Making a Diamond Out of a Dumpster

We both started on this mountain knowing that Haystack Mountain itself is mostly a road walk to the summit from the route we were taking. Luckily for us in terms of scenic purpose the road was completely snow-covered from the parking area all the way to the summit. And yes this mountain was surprisingly very scenic right from the start of the hike. We constantly had great scenic views looking through the clearcuts from the road. The snow itself for the first three miles left a lot to be desire. It was a foot of snow topped with a thick layer of ice. That layer was a real painful and both of us were really smashing through. Smashing through the snow was really tough on the way up and painfully annoying. I would have hated to do this our original destination, Cleveland Mountain, knowing I got 3000 feet of unconsolidated powder waiting for me.

  
It was easy to see why Haystack Mountain was once a lookout site. The smaller mountain definitely had good views. What made the view today so spectacular was the amazing coating of snow that made all the mountains really stand out in terms of there true beauty. The open area which looked out to the south had great views towards Ten-Four Mountain, Merchant and Gunn Peaks, and the western side of Mount Persis. On the north side between the trees were good views of Mount Pilchuck and Mount Stickney, the latter on my to do list later this year. To the west the distant Olympics were showing their mighty beauty and the Puget Sound was clear in site. It was clear to me that we made the correct call here. Haystack Mountain may be a lesser mountain on the to do list but for today with all the fresh powder and the snow at the lower elevations it was a great call and a great workout.

 Like all good things after an hour on the summit it was time for us to head down from Haystack Mountain. Going down the first set back to the road was not that bad now that we kicked in most of the route. Where we suffered and labored kicking in past all the rocks and tree well we were now able to cruise down the woods. We then follow the road all the back down to a clearcut where the former road has now pretty been overgrown with slide alder. The slide alder made snowshoeing through it tough and I think this where one of my pieces from the snowshoes fell off from all the work from the slide alder. At this point that road through the clear-cut is all but recognizable in snow. After a while we both got quiet frustrated with the snow and were looking for a better way out of that mess. Almosthere did find a good shortcut right through the clearcut that got us out the way of the clearcut and right on back to the original road. This not only saved time but it saved a lot of effort as well.

For the first little we both cruised on down onto the road. Unfortunately it wasn't completely clear sailing at this point. The last obstacle I had was that one piece on my snowshoe had fallen off and my crampons now only connected in one area causing me serious problems with my snowshoes. It was causing my crampons to bend many ways on my feet and caused me to have serious discomfort with my snowshoe. My ankles were really beginning to have bad pain and my pace had slow substantially as a result. It was driving me so crazy that I finally took them off and booted the rest of the way back to the car which was only a half mile luckily.