End to End Great Range

[mdavis]

I've been wanting to do this hike for some time. Looks like I might be attempting it soon. But I'm not sure what is considered the full hike. Is it: Hedgehog, Rooster Comb, L and U Wolfjaw, Arm, Gothics, Saddle, Basin, Haystack and Marcy. Someone told me that Snow Mountain might be one of them. What about Skylight? Also which direction do most people do this.
Anybody have the statistics on the milage and elevation gain?

Thanks
Mike

 

[Tom Rankin]

I've been wanting to do this hike for some time. Looks like I might be attempting it soon. But I'm not sure what is considered the full hike. Is it: Hedgehog, Rooster Comb, L and U Wolfjaw, Arm, Gothics, Saddle, Basin, Haystack and Marcy. Someone told me that Snow Mountain might be one of them. What about Skylight? Also which direction do most people do this.
Anybody have the statistics on the milage and elevation gain?

This has been discussed before here and on other boards. The bottom line is you can choose your peaks. There is no patch for doing this and no club, so you can pretty much decide whatever you want to do. Let us know how you make out, and post a lot of pics!

 

[TCD]

Tom's right. You can choose any route you want.

As a baseline, the ADK High Peaks guidebook suggests the most direct route:

Start at the Roostercomb trailhead in Keene Valley. Follow the trail directly to Hedgehog (i.e., no side trip on the Roostercomb spur trail, no side trip to Snow Mountain). Continue over LWJ, UWJ, Armstrong, Gothics, Saddleback, Basin. After Basin, go directly to the junction with the Phelps trail (the main trail from JBL to Marcy), and continue to Marcy summit (i.e., no side trip to Haystack, no extension to Skylight).

That's the most direct route, and the one most people mean by "The Great Range Traverse." But any of the side trips, extensions, etc., are all worthwhile if you've got time and energy. Haystack is particularly tempting, as it so close and so spectacular, and you don't get that far into the wilderness every weekend.

Descent options from Marcy vary also. Many people spot a car (or a bike!) at ADK Loj, for the shorter run out Van H trail. I've usually been with a group that likes to "close the loop," so we head back to JBL and the garden. It's a few miles longer and more descent, but if we're lucky we catch the bus from the garden down.

Have a great hike! The GRT covers some of the most spectacular terrain in the High Peaks.

TCD

 

[HH1]

Mike,

You can save yourself carrying a ton of water if you take along a waterfilter.

Usually, but not always, during the summer small pools of water can be found in the col betweeen Lower and Upper Wolfjaw. Otherwise you'll have to descend a bit to draw from Wolf Jaws Brook.

There's always water near the old Sno-Bird Lean-to between Basin and Little Haystack.

Cheers, Cliff

 

[cbcbd]

A friend of mine and I attempted this a couple weeks ago, but we had to bail out after LWJ because his legs were cramping up bad going up Hedgehog - which kind of sucks when your legs are feeling great... but I digress...

The traverse we were going to do was the same one you described, which I got from this article here:

http://www.backpacker.com/article/1,2646,8485__2_5,00.html


I'll probably make my way up there again this summer to go at it again alone or with my girlfriend.

 

[TCD]

HH1 is right on the money about the water filter. We do the range at least annually, and we always use the filter. We usually start about 5:30 AM, both for the daylight and the cooler temps. Our water plan is:

Start with about a half liter (which in cool weather is plenty to get you over Hedgehog). Makes for a nice light pack on the single largest climb on the trip.

Filter Deer Brook (just past the Hedgehog / LWJ col WA White trail junction, on the way up LWJ). Two liters each carries us to Haystack Brook.

At Haystack Brook, depending on how we feel and the temps, filter 1-2 liters each. That takes us over Marcy and down to the potable water faucet at JBL. A watch out in the early season is that I don't think the JBL faucet gets turned on until Memorial Day.

(For the filter spots, if you've got a faster hiker and a slower hiker, and you want to save time, the faster hiker can run ahead and filter the water while the slower hiker catches up. I usually start running ahead of my wife around the summits of Hedgehog and Basin.)

TCD

 

[mdavis]

Thanks for all the info! I really appreciate it.

 

[beverly]

Secret water spot?

I've always found water in the Saddleback-Gothics col for our annual Great Range Solstice hike. You just have to know where to look!

Might not be there later in the summer, but it has been dependable this time of year.

It better be there Saturday for this year's attempt! We are starting with Marcy and finishing in Keene Valley. When we've done it this way, water doesn't seem to be as much of an issue. And I highly recommend stashing a liter of margaritas at the end. There is something mysteriously refreshing and rejuvenating in a mixture of tequila, lime and salt. It soothes the tired, aching muscles and I wake up the next day invigorated. Strange but true.

 

[hikingfish]

Bring water!!

We did the traverse last year in August and water was pretty scarse. Someone in our group got really dehydrated. A kind soul gave her some water while we stayed with her while someone else in our group went (ran) to go get water.

We started on Marcy (there for sunrise, although we couldn't see 10 feet in front of us because of a dense fog), haystack, saddleback, basin, gothics, what's that other peak next to it? geez can't remember right now (Armstrong, that's it!), ujw and ljw.

Pics are still available
here!. You'll get a good look at basin->saddleback section. Which should give you an idea why people would rather go UP this section and let you know which way to do the traverse.

It was an amazing experience.

Fish

 

[beverly]

Annual Great Range Summer Solstice Hike

We did our annual hike on Saturday - starting at Heart Lake and finishing at the trailhead for Rooster Comb in Keene Valley. We've done this for a number of years - spotting cars and starting in different directions. The last two years we did the Presidential Traverse - but found it a little tame compared to the Adirondacks.
We started (6 of us) at 5am at the HPIC at the Loj at Heart Lake and finished just before dark in Keene Valley before 9pm. In between we had a little difficulty. Viktor - one of the stongest hikers I know, became ill gradually the first couple of hours. He couldn't continue after Haystack and couldn't keep anything down - maybe a case of food poisoning. He and Holly ended up hiking out after Haystack Brook and going down Shorey Shortcut, with Viktor rallying at JBL after collapsing on the trail several times. They made it out to the Garden by 6pm.
The rest of our party of 4 continued on, filling up at Haystack Brook and the Saddleback/Gothics col. The water there isn't running, but there was a cool, deep pool on the Saddleback side of the clearing that we were able to treat and fill our bottles and hats with. Very refreshing.
With full bladders and Nalgenes we were able to make it down past LWJ before needing another refill. We were out by 9pm, able to assuage our aching calfs with an infusion of margaritas. I'm finally recovering a few days later..........The day was spectacular - if a little warm and buggy in the afternoon.
Today we learned that one of our hiking buddies had a tougher time in the Dixes - his son needed a helicopter trip out from the lean-to and an IV at the hospital in Saranac Lake, because he became severely dehydrated. All is OK now!