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The 2000' slope of death you get to look forward to from the trailhead
Kiefer hiked South Hayden last Monday since I already have it and was stuck at work. After that peak it gave us each one 13er to go in the Ironton quad. Not wanting to deal with MUCH Labor Day traffic we decided to finally knock out the other Hayden, a peak I had been procrastinating because… well. It’s 3500’ straight up.
Pretty flowers
The peak itself isn’t particularly interesting and lived up to the expectations I had that it would be a heck of a slog. Half Moon Basin is small but picturesque and was a great place to enjoy our first break of the day. There really are no good spots to take a decent snack break on the lower 2000' of the peak because of the thick vegetation, not to mention the pitch at which you will be hiking. The only true reprieve from the overall steepness of the hike is a small flat campsite in the trees just before entering Half Moon Basin.
Beautiful Half Moon Basin
This spot made a good break stop on the ascent and before the super fun (read... it was not fun) descent. Allie (13erRetriever) has some great beta for the route from Crystal Lake in her report, so I won't go into much detail here as she has already done so in her report, but I will add that Kiefer and I were able to link up trail segments all the way up into Half Moon Basin, and I'm attaching our track here to help you follow through the lower maze. Kiefer also added some helpful tree branches alongside our route, so if you go up soon the "trail" is somewhat marked.
If you find this puffball you are on the right track!Looking down from traversing around the grassy knoll (right frame of this pic)Kiefer building a cairn while headed towards the ridge, the summit is out of frame to the leftA quick rocky section. Ridge in view to the right.Headed up the ridge. Stay to the left of the cliff band.
After we hit the grassy ridge which we accessed by going right around the grassy knoll (also in Allie's report) we continued steeply up and paid our dues with some loose talus prior to reaching the false summit. Once you have reached the false summit the true summit is only a few minutes out. Don't be like me and try to stay high, just drop down to the easy ground (you'll see it) and you'll be there in no time flat.
Me on the summit
Kiefer on the summit
We enjoyed the summit, the views were excellent and the weather was still fantastic. After our relaxing stay we decided to make the upper part of the mountain a loop and after dropping off the true summit surfed down some scree to a tundra slope which connected to a trail that we followed into upper Half Moon Basin. I would recommend ascending the way described here and in Allie's report as it would have sucked to climb up that loose scree, however it made for a quick descent.
Taken on the way up, but our ascent and descent routes can be seen clearly here. Ascent ridge, center left to the left of the cliffs. Descent ridge center down the white scree into the upper basin above the lower rock band.Myself descending into Half Moon Basin, the campsite we took a break at is close to the top of the trees to the leftKiefer in the upper basin.
Speaking of the descent, don't underestimate it. It was truly the most awful part of the peak. Both of our feet were thumping by the time we reached Crystal Lake. Overall it was a fun day out with Kiefer and Rupert the marmot.
Rupert the marmot on the summit - Yes I missed an opportunity by having him chewing on a pole.
I dont know my mushrooms so we left it! However when Kiefer gets home Ill have him look to see if his phone geotagged the location!
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