mtn.goat
New member
Sitting at the top of Eagle Slide with the sun on my face and the temperature in the low 70's it was easy to see why I had become a new convert to slide climbing. The slide dropped below me rather steeply to the valley and there splayed out before me was an amazing sight. With the exception of maybe a half dozen I could see many of the 46 high peaks. From my vantage point the Dix Range loomed before me appearing to be the last of the "high peaks" before the topography reverted into a series of smaller valleys and "hills." I sat there enjoying the view with a big grin on my face realizing that with the exception of maybe 2 or 3 other hikes that this was one of the most fun hikes I had ever had. The view stretched from Whiteface to my right all the way to the dix range to my left it was easy to understand what it was that drove me to climb and hike those peaks. If i could just show all the people that can't understand why i am willing to hike mile upon mile up brutal climbs and descents the view before me I think they would finally understand.... there's nothing like the feeling of sitting on an exposed peak/view on a beautiful day. Now let me explain the days events and how I found myself to be perched on that slide enjoying that view.
I had met up with BlackLab2020 and his friend Greg the day before and we drove to the New Russia TH meeting up with Dom. We spent the night near the TH and made our way over to the Rt73 TH around 7 the next morning. This was my first time on Giant so I enjoyed every step along the trail as it was all new and "foreign" to me. We stopped briefly at the falls and proceeded on. We were all a little concerned as BlackLab had informed us that he had heard that Keene Valley had received over an inch of rain only 2 days prior. We had no idea what the slide conditions would be. We followed the trail up to about 3000' and then cut over to the stream, rock hopping along it until we found ourselves at the base of the slide.
The rock face towered before us appearing near vertical. The bottom was tricky because it consisted of alot of loose boulders and rock and sections of wet slab which were very slick. We each made our way up the rock slowly and found that although it wasn't the most ideal conditions that the slide would be doable. Before long we found ourselves on the main portion of the slide. Route finding was key as you couldn't simply go straight up like in the Trap Dike due to the large sections of wet slick rock. Our group split up a bit with each taking a slightly different route according to our climbing abilities and comfort level with the exposure. We were gaining elevation quickly and the view of the great range got better and better the higher we went.
I attempted to go up a wet section of rock and loosing my traction on a small peice of moss soon found myself sliding down the rock. Luckily there was a ledge about 20-25' below me so I kept my balance with my hands and calmly waited until I had slide close enough to it to jump down to it. Standing there I realized that if it had been one of the long sections of rock around me that seemed to stretch to the bottom that my short and fun "ride" could've been a very painful or worse trip. Without realizing it at the time I was informed by the rest in our climbing party that I had a big grin on my face the whole time I had been sliding down the rock!
I guess I'm cut out for more of this if what would've made most people freeze up and petrified was fun and relaxing for me .
I made my way up the slide being forced to go up very steep sections and using climbing holds and moves. The wet rock forced us to go over a vertical headwall which most of us went around. I started climbing up it but only wearing trail runners I decided it was too dangerous and downclimbed and went around it. BlackLab had seen me go up but not down and ended up climbing up and over it with him pausing near the top and being forced to use an "all or nothing" move in which he had to rely upon his footing which consisted of the ball of one foot on a wet peice of rock! I didn't even have a chance to tell him that I had gone around that part. We then made our way through the cripplebush back onto the slide (we had been forced just to the right of the 2nd feather) and made our way up to the summit of giant.
We rested for a bit then headed over RPR and I pushed ahead switching into speed mode to try and make it up there for Neil's 46th. I ended up making it to the summit 5 minutes before Neil and was there to congratulate him. We then made our way down the rocky peak trail back to the new russia TH. Having been my first time on the trail I definately loved every minute of it. What a great trail with amazing views along much of it's length. The dryness of the trail (soil and vegetation to an extent) as well as openness reminded me of a hike I had taken in California. This is a beautiful trail and with the added bonus (in my eyes ) of 5000' of vertical from the New Russia TH to Giant is a great climb. Definately a trail to return to this winter on a nice day! Here's some pictures from the trip.
I had met up with BlackLab2020 and his friend Greg the day before and we drove to the New Russia TH meeting up with Dom. We spent the night near the TH and made our way over to the Rt73 TH around 7 the next morning. This was my first time on Giant so I enjoyed every step along the trail as it was all new and "foreign" to me. We stopped briefly at the falls and proceeded on. We were all a little concerned as BlackLab had informed us that he had heard that Keene Valley had received over an inch of rain only 2 days prior. We had no idea what the slide conditions would be. We followed the trail up to about 3000' and then cut over to the stream, rock hopping along it until we found ourselves at the base of the slide.
The rock face towered before us appearing near vertical. The bottom was tricky because it consisted of alot of loose boulders and rock and sections of wet slab which were very slick. We each made our way up the rock slowly and found that although it wasn't the most ideal conditions that the slide would be doable. Before long we found ourselves on the main portion of the slide. Route finding was key as you couldn't simply go straight up like in the Trap Dike due to the large sections of wet slick rock. Our group split up a bit with each taking a slightly different route according to our climbing abilities and comfort level with the exposure. We were gaining elevation quickly and the view of the great range got better and better the higher we went.
I attempted to go up a wet section of rock and loosing my traction on a small peice of moss soon found myself sliding down the rock. Luckily there was a ledge about 20-25' below me so I kept my balance with my hands and calmly waited until I had slide close enough to it to jump down to it. Standing there I realized that if it had been one of the long sections of rock around me that seemed to stretch to the bottom that my short and fun "ride" could've been a very painful or worse trip. Without realizing it at the time I was informed by the rest in our climbing party that I had a big grin on my face the whole time I had been sliding down the rock!
I guess I'm cut out for more of this if what would've made most people freeze up and petrified was fun and relaxing for me . I made my way up the slide being forced to go up very steep sections and using climbing holds and moves. The wet rock forced us to go over a vertical headwall which most of us went around. I started climbing up it but only wearing trail runners I decided it was too dangerous and downclimbed and went around it. BlackLab had seen me go up but not down and ended up climbing up and over it with him pausing near the top and being forced to use an "all or nothing" move in which he had to rely upon his footing which consisted of the ball of one foot on a wet peice of rock! I didn't even have a chance to tell him that I had gone around that part. We then made our way through the cripplebush back onto the slide (we had been forced just to the right of the 2nd feather) and made our way up to the summit of giant.
We rested for a bit then headed over RPR and I pushed ahead switching into speed mode to try and make it up there for Neil's 46th. I ended up making it to the summit 5 minutes before Neil and was there to congratulate him. We then made our way down the rocky peak trail back to the new russia TH. Having been my first time on the trail I definately loved every minute of it. What a great trail with amazing views along much of it's length. The dryness of the trail (soil and vegetation to an extent) as well as openness reminded me of a hike I had taken in California. This is a beautiful trail and with the added bonus (in my eyes
) of 5000' of vertical from the New Russia TH to Giant is a great climb. Definately a trail to return to this winter on a nice day! Here's some pictures from the trip.
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