so haystack it was

know that day hikes in the dax'll strech the ol' jambons.
from the garden, think, to the summit is somewhere close to 19, if not 20.
but, after all its the filth, and ya gotta believe there's a tablespoon of intrinsic value there.

(an interlude.
so on what was my first attempt up, just about this time two years ago, i got stuck. stuck like a bug. 15 foot piece of vertical rock between slant rock and the range trail. got a good piece up and it was ice all around not providing any potential for upward mobility. shame on me, cause i chose a bad route. second attempt was foiled by the raging high waters experienced as a result of the biblical rains we were gettin last summer. even then, though, my concern was with the fear experienced as a stuck bug. third time's a charm and i rocked it. not without apprehension and not without fully overcoming my initial memories. hate that spot.)

as is true with any good hike decisions needed to be made.
arrived good and early. 4.5 wake up call so my gettin ta the garden at 6.75 allowed for good enough cush to enjoy negotiating through woods that, while past peak, nonetheless had a bunch still to show.
jbl (mile mark 4 in 1.25 hrs) >
bushnell falls >
slant rock (mile mark 7.5 or so in 2.25 hours) and take a left over john's brook.

and to face my nemesis. apprehensions abound, especially given the fact that i'm finally starting to get some lifting done, heading above 4k and there's all sorts of ice and all sorts of frost making otherwise easy goin tricky.
finally: up we go. get stuck, find a hand hold, skirt around the ice, free and clear.

here's where the dax get interesting.
can often feel like that coon, squeezin through the trap. sure, cause the traps entrance lets ya squeeze yer fat ol body through the conical, tapered entrance, guess what? once in, that once wide entrance has now become oh so small. ( and in my mind there was going to be no friggin way i wanted to negotiate down my nemesis.) i'm some 9 miles out. bear in mind i haven't even seen the filth yet, but the exit strategy is to shoot the ridge over to marcy and then circle back around. there was going to be NO way i wanted basin> saddleback.
blue sky turned to grey.
gettin on lil' haystack. wind is fierce. sky getting darker. hustle on up ta the entre, boy!
filth.

and now it starts to snow.
basin > saddleback. no friggin way. in spite of, or cause of mikey and i's trek over that ground last year through the ice and elements.
hitting the ridge, grabbing marcy and the circling around. could do, but what of the dark clouds rolling in.

stuck worse than a bug on a rock.
stuck like a coon.
less an immediate concern than a logistical concern.
got three choices, with the most reasonable being to face and overcome the fear of my nemesis.

so i passed the connector to marcy, passed the connector to basin.

and not to punch a hole in things. approached my nemesis, looked at it askance. and discovered a bushwhackin route that would avoid the iced up rock altogether.
safe is safe.
think there just might be a lesson there, for which i hope you've indulged my excess.

in the meantime,
dig the pix. wide angle stylie.
skylight > marcy. from the filth.
oh. and i'm starting to get the d-200 dialed in.

PEACE!