Hikes to check out the moon from Haystack Mtn.

The full moon for this October is called the Hunter's Moon.  This trip report is actually two trips.  One on the evening of Sunday, Oct. 13 and one on the morning of Monday, Oct. 14

The sunset and moonrise are fairly close together so I decided to go on a short hike up Haystack Mtn after work to get some pics.  The sunset was around 5:50 PM and that was good.  The moonrise was around 6:15 PM and unfortunately clouds were in the way blocking part of the moon.  It would've been excellent if it weren't for the clouds because it looked like the moon would've been red or orange.

The moon did look nice on my drive home.

Since I didn't get any really good pics of the moon on Sunday I decided to try for the moonset on Monday morning before going to work.  The temp. was right around freezing and there was a little bit of breeze up on Haystack.  I could've used a heavier coat or another layer, but I managed.  The sunrise was around 6:50 AM.  There were a few clouds, but it was a good sunrise.  Fog down low made for interesting scenery.

I moved to get out of the breeze and waited for the moon to set at around 7:15 AM.  Unfortunately it was nothing spectacular.  As the moon got closer to the horizon it basically just blended into the haze.

The view of the surrounding landscape on both hikes was nice.  The leaves are now past peak here and with wind and rain for Thursday most of the leaves will probably be gone.  The pretty leaves were nice while they lasted.

My trip on Sunday evening was 1 hour.  My trip on Monday morning was 1 hour 10 minutes.

Haystack is not a very big mountain, about 1,340 feet.  The hike up isn't very long, maybe about 0.3 miles.  The elevation gain is around 340 feet, but you gain it quickly.  It took me 9 minutes to reach the top.

Haystack wasn't so small 430 or so million years ago when it was a volcano!!  It is estimated it may have been an active volcano for around 50,000 years. 

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