Haystack from the Loj, Feb 14,09

Easiest route to Haystack, in spite of the "down" section. We did take an easy four minutes shortcut to the Phelps Trail in order to avoid a bit of climbing. Trail hardpacked all the way, it would have been possible to bareboot the whole 8.5-miles. We found the Little Haystack and Haystack proper ridge ascent extremely windy but upon returning, at the former plateau lean-to site, we met two climbers just back from Marcy who told us NO it wasn't windy with a tone that implied we were amateurs, so I guessed it wasn't windy after all, just our feeble minds and old knees at work.

Another great day of peakbagging....