Craig
New member
The first time I stood atop Haystack and peered over at Marcy, the first thing that caught my eye was the curved slide running halfway up its east face. The angle at which you see the slide from Haystack leaves you asking, “Is that thing doable”? At least that’s what I asked myself.
Three years later I would find out.
The objective of the day was to climb to the base of the slide in panther gorge, and proceed with the climb if possible.
Because of the remoteness of this slide and the numerous unknowns about the area and conditions more planning would be necessary.
Planning
Last year I did a recon trip to the area to try and get a better look at the base of the slide and also try and determine the conditions above the slide. From the Phelps trail I whacked a few hundred yards to above the cliffs to determine the likely conditions above the slide.
After all, once you topped out on the slide you’re still left half way up that face in the middle of cripplebrush.
I estimated approximately 2 hours to get from the top of the slide to either the summit or the Phelps trail.
I then proceeded over to the lower cliffs of Little Haystack to try and get some pics of the base of the slide. Although the day was overcast I was able to get a couple of pics.
The pictures would indicate a vertical section of rock, at the base, with a crack running the height of this section. I was disappointed I couldn’t get better pictures from this vantage point but after a half hour of waiting for the clouds to clear, I moved along.
I proceeded up over Haystack and down into panther gorge where I climbed the south slide of Marcy. The whack from the top of the slide to the summit reinforced my estimate of 2 hours to whack from the top of the east slide.
With these new pictures, my recon and few shots from various angles derived from trip reports, I was conformable with an attempt.
Saturday 9/20/08
I had decided to make this attempt this season. With the rainy spring and summer and a few previously schedule trip for that timeframe, this adventure was put off until September.
When I saw the forecast predicting dry weather for the week leading up to a great weekend, I knew this was my window. Unfortunately Monday I came down with a bug that was going around the office and was concern this would put the kibosh to my plans.
I took Tuesday off and rested the entire day in hopes of stifling this bug. By Thursday I felt better (not 100%) and by Friday decided to go.
Arriving at the Garden Saturday morning I set out with a moderate pace not feeling 100% but cautiously optimistic that I was strong enough for this adventure. I was fine for the first 7 miles until I reached the steep rocking section of the shorey short cut. At this point it felt like someone was pushing against my chest as I was trying to breathe. This was not a good sign but I decided to continue.
Once on the range trail I decided to take the Haystack Brook trail around Haystack to conserve energy. Taking a right onto warren’s camp trail I found the relatively easy climb up to Bartlett Ridge difficult in my depleted state. On top of the ridge I decided to lower my expectations for the day and proceed cautiously.
I arrived at the stream in panther gorge and began my trip into the unknown. I didn’t know if I could rock hop the stream to the slide base or if whacking through panther gorge would be required. Luckily I found the stream rock hoppable and very open.
A couple of 10th of a mile up, the stream splits off to the left. Thinking this was the best way I continued left for about 15mins until realizing this branch drains Marcy’s south flank. I whacked across a relatively flat open, swampy panther gorge and picked up the east branch of the stream again.
The area I whacked through was lush and green with a lot of beaver activity.
I proceeded up the stream to approximately 3600’ and took a NW bearing to try and find the base of the slide. After a short time I ran across a steep drainage that held a lot of debris.
Could this be the run off from the slide?
I followed this drainage up to about 4000’ and there it was. A 150’ vertical wall with a large crevasse running it entire height.
Is this the base of the slide? I thought is had to be.
There was no way I was going to climb that crack without placing pro.
To the right of the vertical wall is a series of stepped cliffs with a lot of vegetation. This looked like it would afford a route around the cliff with reasonable exposure.
By the time I was half way up the rock band I had convinced myself that this may not be the slide base. If that was the case who knows what would await me at the top.
I decided to play it safe and contour north along the rock band to see if the slide was further north of my present location. I traveled until I had a clear view of the end of panther gorge.
That settled it; the base of the slide was in fact the 150’ cliff I was climbing around.
Above me at this location there appeared to be an obvious weakness in the mountains steep face that I may be able to navigate.
It was time to decide to go or turn around.
It was 2:30 in the afternoon and I was at about 4000’ on Marcy’s east face and I had many hours of hard work to get back to my car. It would take me several hours whether I decided to attempt a climb from hear or bail and head back out of the gorge. The route above me had promise so I decided to explore this possibility until 3:00; this would be my turn around time.
I climbed another 200’-300’ vertical finding the terrain getting steeper and steeper. I made the decision to bail after taking some photos.
I headed down though an overgrown boulder field with rocks the size of small school buses. You know the kind of terrain that if you slipped, you’d fall 20’ down between some cavernous rock with no hope of ever getting out or being found. To say the least the progress was slow and unnerving. I finally reached the stream and rock hopped my way back down panther gorge, whacking around the occasional pools in the stream.
Once on the Elk Lake trail I went up to 4 corners and climbed over Marcy as the sun was starting to go down.
From here it was one foot in front of the other on the laborious walk back to the garden.
In all it was a 14 hour day with 25 miles and 7200’ on the boots.
Although there appears to be some possible avenues to bypass the slide base, with this areas remoteness and still unknown factors, I’m going to mark this slide as NOT DOABLE.
Three years later I would find out.
The objective of the day was to climb to the base of the slide in panther gorge, and proceed with the climb if possible.
Because of the remoteness of this slide and the numerous unknowns about the area and conditions more planning would be necessary.
Planning
Last year I did a recon trip to the area to try and get a better look at the base of the slide and also try and determine the conditions above the slide. From the Phelps trail I whacked a few hundred yards to above the cliffs to determine the likely conditions above the slide.
After all, once you topped out on the slide you’re still left half way up that face in the middle of cripplebrush.
I estimated approximately 2 hours to get from the top of the slide to either the summit or the Phelps trail.
I then proceeded over to the lower cliffs of Little Haystack to try and get some pics of the base of the slide. Although the day was overcast I was able to get a couple of pics.
The pictures would indicate a vertical section of rock, at the base, with a crack running the height of this section. I was disappointed I couldn’t get better pictures from this vantage point but after a half hour of waiting for the clouds to clear, I moved along.
I proceeded up over Haystack and down into panther gorge where I climbed the south slide of Marcy. The whack from the top of the slide to the summit reinforced my estimate of 2 hours to whack from the top of the east slide.
With these new pictures, my recon and few shots from various angles derived from trip reports, I was conformable with an attempt.
Saturday 9/20/08
I had decided to make this attempt this season. With the rainy spring and summer and a few previously schedule trip for that timeframe, this adventure was put off until September.
When I saw the forecast predicting dry weather for the week leading up to a great weekend, I knew this was my window. Unfortunately Monday I came down with a bug that was going around the office and was concern this would put the kibosh to my plans.
I took Tuesday off and rested the entire day in hopes of stifling this bug. By Thursday I felt better (not 100%) and by Friday decided to go.
Arriving at the Garden Saturday morning I set out with a moderate pace not feeling 100% but cautiously optimistic that I was strong enough for this adventure. I was fine for the first 7 miles until I reached the steep rocking section of the shorey short cut. At this point it felt like someone was pushing against my chest as I was trying to breathe. This was not a good sign but I decided to continue.
Once on the range trail I decided to take the Haystack Brook trail around Haystack to conserve energy. Taking a right onto warren’s camp trail I found the relatively easy climb up to Bartlett Ridge difficult in my depleted state. On top of the ridge I decided to lower my expectations for the day and proceed cautiously.
I arrived at the stream in panther gorge and began my trip into the unknown. I didn’t know if I could rock hop the stream to the slide base or if whacking through panther gorge would be required. Luckily I found the stream rock hoppable and very open.
A couple of 10th of a mile up, the stream splits off to the left. Thinking this was the best way I continued left for about 15mins until realizing this branch drains Marcy’s south flank. I whacked across a relatively flat open, swampy panther gorge and picked up the east branch of the stream again.
The area I whacked through was lush and green with a lot of beaver activity.
I proceeded up the stream to approximately 3600’ and took a NW bearing to try and find the base of the slide. After a short time I ran across a steep drainage that held a lot of debris.
Could this be the run off from the slide?
I followed this drainage up to about 4000’ and there it was. A 150’ vertical wall with a large crevasse running it entire height.
Is this the base of the slide? I thought is had to be.
There was no way I was going to climb that crack without placing pro.
To the right of the vertical wall is a series of stepped cliffs with a lot of vegetation. This looked like it would afford a route around the cliff with reasonable exposure.
By the time I was half way up the rock band I had convinced myself that this may not be the slide base. If that was the case who knows what would await me at the top.
I decided to play it safe and contour north along the rock band to see if the slide was further north of my present location. I traveled until I had a clear view of the end of panther gorge.
That settled it; the base of the slide was in fact the 150’ cliff I was climbing around.
Above me at this location there appeared to be an obvious weakness in the mountains steep face that I may be able to navigate.
It was time to decide to go or turn around.
It was 2:30 in the afternoon and I was at about 4000’ on Marcy’s east face and I had many hours of hard work to get back to my car. It would take me several hours whether I decided to attempt a climb from hear or bail and head back out of the gorge. The route above me had promise so I decided to explore this possibility until 3:00; this would be my turn around time.
I climbed another 200’-300’ vertical finding the terrain getting steeper and steeper. I made the decision to bail after taking some photos.
I headed down though an overgrown boulder field with rocks the size of small school buses. You know the kind of terrain that if you slipped, you’d fall 20’ down between some cavernous rock with no hope of ever getting out or being found. To say the least the progress was slow and unnerving. I finally reached the stream and rock hopped my way back down panther gorge, whacking around the occasional pools in the stream.
Once on the Elk Lake trail I went up to 4 corners and climbed over Marcy as the sun was starting to go down.
From here it was one foot in front of the other on the laborious walk back to the garden.
In all it was a 14 hour day with 25 miles and 7200’ on the boots.
Although there appears to be some possible avenues to bypass the slide base, with this areas remoteness and still unknown factors, I’m going to mark this slide as NOT DOABLE.
