Little Haystack

(4760)

Trail:Falling Waters, to Little Haystack

Date: Sunday, Sep. 16’th 2001

Attending:Simone, & John Chicoine

Miles:6.4-mile round trip Time: 5.5 hours,

AMC huts, / shelters / camping site: Visited Shinning Rock .1 miles off the Falling Waters Trail

Weather: Sunny, 70 to 75,

This is the prettiest leg of the famous Lafayette loop hike, and the steepest. Somehow, just how long and steep this hike is, had completely escaped both of us. The guide book estimates the hike time at 3hrs & 10 minutes. Considering the trail is only 3.2 miles, that’s only 1Mph. don’t let the name fool you, there is nothing “Little” about this mountain. It’s a shame it doesn’t have its own very well deserved place on the official 4K list. It has everything, Waterfalls, great side view spots, a challenging hike, and a beautiful open summit. The trail starts off Rt. 3 in a parking lot marked “Falling Waters Trail / Old Bridle Path”, just across from the Lafayette Campground.

We didn’t really have this hike in the plans; it was just one of those trips we had to make. The first hike of the fall season. We hadn’t bagged a 4K in a few months, and with the Massachusetts AT section hike over, it was time to get back to New Hampshire. Unfortunately Gabe was in the midst of a fall head cold and wasn’t really up to a big hike, but we couldn’t resist. If Gabe had been in good health and with us I would have liked to bag the Tripyramids. With just Simone and I going up, I was looking for a short hike, with spectacular views. I can think of few hikes that get you up so high so quick, to a spectacular open summit. I don’t wish to imply that it’s an easy hike, this is a hard trail, and it’s one that makes you work to maintain the 1Mph. We reached the summit in 3 hours just as the AMC guide book says, but we took the time to visit Shinning Rock, and enjoy the views and a snack for about 25 minutes. Once up on the ridge, it was hard to resist the temptation to do the loop, but I really wanted to be home by 8PM. We spent an hour on the summit with a diligent red squirrel, and headed back down Falling Waters. While on the summit, we noticed smoke on the close to the summit of Mt. Pemigewasset. We were down at the car by 4:00. A good day, a great hike, and an early night home. Cool! On the way home we noticed a fire truck on Rt. 93 south next to Indian Head, so we took a few minutes to loop around onto 3 north, and sure enough, heavy smoke was billowing up just a few feet from the Indian Head rock. Just a quick note, fire potential was listed as extremely high.

RANT WARNING!—
If this was initiated by someone, I just want to officially say, “YOU IDIOT”. Stay the hell out of the woods!
RANT over.—
My legs hurt quite a bit the next few days. It doesn’t take long to get out of shape for peak bagging.