| A Snow Slog on Big Slide Trip Report |
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| A Snow Slog on Big Slide   | 
| Page Type: Trip Report Location: New York, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 44.18220°N / 73.8708°W Date Climbed/Hiked: Jan 12, 2006 | Page By: Catamount Created/Edited: Jan 13, 2006 / Object ID: 170776 Hits: 1005 Loading... Page Score: 86.03% - 1 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
BIG SLIDE VIA THE BROTHERS DURING A JANUARY THAW
Elevation: 4240
Adirondack order of height: 27
Partners: solo as usual
Originally the plan had been to attempt the higher and more difficult Basin and Haystack mountains from the Garden Lot. But a last minute change of schedule meant that I had to be at work in Albany at 7 PM on this Thursday night. Consequently, I was forced to condense my hiking plans and "settled" for an enjoyable 8 mile round trip to the top of Big Slide. It had been many years since I last visited this mountain and it proved to be a fun day out. The primary approach for this mountain takes you over three intermediate bumps known as "The Brothers" not only adding a little challenge to the hike but also offering outstanding views along the way. The total trailhead to summit elevation gain for this mostly Class 1 climb is 2800 feet.
The big question in my mind as I pulled into the Garden Lot revolved around footwear. Exceptionally warm January weather coupled with a good deal of rain in the past few days had no doubt wreaked havoc with what had been reported as a well-groomed trail. The main parking lot at the trailhead was a virtual ice rink and after scouting out the first few hundred yards of trail and observing significant ice, I decided to go with crampons the entire day. I don't really think there was any "right" answer to this question and it turned out that there were many icy sections, many sloppy sections of snow and many areas of open rock. I had no interest in changing from crampons to snowshoes to bare-boots 20 times on an 8 mile hike so I cramponed the whole way.
As I started my trek around 8 AM, it was still very overcast from the previous night's rain but the forecast called for improving conditions throughout the day. This blue-marked trail quickly gained more than 1400 feet of elevation over the course of the first 1.5 miles to the top of the First Brother (elev. 2940). It is very satisfying to be rewarded with great views so early in the hike. From the ridgeline, you get a fairly unobstructed view to the southeast of much of the Great Range ... the Wolfjaws, Armstrong, Gothics, Saddleback, Basin and Haystack. The trail leading up to the top of the rocky First Brother turns into a bit a scramble in the upper reaches and continues in the same manner until you are off the Second Brother a half of a mile or so later. On this day, the route through this section was a combination of junky ice and open rock so I had to pay close attention to my footing through here.
After topping out on the Second Brother, the hike took on a much different feel. The snow became deeper and softer, causing an occasional post hole. There were birch-tree lined sections of trail through this area where there seemed to be lots of ups and downs without much net elevation gain. The top of the Third Brother (elev. 3681) was attained at 2.7 miles and gave me a great view of my objective for the day. Another mile or so of slogging later brought me to the base of the final climb to the top of Big Slide. The trail steepened significantly for the final three tenths of a mile and gave me a chance to play a bit with my new ice axe (Petzl Aztar). The axe certainly wasn't "needed" but it definitely offered a little extra grip on this 35-40 degree section. I suspect that this part of the trail will become much more difficult in the coming days with more warm weather forecast to no doubt be followed by a hard freeze.
I didn't linger too long on top as the views weren't that different from what I'd already seen from The Brothers. Many folks continue on to Yard Mountain to make a 9 mile loop trip of this hike. But I just turned around and headed back the way I came, getting back to my truck around 2 PM.
All and all, a very enjoyable if unexceptional day out.
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Adirondacks
