Big Slide in Early November

 

A friend of Jay's was coming up from Jersey to do Big Slide and Sunny and I joined them. We'd already done Big Slide last year, but I was super fine with hiking it again and I suspect it won't be the last time. 

The weather wasn't going to be great, but it also wasn't going to be crazy. A hike with friends is a great time even without summit views, so I was excited for the opportunity. With craziness at work and just life in general, I hadn't been out to run for a while, so I was a little conerned about my fitness. Fortunately, Big Slide isn't a monster hike.

We started up the immediate climb. I was puffing pretty hard, but it was managable. I'd started the hike wearing a synthetic fleece jacket and duff, but I removed those pretty quickly as I was getting overheated. The going was a bit easier after that. As usual, Sunny was in great spirits and pulled me up the mountain.

We knew the ceiling would be below the summit thanks to the Mountain Forecast website, so we took in the incredible views along the Brothers. 

Sunny and Korra were like peas and carrots again, though they did have a few minor scuffles about who got to take point during the hike.

Once we got to the summit of First Brother, the most strenuous work was done. The views here were the best of the day. The wind picked up on the summit and I took out my down puffy to deal with it.

The ridge walk between First Brother and Third Brother was some fun hiking. The snow started to appear as we descended First Brother, unsurprisingly on the North and West sides of the mountains. I don't clearly recall when we put on our microspikes, but I think it was during the ascent up Second Brother. The ice was getting pretty sketchy, and even with spikes we had to watch out. Much of the terrain in this part of the hike was either little slides covered in ice or liquid mud with a sheen of ice over it.

The hike across from Third Brother was a bit long, but not incredibly strenuous. When you look across the range, it's easy to mistake the most visible peak as Big Slide, but that's actually a smaller peak that you hike past the North side of in order to reach the actual Big Slide summit. This traverse across the Brothers featured a lot more clean, running water than I recall from our first hike through here. I suspect someone could make do with just their water filter and a bottle on this hike unless it was a particularly dry period.

The final ascent up Big Slide from the Red Trail junction was very icy and we were extremely glad to have our microspikes on. A few of the steep sections would have been very dangerous otherwise. The stairs were a bit icy, but not crazy. Sunny used the stairs this time instead of the rock beside it, though he was a bit trepadatious at first.

As expected, the summit was totally socked in. We met some new friends on the summit and they gave Sunny some pets. I was a little surprised at how many people were out and about today, but even a cloudy, cool day in the Adirondacks is better than a day on the couch.

We had a conversation about how to descend the mountain. I wasn't too keen on going down Yard again. Jay was a bit concerned about some folks who were descending the Slide Brook trail (red markers) without microspikes. Also, I'd never hiked that trail down before and I was curious. The only down-side was the fact that we'd have to hike back to the Garden from JBL. I figured, well, what's a season of hiking without multiple slogs down the Phelps Trail, so why not.

The hike down the red trail was pretty awesome. It's fairly steep on the initial descent and we were once again grateful for our microspikes. After that, it intersects with the Slide Brook itself and follows it the entire way to Phelps Trail.

The trail crosses the stream several times and it offers some lovely, picturesque scenes to enjoy. I would definitely avoid this trail entirely after heavy or extended periods of rain. The first half of the stream descent was fairly steep and pretty, while the second half was a bit more pedestrian and flat. 

The hike from JBL to The Garden was a slog as usual, but it was a lot nicer with folks to talk to. Sunny and Korra took turns leading the pack which made them happy.

After 3000 feet of elevation gain and burning 5000 calories, we were ready for dinner. We thought it was fitting to stop at Big Slide Brewery after the hike and I was very grateful that Jay was driving! I had the duck legs and the soup of the day; Jay had a pizza, and Jay's buddy had a vegan pizza. Everyone was extremely happy with their food.

This is probably the last high peak of the season due to the coming weather, but it won't be the last hike. I'm not sure what all we're doing this winter, but we won't be resting on our laurels.