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BS = Big Slide of course.
At 8 am on Jan. 5th Dominic and I met up with Eric at the Garden for one heckuva fun hike. The trail to Big Slide is packed down so hard you could probably YakTrak the whole thing. We MSR’d and did just fine.
I remember this hike as being a real gem. Spectacular views, a beautiful trail and tons of blueberries. This morning the skies were grey and very low so during our ascent we had no views at all. We cruised along with Eric leading the way at full bore. This was good because the wet snow had soaked my t-shirt and going full bore kept me warm. At the junction near the top we had a snack, dumped the packs and headed up the last steep section. Due to no views and the wind we thought we’d spend about 10 seconds on the summit. At the last second I decided to tie my parka around my waist and this proved to be a very good move. I had prepared a map in Topo with compass bearing lines spreading out like a sunburst from the summit to all the peaks that are visible from Big Slide. So, in a whiteout, with map and compass in hand we pointed through the clouds towards the invisible peaks when suddenly the clouds thinned and we started getting real views. I went gaga over all the slides that are visible and clicked away on my camera.
Going back to our packs was one great butt slide. Dominic used his hiking pole upside down as a self-arrest tool and this was much more effective than using the point. On the way out we kept getting better and better views and even enjoyed a few fleeting moments of sunshine. There was lots of butt sliding but the best was captured as a movie by my camera.
I slid down a steep section to where the trail made a hard left turn just before a drop-off and got set up. Dom came down in my track and went over the lip but in a controlled manner.
Eric let 'er rip and went flying over the lip and burnt and crashed into some deadfall. A true Jackass moment that resulted in great merriment
(as long as your name isn't Eric, I guess).
I got a couple more slide pics (the Lower Case y and the Rectangle Slides on Giant) and we were back at the car before 2.
As we descended, Eric extolled the vertues of the Salt and Pepper chips sold at the general store in Keene Valley as opposed to Stewart's
S&P chips and we started joking that there would only be one bag left and that we would have to fight over it. Well, it turned out that there was only
one bag left which Dom and I graciously left for Eric. After all, we still had the Stewart's in E-Town before hitting the Northway.
pictures
At 8 am on Jan. 5th Dominic and I met up with Eric at the Garden for one heckuva fun hike. The trail to Big Slide is packed down so hard you could probably YakTrak the whole thing. We MSR’d and did just fine.
I remember this hike as being a real gem. Spectacular views, a beautiful trail and tons of blueberries. This morning the skies were grey and very low so during our ascent we had no views at all. We cruised along with Eric leading the way at full bore. This was good because the wet snow had soaked my t-shirt and going full bore kept me warm. At the junction near the top we had a snack, dumped the packs and headed up the last steep section. Due to no views and the wind we thought we’d spend about 10 seconds on the summit. At the last second I decided to tie my parka around my waist and this proved to be a very good move. I had prepared a map in Topo with compass bearing lines spreading out like a sunburst from the summit to all the peaks that are visible from Big Slide. So, in a whiteout, with map and compass in hand we pointed through the clouds towards the invisible peaks when suddenly the clouds thinned and we started getting real views. I went gaga over all the slides that are visible and clicked away on my camera.
Going back to our packs was one great butt slide. Dominic used his hiking pole upside down as a self-arrest tool and this was much more effective than using the point. On the way out we kept getting better and better views and even enjoyed a few fleeting moments of sunshine. There was lots of butt sliding but the best was captured as a movie by my camera.
I slid down a steep section to where the trail made a hard left turn just before a drop-off and got set up. Dom came down in my track and went over the lip but in a controlled manner.
Eric let 'er rip and went flying over the lip and burnt and crashed into some deadfall. A true Jackass moment that resulted in great merriment
(as long as your name isn't Eric, I guess).
I got a couple more slide pics (the Lower Case y and the Rectangle Slides on Giant) and we were back at the car before 2.
As we descended, Eric extolled the vertues of the Salt and Pepper chips sold at the general store in Keene Valley as opposed to Stewart's
S&P chips and we started joking that there would only be one bag left and that we would have to fight over it. Well, it turned out that there was only
one bag left which Dom and I graciously left for Eric. After all, we still had the Stewart's in E-Town before hitting the Northway.
pictures
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