Mudrat
Member
Video: https://youtu.be/EO9J8k9KAmw
Photos: https://goo.gl/photos/rQFTbhK7MD7d1jeM6
Time/Duration: 4:30 a.m. – 9:30 p.m. / 17 hrs.
Partners: John Pikus & Jaryn DeShane
Approach: Garden to Marcy/Haystack col, follow cliffs to Feline Wall and bushwhack through talus to Marcy Brook where terrain levels, bushwhack up V Wall drainage/talus
Prior Trips to Panther Gorge:
It seemed like the weather might play along with our goals on September 17[SUP]th[/SUP] after spoiling plans to venture into the gorge the prior weekend. Showers were supposed to hold off until the evening. The target was on Mt. Haystack—the V Wall on which Adam Crofoot and I put up a route called All Things Holy a couple years ago. That satisfied my curiosity for a time, but studying my photographs lit the flame this past winter. I wanted to see what was up the center and along the left side of the V shaped wall (formed by twin trap dikes that draw together at the base). The left side looked particularly enticing with a series of corners and cracks. I also wanted to find a more direct route from Marcy.
Jaryn DeShane and John Pikus (who joined once before) opted in for the outing. This was Jaryn’s first time into the Gorge though we talked about it at length the week before while climbing a couple slides on Giant. The first words out of his mouth upon seeing the walls were, “I understand now...” One needs to see the area to comprehend its draw for us.
We’d set a good pace from the Garden to the col where we arrived a little after 8:00 a.m. I knew that we’d need the extra time for the bushwhack across to Haystack. The last time Adam and I went to the V Wall, we took a comparatively long route across the talus to the base of a large slab on Haystack that we unofficially named the Panther’s Shield. We then followed the base of the cliffs which involved some vertical bushwhacking and precarious maneuvers over the various contours of the mountain.
Instead Jaryn, John and I followed the “herdpath” down to Marcy’s Feline Wall and descended into the talus fields via a small dry drainage streambed. Watch THIS video to understand what navigating the talus can entail. Once down the flank of Marcy we were funneled into the center and down-climbed through extensive talus while navigating around a large wooded buttress of Haystack. The terrain eventually flattened as Marcy Brook became more pronounced. It was bone dry and I was counting on the brook to replenish our water supply. We had to follow the streambed down a couple hundred feet past the pronounced drainage from the V Wall (near a large glacial erratic).
JARYN DESCENDING SOME RATHER TAME TALUS
With 2 or 3 liters each safely tucked in our packs, we ascended the V Wall drainage stream avoiding talus and deadfall when possible. It was an arduous, but safer approach than threading the Haystack cliffs. It was 10:30 a.m. when we arrived at the base of the wall above the wooded intersection of the dual trap dikes. We re-nourished and watched the clouds gently drift by Marcy. They were low enough to obscure most of its East Face and the main climbing walls.
The sides of the V Wall are vertical, but the base of the “V” is rather blocky with cedars growing nearby—where our new route would begin. Small ledges broken by grassy bands led to a small flat area where John set up to belay me.
Photos: https://goo.gl/photos/rQFTbhK7MD7d1jeM6
Time/Duration: 4:30 a.m. – 9:30 p.m. / 17 hrs.
Partners: John Pikus & Jaryn DeShane
Approach: Garden to Marcy/Haystack col, follow cliffs to Feline Wall and bushwhack through talus to Marcy Brook where terrain levels, bushwhack up V Wall drainage/talus
Prior Trips to Panther Gorge:
- Grand Central Slide (w/Mark Lowell)
- Grand Central Slide Descent, up the Margin Slide & Skylight Bushwhack (w/Greg Kadlecik)
- Marcy to Haystack Bushwhack with Great Range Traverse-Great DeRanged Traverse(w/Greg Kadlecik)
- Marcy East Face Circumnavigation (w/Ranger Scott van Laer)-2013 Aug 24
- Marcy (East Face) Ranger on the Rock-East Face Slab (w/Anthony Seidita)-2013 Sep 6
- Haystack Slides and Haycrack Route-Day 3 of 4 days in the gorge (w/Anthony Seidita)-2014 May 1
- Haystack (V Wall) All Things Holy (w/Adam Crofoot)-2014 Jul 12
- Marcy (Agharta Wall) & Haystack (Free-Standing Pillar) Wreck of the Lichen Fitzgerald & For Whom the Lichen Tolls (w/Adam Crofoot)-2014 Aug 16
- Marcy (Agharta Wall) CrazyDog’s Halo & Watery Grave (w/Adam Crofoot)-2014 Sep 27
- A Snowy Panther Gorge Bushwhack (w/Adam Crofoot)-2014 Dec
- Marcy: A New Ice Route – Pi Day (w/Adam Crofoot & Anthony Seidita)-2015 Mar 14
- Haystack: 3 New Routes in a New Area (the Ramp Wall) (w/Allison Rooney and Adam Crofoot)-2015 May 30
- Marcy (Panther Den) Cat on a Wet Tin Roof (w/Bill Schneider)-2015 Jun 14
- Rumours of War: Opening a New Area—the Huge Scoop (w/Hunter Lombardi)-2015 Jul 11
- Marcy (Feline Wall) Kitten's Got Claws (w/Justin Thalheimer)-2015 Aug 1
- Not Every Trip to the Gorge is Perfect –No Route, but a Good Day (w/Bill Schneider)-2015 Aug 16
- Marcy (Huge Scoop) The Pride (w/Bill Schneider and Adam Crofoot)-2015 Aug 30
- Marcy (Feline Wall) Promised Land (w/Dan Plumley)-2015 Sept 19
- Tour de Gorge (w/Adam Crofoot & Allison Rooney)-2015 Nov 21
- Marcy (Panther Den) Ice Route: By Tooth and Claw (WI4) (w/Bill Schneider & Devin Farkas)-2016 Jan 30
- Haystack Ice Climbs-Orson's Tower (WI3+) and Fly By (WI3) (w/Nolan Huther)-2016 March 5
- Marcy (Agharta & Panther Den Walls)-Pioneer Anomaly & Belshazzar's Fate (w/Adam Crofoot & Alan Wechsler)-2016 May 28
- Marcy (Huge Scoop)-Predatory Instincts (w/Bill Schneider & Nolan Huther)-2016 June 4
- Marcy (Feline Wall)-Galaxy of Tears (w/Dustin Ulrich)-2016 June 17
- Marcy (Panther Den)-One for the Boys (w/Bill Schneider, Adam Crofoot & Allison Rooney) 2016 June 25
- Marcy (Agharta Wall)-Tail of Redemption (w/Bill Schneider & John Pikus) 2016 July 30
- Marcy (Panther Den Wall)-Climb After Slime & You Moss Be Kidding Me! (w/Alan Wechsler) 2016 August 6
- Marcy (East Face)-Revelations (w/Nolan Huther & Loren Swears) 2016 August 27
It seemed like the weather might play along with our goals on September 17[SUP]th[/SUP] after spoiling plans to venture into the gorge the prior weekend. Showers were supposed to hold off until the evening. The target was on Mt. Haystack—the V Wall on which Adam Crofoot and I put up a route called All Things Holy a couple years ago. That satisfied my curiosity for a time, but studying my photographs lit the flame this past winter. I wanted to see what was up the center and along the left side of the V shaped wall (formed by twin trap dikes that draw together at the base). The left side looked particularly enticing with a series of corners and cracks. I also wanted to find a more direct route from Marcy.
Jaryn DeShane and John Pikus (who joined once before) opted in for the outing. This was Jaryn’s first time into the Gorge though we talked about it at length the week before while climbing a couple slides on Giant. The first words out of his mouth upon seeing the walls were, “I understand now...” One needs to see the area to comprehend its draw for us.
We’d set a good pace from the Garden to the col where we arrived a little after 8:00 a.m. I knew that we’d need the extra time for the bushwhack across to Haystack. The last time Adam and I went to the V Wall, we took a comparatively long route across the talus to the base of a large slab on Haystack that we unofficially named the Panther’s Shield. We then followed the base of the cliffs which involved some vertical bushwhacking and precarious maneuvers over the various contours of the mountain.
Instead Jaryn, John and I followed the “herdpath” down to Marcy’s Feline Wall and descended into the talus fields via a small dry drainage streambed. Watch THIS video to understand what navigating the talus can entail. Once down the flank of Marcy we were funneled into the center and down-climbed through extensive talus while navigating around a large wooded buttress of Haystack. The terrain eventually flattened as Marcy Brook became more pronounced. It was bone dry and I was counting on the brook to replenish our water supply. We had to follow the streambed down a couple hundred feet past the pronounced drainage from the V Wall (near a large glacial erratic).
JARYN DESCENDING SOME RATHER TAME TALUS
With 2 or 3 liters each safely tucked in our packs, we ascended the V Wall drainage stream avoiding talus and deadfall when possible. It was an arduous, but safer approach than threading the Haystack cliffs. It was 10:30 a.m. when we arrived at the base of the wall above the wooded intersection of the dual trap dikes. We re-nourished and watched the clouds gently drift by Marcy. They were low enough to obscure most of its East Face and the main climbing walls.
The sides of the V Wall are vertical, but the base of the “V” is rather blocky with cedars growing nearby—where our new route would begin. Small ledges broken by grassy bands led to a small flat area where John set up to belay me.