Haystack via Elk Lake

[mcpeak]

My guns have been silent for quite some time now (I try to avoid the summer season and have been busy moving and job searching) so I was glad to get back into the mountains.

Left Elk Lake at around 6:15 and headed towards Panther Gorge. This trail has a bit of something for everyone. There was forest, logging road, meadow, swamp, rock... you name it. The route was covered with biting bugs until the first rise at around 3 miles. After that there were no bug problems at all. We moved right along and took a rest at the empty (I was pretty surprised) leanto at Panther Gorge. With 9 miles down and 1.3 to go we were pretty psyched although there was still 1700ft or so of climbing :roll:. The climb of Haystack is fairly rocky and seems quite a bit steeper than coming up from the Basin side. 5 hours from Elk Lake to the summit and the views were amazing as usual (pictures coming soon) but the summit was a bit crowded and noisy. It was a good reminder of why I climb mostly in the winter and try to stay to bushwhacks in the summer. We sat off on the south side of the summit and enjoyed the beautiful day and took in the great view. An hour and a half later we descended and it was a little rough on the knees but steady going. I thought of TEO's post earlier about coming back via Blake and it made my knees buckle. My hat goes off to him :whip: The march back was uneventful but very exhausting. It took a couple of days for my legs to recover but it was a memorable trip. We were back to the car by 6:30 so give yourself about 12 hours to do this hike. I highly recommend this route but be sure to bring your climbing legs as its a rough 21 mile rt.

I'll get the pictures up soon.
cheers.

[TEO]

...and took a rest at the empty (I was pretty surprised) leanto at Panther Gorge...

I don't imagine that the leanto sees too much use. My first visit to PG was on Columbus Day weekend--when you would expect a fair amount of traffic. There was a group of two people one night and none but my band of three the following. A pleasant surprise. When we stopped by during my Haystack/Blake hike there were no signs of recent visitors. What did surprise me was the lack of a leanto journal.

[Antlerpeak]

...and took a rest at the empty (I was pretty surprised) leanto at Panther Gorge...

I don't imagine that the leanto sees too much use. My first visit to PG was on Columbus Day weekend--when you would expect a fair amount of traffic. There was a group of two people one night and none but my band of three the following. A pleasant surprise. When we stopped by during my Haystack/Blake hike there were no signs of recent visitors. What did surprise me was the lack of a leanto journal.

Teo it is my experience that with lean-to journals they are only in shelters that have been adopted by someone. Perhaps Panther Gorge is too remote to have an adopter.

For several years I had adopted the Cedar River LT on the N-P. The reasoning for that besides it not having been taken was relatively easy access. A five mile flat hike. If one is to adopt a lean-to I feel the adopter should visit it frequently to do the job right. I doubt many are game for the walk into Panther Gorge every other weekend or so.

[TEO]

Makes sense. When I stayed in Panther Gorge in 2002, it did have an adopter and there was a log. It was hysterically funny, as so many of the log books are. So I guess the adopter must have given up the post. :(

[Antlerpeak]

Yeah you would have to be really dedicated to make that walk in there as often as it would require if you were doing the job.

[Charlie]

That's an agressive day hike. I'm planning an overnight there with a group of 4 others next week so I'm glad to hear that the LT is not used that much. I'm not packing a tent.

Can't wait to see the pics you got.

[mcpeak]

Pics are up! http://www.pwn3d.net/~gregsmom/haystackrevisited/index.htm