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Chili Willie and I attempted Bennies Brook Slide up Lower Wolf Jaw, going in
from the Garden, taking the South Side trail along Johns Brook and
bushwhacking. As a side note, we got to the Garden on a Saturday morning at 8:10 am, paid our $5 and found both sides of the lot full, and were directed to park in a line down the center, behind an orange traffic cone, third in line.
Following Mavs00 description, we knew we had missed Bennies Brook when we can to the wooden bridge one brook over, so we backtracked 5 minutes to the last brook and headed up. We did not see any cairns or other markings. We headed up the brook and came out on the left side a hundred yards or so up, keeping the brook to our right. I kept looking for signs of the old ski trail and saplings but never saw the first and saw an incredible number of the second. At some point , maybe 2500 feet, the brook split. Just as Rik did in the thread over on Mavs site, we followed the largest branch - needless to say, we got lost. The brook split a number of times and each time we tried to folow the largest branch. Sometimes we looked for an opening in the woods that might have been the old trail. Don't know if we found the old trail, but we definitely saw footprints. The brook disappeared and appeared again, then disappeared altogether.
Between 3100 and 3200 feet, we were in some pretty thick stuff and were pretty sure we were above the start of the slide and it had to be left or right of us. ( Wolf Jaw summit is around 4200 feet, its about 200 feet from the summit to the point on the trail where the slide ends and the slide is over 1100 feet, so even allowing for some altimeter error, we figured we were above it) We picked left. Wrong choice. We were in some pretty thick stuff, but started moving laterally and a little down, traversing the hill side, moving towards the light (no - not that "light"!). We soon found out that the light was caused by a clearing in the woods due to a downed tree. We could make out a sharp drop off, a valley of some kind and mountains beyond. Turned out we were on a nose shaped ridge, at about 2900 feet.. We looked at the map and Chili Willie figured out we were between Bennies Brook and Rock Cut Brook. Note - yes, we learned from our last little adventure on Buck, and this time we had the map and compass, and had even taken a bearing and set a line of travel on the compass at the start of the brook - around 120 degrees, I think. Not that it helped us all that much. I know about the trick of aiming a little off when taking a bearing and then knowing which way to correct, but I wasn't sure what to aim off of. I am still pretty new to this bushwacking stuff.
We went down the side of the "nose", which was a little tricky, found what we think was an old slide, now covered by dirt, ferns and low vegetation, and
followed in down. We took a bearing and set the diretion of travel for mostly northeast, knowing we would hit the southside trail at some point. We followed the fairly open parts in the woods, staying to the left of any tributaries, but generally following them down. The vegetation was thickest near the water, so we tried to stay left of it. Ferns are your friends - much easier to walk thru, but they do sometimes obscure large rocks, logs or holes. We did this to near the bottom, where we pretty much walked in the creek til we hit the trail.
It was pretty neat walking where no one had ever been before. We were not worried about being lost, because we knew there was a trail above us, a trail below us and a trail to the right of us, and as long as we kept a constant bearing, we knew we were going to hit a trail. One note about being in the thick woods - the branches wacked at us pretty good, but they also wacked at the black flies and mosquitoes - kind of a super big fly swatter! The black flies around our heads wanted to drink deeply from the pools of our eyes - and I don't mean that in a romantic way! Our arms and legs were covered with cuts, scrapes, black fly and mosquito bites, and something that looks suspiciously like poison ivy the day after the hike.
Another interesting thing is that if you walk on maintained trails, any branches or trees that are down are likely to be fairly new and thus, solid. Not when you are walking where no one has been. Several times we reached or leaned against a downed branch or tree, thinking it would be solid, only to have it crumble or break away.
By the way, the flumes and falls towards the bottom of Rock Cut Creek were beautiful, and are worth a short detour off the trail just to see. Pretty refreshing to plunge our heads in the cool waters, too.
It rained for 3 hours and for the last two hours it was a downpour. I put on my pack cover, but since I was already soaked with sweat, didn't even bother with the poncho. At one point, I am sure we began to see the animals walking two-by-two, coming down the trail.
We waited under an overhang, near a spot where the trail goes next to the creek, when it started to thunder and lightening, hoping the rain would let up. It didn't. The walk back seemed to take forever, and neither of us was recognizing too much on the trail. Of course, a good chunk of it was now under about 6 inches of water - just enough to go up over my waterproof boots and down inside. Wouldn't want any part of me to be dry, now. We thought we might have overshot the Johns Brook crossing and were resigned to coming out a mile below the Garden and backtracking up the road, but it was just perception.
When we got to the place where we needed to cross John Brook, - surprise! The water was about a foot higher than when we had crossed it in the morning, and rushing in a torrent. What was an easy rock hop a few hours before was more than a little tricky. But, we made it. Chili Willie said he saw a stain in my pants after I finally made it over, - but that's a lie!
We made it to the car and DeCesare's in Schroon Lake for ziti and sausage and home without too much more difficulty, but I was really tired and sore. Bushwacking is a lot more tiring than just hiking up a trail, maintained or other wise. I took a little nap in the car in the parking lot across rt 9 while Bill ordered at DeCesare's, which was packed. He called me on the cell phone to wake me up and tell me supper was ready- guess he didn't want to make that long trek across the road to the car to wake me up! We ate outside, which was nice, and the rain even held off for us. Down the road for some excellent ice cream, on Rt 9 just before exit 26, back on the Northway and home.
It was Chili Willie's 51st birthday. I had a cold beer for him on ice in the car at the Garden after the hike. We had fun. I did not throw up. What more could you ask for?
from the Garden, taking the South Side trail along Johns Brook and
bushwhacking. As a side note, we got to the Garden on a Saturday morning at 8:10 am, paid our $5 and found both sides of the lot full, and were directed to park in a line down the center, behind an orange traffic cone, third in line.
Following Mavs00 description, we knew we had missed Bennies Brook when we can to the wooden bridge one brook over, so we backtracked 5 minutes to the last brook and headed up. We did not see any cairns or other markings. We headed up the brook and came out on the left side a hundred yards or so up, keeping the brook to our right. I kept looking for signs of the old ski trail and saplings but never saw the first and saw an incredible number of the second. At some point , maybe 2500 feet, the brook split. Just as Rik did in the thread over on Mavs site, we followed the largest branch - needless to say, we got lost. The brook split a number of times and each time we tried to folow the largest branch. Sometimes we looked for an opening in the woods that might have been the old trail. Don't know if we found the old trail, but we definitely saw footprints. The brook disappeared and appeared again, then disappeared altogether.
Between 3100 and 3200 feet, we were in some pretty thick stuff and were pretty sure we were above the start of the slide and it had to be left or right of us. ( Wolf Jaw summit is around 4200 feet, its about 200 feet from the summit to the point on the trail where the slide ends and the slide is over 1100 feet, so even allowing for some altimeter error, we figured we were above it) We picked left. Wrong choice. We were in some pretty thick stuff, but started moving laterally and a little down, traversing the hill side, moving towards the light (no - not that "light"!). We soon found out that the light was caused by a clearing in the woods due to a downed tree. We could make out a sharp drop off, a valley of some kind and mountains beyond. Turned out we were on a nose shaped ridge, at about 2900 feet.. We looked at the map and Chili Willie figured out we were between Bennies Brook and Rock Cut Brook. Note - yes, we learned from our last little adventure on Buck, and this time we had the map and compass, and had even taken a bearing and set a line of travel on the compass at the start of the brook - around 120 degrees, I think. Not that it helped us all that much. I know about the trick of aiming a little off when taking a bearing and then knowing which way to correct, but I wasn't sure what to aim off of. I am still pretty new to this bushwacking stuff.
We went down the side of the "nose", which was a little tricky, found what we think was an old slide, now covered by dirt, ferns and low vegetation, and
followed in down. We took a bearing and set the diretion of travel for mostly northeast, knowing we would hit the southside trail at some point. We followed the fairly open parts in the woods, staying to the left of any tributaries, but generally following them down. The vegetation was thickest near the water, so we tried to stay left of it. Ferns are your friends - much easier to walk thru, but they do sometimes obscure large rocks, logs or holes. We did this to near the bottom, where we pretty much walked in the creek til we hit the trail.
It was pretty neat walking where no one had ever been before. We were not worried about being lost, because we knew there was a trail above us, a trail below us and a trail to the right of us, and as long as we kept a constant bearing, we knew we were going to hit a trail. One note about being in the thick woods - the branches wacked at us pretty good, but they also wacked at the black flies and mosquitoes - kind of a super big fly swatter! The black flies around our heads wanted to drink deeply from the pools of our eyes - and I don't mean that in a romantic way! Our arms and legs were covered with cuts, scrapes, black fly and mosquito bites, and something that looks suspiciously like poison ivy the day after the hike.
Another interesting thing is that if you walk on maintained trails, any branches or trees that are down are likely to be fairly new and thus, solid. Not when you are walking where no one has been. Several times we reached or leaned against a downed branch or tree, thinking it would be solid, only to have it crumble or break away.
By the way, the flumes and falls towards the bottom of Rock Cut Creek were beautiful, and are worth a short detour off the trail just to see. Pretty refreshing to plunge our heads in the cool waters, too.
It rained for 3 hours and for the last two hours it was a downpour. I put on my pack cover, but since I was already soaked with sweat, didn't even bother with the poncho. At one point, I am sure we began to see the animals walking two-by-two, coming down the trail.
We waited under an overhang, near a spot where the trail goes next to the creek, when it started to thunder and lightening, hoping the rain would let up. It didn't. The walk back seemed to take forever, and neither of us was recognizing too much on the trail. Of course, a good chunk of it was now under about 6 inches of water - just enough to go up over my waterproof boots and down inside. Wouldn't want any part of me to be dry, now. We thought we might have overshot the Johns Brook crossing and were resigned to coming out a mile below the Garden and backtracking up the road, but it was just perception.
When we got to the place where we needed to cross John Brook, - surprise! The water was about a foot higher than when we had crossed it in the morning, and rushing in a torrent. What was an easy rock hop a few hours before was more than a little tricky. But, we made it. Chili Willie said he saw a stain in my pants after I finally made it over, - but that's a lie!
We made it to the car and DeCesare's in Schroon Lake for ziti and sausage and home without too much more difficulty, but I was really tired and sore. Bushwacking is a lot more tiring than just hiking up a trail, maintained or other wise. I took a little nap in the car in the parking lot across rt 9 while Bill ordered at DeCesare's, which was packed. He called me on the cell phone to wake me up and tell me supper was ready- guess he didn't want to make that long trek across the road to the car to wake me up! We ate outside, which was nice, and the rain even held off for us. Down the road for some excellent ice cream, on Rt 9 just before exit 26, back on the Northway and home.
It was Chili Willie's 51st birthday. I had a cold beer for him on ice in the car at the Garden after the hike. We had fun. I did not throw up. What more could you ask for?
.
When you're thinking of trying this again, gimme a shout. I'm interested in doing that slide.
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