Mug shot of me on ridge with Marcy in background

This is a photo from our failed but sucessful and enjoyable attempt at the Great Range in late February. Instead of the Range I got Marcy, Little Haystack and Haystack in a day on a 2 night trip. Aside from the Gothics and Pyramid those are the 3 best peaks on the Range. The snow up the Marcy cutoff to Haystack was deep and unbroken. I broke trail the whole way with my partner (and human tripod) not far behind. It was steep enough to shorten the poles to almost 60cm for support. The initial few hundred feet of vertical gain was challenging and fun. I was having a blast breaking trail in 4 feet of fresh windblown powder. My partner seemed to be less excited at the deep snow. This was a contrast to the slog up Marcy. This photo was taken on the nub about 1/8 mile in front of little haystack. Marcy and Panther Gorge are in the background. Little Haystack is a beatiful little ascent in it's own right (if you break trail) and should not be missed. I highly recommend it's ascent and the deep snow made it a tough climb. I continued to Haystack in the twilight and stood on the summit in the last remanants of daylight. I was back at Slant Rock a little over 1 hour later thanks to the help of the same deep snow and steep descents, I basically skated the whole way back on my snow shoes. Attached to the front of me is the entirety of my photo gear. All self contained in a single LowePro Trekker AW chest pouch. This held everything I took (2 lenses, body, flash, filters, ex batteries, cable release, lens cleaning kit) and it counter balances the weight plus it keeps it all mounted in reach. It was the topic of discussion with at least one hiker on the trip. The only thing I don't like about the big pouch vs. my smaller pouch is that I cannot see my feet.