David Metsky
Well-known member
I had bagged out of Poison Ivy's hike in Maine because of the early start and long travel 
but still wanted to hike. Seeker and I made a preliminary plan to try for the Sleepers but we backed off on that after looking at the map on the drive north. Instead, we settled on the Flume Slide trail, which I'd done once many years ago and she had always wanted to try.
In a fine alpine start we hit the trail at 10:30 and found ourselves at the Flume Slide trail junction in short order. There were a surprising number of groups headed that way, some we would play leapfrog with all day. The traverse across to the base of the slide was a little wet in places, but a nice walk in the woods. Temps were pretty nice, only in the 70s making for very comfortable hiking.
Eventually we hit the base of the slide, which climbs gradually over loose rock at first, then climbs steeper to a few tricky sections. A couple climbing ahead of us appeared stymied at one section, not clear where to go or how to get there, but we all eventually made it up. A little higher we were quickly passed by a group of 4. Ah, to be young and French-Canadian once again. Just above that the trail slips quietly to the right, an obvious but poorly marked footbed below a difficult climb. Clearly, lots of folks have missed this turn as the rock above had many herd paths. The trail cuts over to the right about 100' then climbs again in a much drier and more open slide. We heard the French-Canadian group laughing to our left, but they seem to have found their way back to the trail above us somehow.
During this adventure we enountered 3 people hiking down the Slide. The first guy (in sneakers) clearly hadn't counted on this from his reading of the map and was questioning his choice, but he was far enough down that it was probably easier to continue. The other two knew what they were doing and charged down the trail at a breakneck speed. More power to them. Apparently another group started down a bit later in the day and were turned around by climbers going up, they were definately not up for that descent.
So, we popped out at the ridge and quickly found a spot on the summit of Flume for lunch and a view. We met Highhorse, a fellow VftT'er who helped us spot the Wildcats poking out from behind Washington. The wind was a bit chilly and everyone put on jackets but the views of the Pemi were spectacular. After lunch and my ice cold frozen waterbottle (!) we pushed on to Liberty. Along the way we heard some ravens squawking like I've never heard before. Someone up there was quite upset with someone else and was making his or her opinion well known to the tri-state region.
On Liberty we again spent some time lounging and taking in the still wonderful views. A family arrived soon after we did, with a kid on the dad's back in a carrier. He bounded up to the top, not pleasing the kid or the mom too much. We stayed there soaking up the sun for a bit, but we needed to head on down. Off to Liberty Springs then the long downhill.
We both left our poles in the car due to the scramble up the slide but they would have felt nice on the descent. Still, once you get past the top mile and a half it's pretty mellow. We got out to the car around 5:30, so a 7 hour trip total with plenty of summit lounging. From there we headed to the Mountain Wanderer to say hi to Steve, and met up with Eric Savage (Mr 4000'er committee ) and discussed the latest 4000'er Owl's Head controversy. He came to the Station with us for dinner, then we headed south again.
Pix to follow.
-dave-
but still wanted to hike. Seeker and I made a preliminary plan to try for the Sleepers but we backed off on that after looking at the map on the drive north. Instead, we settled on the Flume Slide trail, which I'd done once many years ago and she had always wanted to try.In a fine alpine start we hit the trail at 10:30 and found ourselves at the Flume Slide trail junction in short order. There were a surprising number of groups headed that way, some we would play leapfrog with all day. The traverse across to the base of the slide was a little wet in places, but a nice walk in the woods. Temps were pretty nice, only in the 70s making for very comfortable hiking.
Eventually we hit the base of the slide, which climbs gradually over loose rock at first, then climbs steeper to a few tricky sections. A couple climbing ahead of us appeared stymied at one section, not clear where to go or how to get there, but we all eventually made it up. A little higher we were quickly passed by a group of 4. Ah, to be young and French-Canadian once again. Just above that the trail slips quietly to the right, an obvious but poorly marked footbed below a difficult climb. Clearly, lots of folks have missed this turn as the rock above had many herd paths. The trail cuts over to the right about 100' then climbs again in a much drier and more open slide. We heard the French-Canadian group laughing to our left, but they seem to have found their way back to the trail above us somehow.
During this adventure we enountered 3 people hiking down the Slide. The first guy (in sneakers) clearly hadn't counted on this from his reading of the map and was questioning his choice, but he was far enough down that it was probably easier to continue. The other two knew what they were doing and charged down the trail at a breakneck speed. More power to them. Apparently another group started down a bit later in the day and were turned around by climbers going up, they were definately not up for that descent.
So, we popped out at the ridge and quickly found a spot on the summit of Flume for lunch and a view. We met Highhorse, a fellow VftT'er who helped us spot the Wildcats poking out from behind Washington. The wind was a bit chilly and everyone put on jackets but the views of the Pemi were spectacular. After lunch and my ice cold frozen waterbottle (!) we pushed on to Liberty. Along the way we heard some ravens squawking like I've never heard before. Someone up there was quite upset with someone else and was making his or her opinion well known to the tri-state region.
On Liberty we again spent some time lounging and taking in the still wonderful views. A family arrived soon after we did, with a kid on the dad's back in a carrier. He bounded up to the top, not pleasing the kid or the mom too much.
We stayed there soaking up the sun for a bit, but we needed to head on down. Off to Liberty Springs then the long downhill.We both left our poles in the car due to the scramble up the slide but they would have felt nice on the descent. Still, once you get past the top mile and a half it's pretty mellow. We got out to the car around 5:30, so a 7 hour trip total with plenty of summit lounging. From there we headed to the Mountain Wanderer to say hi to Steve, and met up with Eric Savage (Mr 4000'er committee
) and discussed the latest 4000'er Owl's Head controversy. He came to the Station with us for dinner, then we headed south again.Pix to follow.
-dave-
