When most people hear these two names as a combo, I’m sure they think of a monstrous day combining the majestic namesake high peak and then the little guy over by McKenzie. I’m sure that’s a lovely combo and I’m sure there are people out there crazy enough to do them both in the same day. That wasn’t my adventure today, however…
These mountains live in the Debar Mountain Wild Forest, within a few miles of the Buck Pond State Campground north of Saranac Lake. Neither one has an official trail, although Little Haystack has a very well-defined herd path starting from the campground. Not sure what planted the seed in my head to climb them both in the same day. But it got planted.
I parked on the side of Gabriels-Onchiota Road shortly after it turns to state land, roughly 1.3 miles from the summit of Big Haystack Mountain. It was cloudy and around 55 degrees when I started around 9:30am. My first task was to push into the woods a bit and then contour my way around the northwestern extension of the Kate Mountain Range before descending to the main drainage on the east side of Big Hay. Not bad. Once I hit the drainage, I followed it up to around 2000 feet before turning directly toward my target. Things got really steep toward the top but nothing treacherous. Or least there was always a way around any tricky parts.
The summit area of Big Haystack has several large rocky outcroppings, which I’m sure would feature awesome and unique views. Unfortunately, today I was socked in the clouds. Oh well. Pretty place up there. The hike back down was uneventful. Lost elevation in a hurry. The last half mile was kind of a drag as I had to contour around a lot of nondescript terrain. I checked the GPS a few times but overall my dead reckoning instinct served me pretty well. Well, maybe not entirely. In the very last stretch I drifted from my inbound route and paid a small spruce swamp tax. Car-to-car was about 1h45m.
After a quick drive back down the road, I parked at the Buck Pond Campground Area and walked the short distance to the old road along Lake Kushaqua. Spotted some nice Lady Slippers on the side of the road. The herd path for Little Haystack starts about a half mile down this road and it’s pretty obvious. No flagging or signage, although none is needed given how obvious the path is. It climbs quite steeply toward the top and ends at a lovely viewpoint with Lake Kushaqua below, the Loon Lake Mountain Range behind it, and countless other hills and peaks on the horizon. Easy walk back to the car and then a long drive home. No rain, although it was cloudy and cool for my whole trip.