Feeding the ADdiKtion II (Big Slide)

“Well Sherpa man and myself left the house at about 5:30 this morning to head up to Keene Valley to meet Pennsy at the Garden trailhead at 8am. Well we started up the windy road to the parking lot at around 7:30. Well we thought that we would have to wait a half-hour in the car for Pennsy to arrive, but too our surprise, just before the parking area we spotted Pennsy's black Jetta about 100' in front of us. I pulled in next to Pennsy at the parking lot and the three of us through on our packs and headed up the trail toward Big Slide via the Brothers trail.

There was a slight chill in the air, but it warmed up fast as the sun rose above the mountains in the cloudless ski. To say the weather was perfect would be a vast understatement. There was very little snow in the low country so we left our snowshoes in our packs for the time being. The trail immediately cut up a moderate grade to the right from the trail register. After about 1.5 miles of moderate trail with a few steep sections we reached the rocky summit of First Brother and our first unobstructed views of the Great Range to the south. After a brief pause at the summit to enjoy the view, we made our way toward Second Brother. The bulk of the next 1.1 miles between First Brother and Third Brother was along open ridge giving endless views of the Great Range, Noonmark, and Giant mountains to name a few.

At the start of the brief decent from Third Brother over toward Big Slide, the snow got deep and we all strapped on our snowshoes. The section of trail from Third Brother over to the trail junction with the Slide Mountain Brook Trail was completely different from what we hiked before. Most of this section was in a dense hemlock and spruce forest. At times the sun was completely blocked which gave feeling of twilight. Almost half of this section of trail was flat and the other half had a moderate grade that seemed to wear us all down more than it should have. Just before we reached the trail junction I lost sight of Sherpa man (who had race ahead of me), and Pennsy was a short distance behind me, I caught a glimpse, through the trees, of Big Slide which towered high above me.

At the trail junction I paused and waited for Pennsy to arrive while I took a snack break. The next .3 mile was a relentlessly steep assault up to the summit of Big Slide. Once on the summit the views opened up. The entire Great Range was in view to the south, with Dix behind. To the southwest we could see Marcy, Grey, Coldan, Algonquin, and Wright. To the east and northeast, we could see Giant and the Jay Range, with the Greens and Camels Hump of Vermont visible beyond.

The decent from Big Slide to the Johns Brook Valley offered new challenges with the steep top of the mountain and the learning of the skill of stream crossing with snowshoes on (we had to rock hop across Slide Mountain Brook on ice covered rocks four times). The going went fast and we soon reach John's Brook Valley. We then followed the John's Brook Trail back to the Garden. Once we got back to the cars, Pennsy decided that he wasn't going to spend the night and hike Giant and Rocky Peak Ridge on Sunday, due to the fact that his boots had bruised both of his ankles. We said our goodbye's and made our way home. Sherpa and I stopped at the hotdog cart at a pull-off on Route 73 near exit 30 on I-87, for hotdogs and hot coffee. The perfect ending to a perfect winters day in the Adirondack High Peaks.

Sorry no pictures yet. I will post some pictures latter on this week once I get my film developed and pictures scanned.”

“cool. can't wait to get up in some of that snow! I hope you sent Pennsy home in one piece.”

“Pennsy should be fine. I think the only reason he didn't stay was because he wanted to make sure he didn't get his ankles so bad that he wouldn't heal up for his trip to the Whites next week.”

“blisters????????”

“No, he said they felt bruised, but when he took his shoes and socks off it didn't look like anything was wrong.”

“Sounds like a picture perfect weather day and a nice hike with that! I know that hot dog stand, LZ. We ate there a few times. It's like an oasis in that area when you are hungry because there isn't any food for many miles from there...”

“Nice trip report. Glad you guys had fun.












Bastards.”

“Shaddup, ya grumpy Tampa bastid!!



:) j/k, Buddy!”

“Hee hee... those who hike the grounds I once did are fair game to my insults, which reak of jealousy stronger than the odor from a fish market. But alas, I will be the target of everyone's envy after I move this summer. Moooooohahahaha!”

“plastic boots Pennsy?

I have heard of other people brusing their ankles with plastic boots and was wondering ...”

“Great report Zac. It was a long way to travel for a dayhike but well worth it.

Actually, it was my shins that got bruised, not my ankles. HOI - yes these were plastic boots, Koflach Degres. The first one I wore them a few weeks ago I got a small bruise on one shin, but after this hike it felt like my shins were rubbed raw to the bone. Weird, no visible bruises though. I'll duct tape the areas for next week's NH trip.

Besises the shins, the 2 kids and the mountain kicked my butt. A 10 mile winter hike in the High Peaks is a lot different than a summer hike. Trying to keep up with 21 & 23 old kids who LIVE in the mts doesn't help. Damn kids. ;o)

It was a lot of fun though, and we did meet the "Saucy Frenchman." We were taking a break early on the Brothers trail when a hiker approached. We had our snowshoes strapped to our packs because up to that point, the snow was very well packed down with absolutely no post holing. He greeted us with a brisk "Pleeze uze thoze snowshoez" and marched on by.

I'm looking forward to your pics Zac. I don't when mine will be up because I used film this trip and have to get them developed.”

“nice grammar - the second paragraph "the first one I wore them" is "the first TIME I wore them." Sheesh.”

“Oui! Humph. I knew zat wuz you keeds and ze old man who wuz making ze post holes. Ze Adirondacks should belong to ze french, you American nincompoops. Why? Vell, just because. Haw haw haw!”

“Pennsy, you're getting old dude. Face it!!! >8-O


lol... j/k”

“Trying to keep up with 21 & 23 old kids who LIVE in the mts doesn't help. Damn kids. ;o)
Pennsy
08:12:38 AM
12/28/03
- my illusions are once again, shattered.

Glad to hear someone is playing in the snow. Nice trip report! Crossing a stream in snowshoes??”

“STAY OFF THE DAMN VEGETATION!”

“LOL! Oh yeah Monsieur Artex Saucy, right after you passed us, it would have been nice if you had walked on the rocks rather than walk around and trample the vegetation. Sheesh, what a hyprocrite.

Bobo - I never cried Uncle! (I might have whimpered for mommy a few times though)

Note to self: If I ever get to hike with Liz, be sure to smack her around with her pink thingy”

“thanks for the report, sounds like a great hike!

crossing ice covered rocks in snowshoes - how did that work out? How deep was the water? How wide was the crossing? Did anyone fall in? (I need details, LOL)

I'm curious because my intended camp this weekend was across a brook and would have required the same, but we opted to set up camp where we were instead. No one else would do it either, but some crossed the "ice."”

“On one of the crossings the water may have been knee deep. It was a combo of rocks, logs, and ice, and looked harder than it actually was. It would have been a lot trickier without trekking poles though.

Sorry Twiggy, no one fell in the water. I did a faceplant in the snow and whacked my knee. Will that do for your entertainment pleasure? ;o)”

“LOL, I wasn't looking for entertainment, but "how to" - I really wanted to get to the other side of that damn stream, but I'dve fallen in for sure. Just wondering if there was a trick to it.

But anyway...did anyone happen to get a picture of that faceplant?
o(=D”

“Nope - I'm quick to fall down but even quicker at getting back up, unlike this guy who couldn't even keep his pack on.”

“You had me scared for a minute their Penssy. I thought that maybe you took a quick snap shot of me almost sliding off of second brother. That was something I definitely never want to repeat.”

“Pennsy, that picture really brought back some memories. I got swallowed whole by one section of that trail when I got to the top of Balsam Mt. I was trying to worm my way through crawling on the snow and my pack got stuck, so then I had to crawl out of the pack and drag the pack through the snow. I can laugh about it now, but at the time was totally unglued.
Twigeater, waders can't be beat for tough stream crossings in the winter. With all the rain we've had this year, my waders got plenty of use.”

“bastard!!



However I sure did show you guys how to do a creek crossing on that trip!

Just jump”

“I'll never forget the flying squirrel you did from that log.”

“I was quite surprised myself

Pleasently surprised!”

“There was no real way to capture the scenery during this trip with a camera. The only real way to get the pure essence of the mountains is to see them first hand. Regardless here is my feeble attempt to capture the mountains. Enjoy

pictures
”

“rich, are those wiggy waders you're referring to, or just the regular fishing waders?

great pics lumberzac!”

“I made waders like Wiggy's, that weigh half of what Wiggy's do and for a fraction of the cost. The easiest way is to get some 200 denier heat sealable nylon and use your home iron to make two long tubes that you can fit your boots into. Attach some cords to tie them to your waist. The last version I made with sewn silnylon and they are really nice, but much more work to make and seam seal. Worth it though in the end.”

“thanks richb!”

“OWF has some white heat sealable nylon on closeout for $4 per pound. With that you could make your own waders for about $3.”

“what's OWF?”

“I meant to get back to you sooner about the steam crossing. The snowshoes actually made the crossing a little easier, because the crampons on the shoes stuck to the ice covered rocks. If I were just wearing boots and nothing else on my feet, I most definitely would have fallen in.

BTW – The translation of Adirondack to English means twig eater or bark eater.”

“I considered that about the snowshoes, but I also had a sled full of wood. I coulda lined that over the ice though.

I'll show you a picture of our intended stream crossing as soon as I get 'em posted. I'm wussy about them anyway and would rather wade than rock hop anytime - I'm such a klutz.

hmmm, I didn't know that about Adirondack - must mean I need to spend more time there!
twigeater or barkeater are what the Algonquins called moose, that's how I chose my name.”

“brook crossing

path over the ice”

“That brook crossing looks like it was at least twice as far as the ones we had to do. I can't blame you for not wanting to cross with a sled full of wood.”

“richb, I found OWF, thanks.

lumberzac, I don't think it looks it in the pics, but the brook was probably knee deep or more. Nothing I wanted to fall into anyway.”

“Nice pics Zac! Hopefully, I'll get mine back and up tomorrow night before I leave for NH.

Twigstah - you're such a coward. heh heh. Nice pics of your trip though. You owe me spam about your weekend and what's up for NH.”

“Hey thanks Pennsy. Although I think next time I go hiking with that much sun, I'm going to load 100 or 50 in my camera. So that will be some time in 2050. I can't wait to see your pictures.”

“In 2050, you'll still be a kid.

Hey Pete and Rich - I was thinking about you guys on the hike. There was a particulary steep pitch near the summit and just when I thought I'd made it, I'd slide back down. It took about 4 tries which reminded me of Rich's fun on Bellayre.”

“I felt like I was on skis that day. It takes a lot of energy struggling up those hills when your sliding backwards. No wonder I got soaked.”

“You weren't struggling with your vocabulary though.....as I recall”

“No, not at all. I'm afraid my tolerance level is rather low when I'm in pain.”

“I think PINPIN JUNIOR is talking about you naughty Bigslide guys over on VFTT - or is that one of you trolling?

o(=D”

“I read that too. I think PINPIN is the saucy Frenchman.”

“I just peeked over there. I think he was talking about Sun or Mon, and we were there Sat. If it is the guy we met and he's talking about us, then he's a jackass.

We put our snowshoes on around the 1st Brother I think. Up to that point, there was no reason for them. There was still a lot of bare rock and there was less than 8" of snow. This guy should be the one getting blasted because he walked around the rocks and stomped on the vegetaion. Sheesh.”

“I was very tempted to bring that up, but it just doesn't seem worth arguing over.”

“Dude, you guys must strike back and rag on him about trampling on the vegetation!”

“Zac, I bet he was referring to further up the trail, near the summit. I did notice boot prints on the upper section. I agree though, it's not worth bringing it up for argument, especially since he may be talking about someone else.

But what do you want from a guy who signed the log book in purple ink. Or was it pink?”

“Maybe they don't have blue or black ink in Canada. I guess we should ask gremlin.
lol”