Trip Report – 31 Jul to 3 Aug 2009 – Adirondacks – Marcy, Haystack?

This was my 2nd trip to the Adirondacks, first one in the summer. For this trip we decided to head out via John’s Brook and Bushnell Falls. The target was to climb Mt. Marcy and Mt. Haystack.

Location: Adirondack State Park, New York, USA
Trip Type: Hiking, Camping, multi-day
Participants: Sunshine, Wissell, Marty B, Dan L.
Distance: approx 57km total of hiking
Features: John’s brook, Marcy Peak, ADK 46er

Day 1 – Arrival to Adirondacks

Wissell, Dan L., Marty B and I met up early afternoon on the 31st, packed in the same car and headed out on the 4hr drive to the trailhead. During the car ride, we found a bunch of action figures from Dan’s son and decided to take them with us on our adventure. After prepping our gear we headed out and settled in to the bear brook lean-to for the night.

Sunset over mountains obscured by clouds with old barn on grass field with flowers and forest in distance — Beautiful view on the drive at the start of the mountain range

Sunset over mountain range with slight fog and clouds creating vivid colours — Beautiful view on the drive at the start of the mountain range

Day 2 – Basecamp at Bushnell Falls & Mt. Marcy

The next day we packed up and made the treck to our more permanent camp at Bushnell Falls lean-to.

The Flash action figure sitting on a lean-to roof partially covered by green moss — The Flash sitting on our lean-to

Hikers in forest with large backpacks crossing a series of bridges over creeks — The Flash sitting on our lean-to

Next up, switch to daypacks, grab a little lunch and head up to Marcy. However, it looked like the trail from Bushnell Falls to Marcy is seldomly used, for a good portion of the hike we were not sure if we were on the trail or if we were in the adjacent creek!

The Flash action figure holding a baby carrot next to bowls, baby carrots, iceberg lettuce and plates in a forest — The flash eating lunch!

trail and brook between Bushnell Falls and Mt. Marcy in Adirondack Park showing difficulty of trail identification — The flash eating lunch!

We finally reached the peak, grabbed a video, a couple photos (including one with an awesome steward) and flew a kite :).

Video on top of Mt. Marcy

View from top of Mt. Marcy with mountain range in the background and cloudy sky — View from top of Mt. Marcy

Man flying a kite on top of Mt. Marcy with partial cloudy sky and mountains in the background — View from top of Mt. Marcy

We hiked back down to our lean-to and rested a bit before bedtime.

Hiker laying down in lean-to on backpack at night — Wissell resting after long day

Hiker laying down in lean-to on mattress at night — Wissell resting after long day

Day 3 – Climbing Mt. Haystack??

Our target for the day was to get up Haystack. Unfortunately this day was just a downpour with a LOT of wind. Without seeing much due to the clouds and hiking for so long, it really felt like we were going around the mountain rather than up it. At some points Marty B and I were discussing how we must have crossed our trail and gone in circles, it was really disorientating. It was wet and in some parts steep and generally very… uh.. interesting. Thankfully we made it up just below the treeline and decided to bolt to the top without our bags, take a few quick pictures and head back down.

Explaining steepness of trail, rain and strong wind

Wet hiker with poles standing next to trail with steep drop — Sunshine wet and laughing at the trail steepness and wind

Man in rain jacket and gaitors standing at the top of rocks taking pictures with fog in background, water droplets on lens — Sunshine wet and laughing at the trail steepness and wind

Top of little haystack (though it was haystack) with wind, rain and no visibility

We were happy to have reached the “top” and really cold from the wind and rain so we headed back to camp. It really was only a few months/years later we realized that we hadn’t actually peaked Haystack but only little Haystack. We couldn’t see anything around and we were at the highest point but not knowing the terrain/trail we turned around before we actually hit the peak (you have to go down then back up). So essentially at the time we did Haystack, but in retrospect we failed and missed it.

On the way down, Wissell took the time to have a little bath with the appropriate safety gear of course! We then prepped dinner and played cards to pass time before bed.

low-visiblity fog rocky landscape in foreground and hikers further below — Hiking down Little Haystack

Man with backpack on very muddy hiking trail stepping on logs and calculating next steps — Hiking down Little Haystack

Wissell with floaties bathing in the brook

Day 4 – Heading back home

We visited Bushnell falls in the morning taking a few pictures (and spotting a deer). Then packed up camp and headed back to the trailhead happy to have a wonderful time and climbing two (ish) peaks. Unfortunately our timing was bad for the border crossing and we had to wait a very very long time to go through the border. If I recall correctly, the border outpost had just been moved from the Reserve into Cornwall as the border guards had recently been fitted with sidearms and protests forced the original border outpost to close. (Since then there is a more permanent outpost and the bridge was redone). In any case, the Flash thought walking might be faster :).