd feeling. Anyway, this started earlier than usual for me this time. In fact, it was a rough trip for quite a while. I fell at least three times in less than an hour. I kept tripping on my snowshoe and couldn't figure out what was going on. I wore different boots this time and while I can't be sure I can blame them, I will blame them because it makes me feel better and less like a total klutz. Things like this were playing with my mind though and I wondered if we should just turn back. I was feeling out of it.
We kept moving through the night and were thankful that Luna was as bright as she was. Her light even allowed us to hike for much of the hike without the use of our headlamps. The snow sparkled in the moonlight and it looked as though the trees had twinkling jewels in their branches. It was quite spectacular, even in our sleepless state.
We made it to Slant Rock and soon after to the Shorey Shortcut Trail. This trail goes to the col between Basin and Haystack. We opted to do Basin first as we thought we'd be more comfortable on Basin in the dark rather than Haystack. Shorey Shortcut was steep! Thankfully it was broken out and the trail was well traveled, but wow it was steep. We could see Basin from the trail and it looked intimidating in the bright moonlight. While the trail climbs steeply, it also drops down on the other side and loses quite a bit of elevation. You feel like you do all the work for nothing! We arrived at the col and made the turn for Basin. Early on it was fairly steep. We knew there was at least one seriously difficult spot on Basin and I was anxious about it. This spot does have a ladder, but it can often be covered in snow, ice, or a combination of both. People often use ropes to get down this section because it can be fairly dangerous in certain conditions, plus, the section is somewhat exposed and if you fall, well, you don't want to fall here. Anyway, we arrived at the ladder and found "some" of it partially exposed. I went first and got to the top, but when I tried to keep going, I was not getting good traction with my snowshoes. It is incredibly steep at this point, so Paul took my ice axe off my pack and handed it to me. A quick lesson in use as an anchor and off I went. Drive in the axe, use it for help, kick my toes in, pull the axe out, repeat. It was exhausting! Once I got to the top of the steeper section, I thought I might throw up from the combination of adrenaline, fear, and the physical exhaustion. That was seriously one of the most difficult things I've ever done. It wasn't long after that we arrived at the summit of Basin. It was a little windy, but nothing like it was last week. It wasn't cold either, which we both really appreciated. The nearby peaks were somewhat illuminated by the moonlight and we could see the alternating white and green lights from an airport in the distance. We took in our 42nd peak and I felt really proud of us for making the summit. After a short stay on top, we started back down and took care on the steep section. We used a very controlled butt-slide and also down-climbed using our ice axes. I was relieved to be off that section! And I have to really thank Paul for his help in getting up and down this section and honestly up and down every one of these peaks. I couldn't do it without him!!
Back to the col and we were on our way toward Haystack. There was about 4" of drifted snow to break through but it wasn't too bad. Paul and I took turns on the way up, but he somehow always breaks more trail than I do. : ) We arrived at the base of Little Haystack earlier than we'd anticipated. It was barely light out and we both agreed that things looked much better than they looked last week. We put on our crampons and started climbing Little Haystack. It was windy, but no problem. Paul helped me in the tricky sections and when we got toward the top, we could see Haystack in the near distance. It looked so tall! One must be very careful while descending Little Haystack. A fall could be treacherous here. We went slowly, took deliberate steps, and carefully descended. We traversed across and noticed the brightening sky. The colors in the eastern sky were brilliant. Beautiful oranges, reds, yellows. Absolutely gorgeous. We stopped many times for photo ops.
We started the ascent of Haystack. It was further than I thought. It seemed like when we arrived at what we thought was the summit, it turned out, it really wasn't the summit and further on we went. Soon though, we could see the summit rock and were full of smiles and happiness. We climbed up onto the summit rock and took in the splendid views. The sun began to rise and we tried to absorb it all. This was a very special moment for us. We took photos and admired the nearby peaks. Marcy was standing tall just across from us. Skylight, to its left was round, open, and was calling for us--that's the peak we're aiming to finish on. We had views of where we'd come from earlier--to Basin and beyond to Sawteeth, Gothics, and Giant. It was clear, crisp, gorgeous. The rising sun cast a pinkish glow on the snowcapped mountains and we took a few moments to just look at everything. The wind was starting to pick up though, so we dropped down below the summit rock and had some Dunkin' Donuts coffee from our thermos. Yum! And, reluctantly we began our journey back down.
We got across the traverse, took our time up Little Haystack, took more photos, and got down to the base of LH where we put our snowshoes back on and proceeded on our way. Took as many photos as we could and said goodbye to Haystack. It really is a spectacular peak.
As we descended, we heard the wind picking up above us. We really couldn't have timed things any better. We did see people on their way up, even the famous Pin Pin (from the online forum). This man is incredible. He has done MANY rounds of the 46. We don't know how many, but it's 90 something. That means he's climbed all 46 peaks over 90 "something" times! We know he just climbed Allen for the 100th time last week. Yes, you read that correctly! He is a legend in the Adirondacks. And the best part? He carries a stuffed bunny rabbit with him on his pack...they call him the rabbit because he hikes so fast. Cool.
We tried to keep a good pace as we headed out. I led a good deal of the way, but eventually the good pace slowed quite a bit. I wanted to lead us out quickly because it was starting to cloud up and I was concerned it might rain. It was so warm, compared to the past weekends we've been up there. We both shed our jackets, hats, and gloves for much of the hike out. It was great!
Once at Johns Brook Lodge we had 3.5 miles to go. That last 3.5 miles is always a killer. The mileage isn't difficult, but it's just tiring. Both of us had aching feet, tired muscles, and were fighting severe sleepiness. At one point, we heard some type of siren from far off. I looked at Paul and he said it was the noon fire whistle. What?! It was ONLY noon?! I didn't believe him! I guess I should have, considering we had summitted two peaks before 7am! We were back to the car at 12:30, changed clothes and Paul drove us to the rest stop. I was falling asleep on that short ride and Paul said he was really tired, so we decided to take a nap. We knew we were in no shape to drive ourselves home at that point. We took about a 3 hour nap and felt good enough to start on our way. We stopped for a meal along the way and got home around 9pm.
We went to bed reflecting on our successful day, feeling proud, excited, and confident. We're now at 43 peaks (both winter and regular). Only 3 peaks left to go: Marcy, Gray, and Skylight! We won't be heading up to the ADK's this Valentine's weekend since I have to work on Saturday. It will be strange not to go up. We've been up there for 5 weekends in a row! What will we do with ourselves?! I think I'm going to make cinnamon rolls on Sunday after we SLEEP IN!! : ) : )




Haystack & Basin 7 Feb 09