Ascent of Haystack Mountain on 2014-11-01| Others in Party: | Dan Petit
| | Date: | Saturday, November 1, 2014 | | Ascent Type: | Successful Summit Attained | | Peak: | Haystack Mountain | | Location: | USA-New York | | Elevation: | 2874 ft / 875 m |
Ascent Trip ReportWe initially set out to hike up McKenzie first, but missed the junction with the McKenzie trail. We didn't see the junction signage until our decent...the sign is posted on a tree about 10 feet off the ground, unusually high in my opinion. I remember on the ascent being interested in the old foundation and history from when the area was logged. For a while the trail goes along the old logging road and I remember pointing out to Dan that we were now leaving the old road and continuing on the hiking trail. I pointed out where the old road went because you could see the obviously man-made grade of the road as we went on to the hiking trail. That is where the junction was.
After leaving the old logging road, the trail soon crosses a small concrete dam. After the dam is when the trail finally starts to gain some elevation. There was a short steep, rocky section and before we knew it, we were at the summit. There was a solo gentleman and his dog up there. He told us about a bushwhack connector trail that led down the back side of Haystack down to the Jack Rabbit Trail, which then would easily lead us to the trail up McKenzie. We took his advice instead of retracing the trail back down to the junction we initially missed. This was great advice and I remember reading something about this a while ago when the 6er program began, but forgot to look into it for this trip. The bushwhack trail was extremely easy to follow and was well worn from others looking for a shortcut. It was a pretty short trail and led us right out to the Jack Rabbit Trail. We headed right and walked on to the junction with the trail up McKenzie.
Saranac Lake 6er #1 for me and Dan. |
| Summary Total Data | | Total Elevation Gain: | 1240 ft / 377 m | | Quality: | 5 (on a subjective 1-10 scale) | | Route Conditions: | Maintained Trail | | Gear Used: | Ski Poles | | Weather: | Cool, Calm, Partly Cloudy | | Ascent Statistics | | Gain on way in: | 1240 ft / 377 m | | Distance: | 3.3 mi / 5.3 km | | Route: | Trailhead to Haystack Mountain | | Start Trailhead: | Route 86 trailhead 1634 ft / 498 m | | Descent Statistics | Ascent Part of Trip: Haystack Mt. & McKenzie Mt.
Complete Trip Sequence:
Total Trip Gain: 1240 ft / 378 m Total Trip Loss: 2194 ft / 669 m |
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