Most Difficult Trail In The Northeast

[nartreb]

Oji Slide Trail - that's in Baxter right? Is that an official trail? That sounds like the kind of thing I'm talking about/looking for. I'd love to do Mahoosuc Notch too but I'm fearful my claustrophobia would prevent me from completing. There were sections of the Subway in King Ravine I climbed up and over and Mahoosuc Notch sounds like the Subway on steroids.

It *was* an official trail - actually there were two on OJI. No longer maintained, but a decade ago I found the north slide trail right where the old maps said it should be. The slide itself is like a more intimidating version of the tripyramid north slide.
http://www.summitpost.org/baxter/352144/c-152111


There are a few other abandoned trails in Baxter... I think I read somewhere that there's a route straight up the Chimney that was once considered a hiking trail.

 

[peakbagger]

Many of Baxter's former routes were slides as they provided the path of least resistance through the inevitable spruce/fir zones. The slides were and are very unstable and heavy rain conditions can wipe out a hiking route quickly. In recent years portions of the Dudley and the Abol trail got wiped out. The old Chimney route reportedly was closed when some very large boulders fell down and got stuck in the chute turning it into a technical route. I did the abandoned Marston Slide trail a few years back and although steep the biggest issue is that the upper sections are quite loose and its incredibly easy to start small slides raining rocks down on anyone else coming up behind. Given the typical hikers goal of bagging Coe, the Brothers and Fort all in one shot, it really made sense to build the Coe connector and move the Marston route to a more stable area.

The Underhill's had a penchant for creating steep "hiking" trails in the whites. At least one was closed on North Percy as it was treacherous in wet weather as it consists of traversing many steep granite slabs.

 

[Snowflea]

The Underhill's had a penchant for creating steep "hiking" trails in the whites. At least one was closed on North Percy as it was treacherous in wet weather as it consists of traversing many steep granite slabs.

One of my favorite routes in the Whites. Did it for the 5th or 6th time last month on an extreme blueberrying excursion. The route is getting more and more grown in.

Love the abandoned Downes Brook Slide and Adams Slide Trails, too!

 

[JoshandBaron]

One of my favorite routes in the Whites. Did it for the 5th or 6th time last month on an extreme blueberrying excursion. The route is getting more and more grown in.

Love the abandoned Downes Brook Slide and Adams Slide Trails, too!

Last month I did a trip up Six Husbands and down Adams Slide as I'd already done Buttress. That was probably a poor choice and I think I'm still bleeding. I'd do it again.

 

[DayTrip]

Has anyone "catalogued" these old slide trails in NH and elsewhere on some sort of list?

 

[DayTrip]

Check out http://www.trishalexsage.com/p/the-terrifying-twenty-five.html I've done most of them and agree with the descriptions. Huntington Ravine is still on my bucket list. The ones that most terrified me were the Six Husbands crux at the overhang and the North Tripyramid slide. You have to trust your boot soles. Also, going down a steep ravine trail is, well, interesting. Facing the ravine is awkward, and your back to the ravine is marginally less awkward. I did that only once, on the Castle Ravine Trail, and it took forever.

I've seen that list before and have done all but a hand full of those trails. Many on that list are far from terrifying but there are some good ones.

 

[jniehof]

Has anyone "catalogued" these old slide trails in NH and elsewhere on some sort of list?

Not restricted to slides, but http://www.franklinsites.com/losthikingtrails/

 

[DayTrip]

Not restricted to slides, but http://www.franklinsites.com/losthikingtrails/

Excellent! Thanks for the link.

 

[nartreb]

Has anyone "catalogued" these old slide trails in NH and elsewhere on some sort of list?

Not really a catalog, and far from complete, and also most of these are bushwhacks (not trails), but you can see a selection of Northeastern slides here:
http://www.summitpost.org/ny-ne-slides/349263

 

[DayTrip]

Not really a catalog, and far from complete, and also most of these are bushwhacks (not trails), but you can see a selection of Northeastern slides here:
http://www.summitpost.org/ny-ne-slides/349263

Another good link but I see a lot pf photos with people carrying ropes, climbing gear, etc. I'll have to research the ones that seem climbable without gear. Thanks.

 

[DayTrip]

So what are considered to be the best "starter" slide trails in NH? The most common one I seem to come across is Arrow Slide on Hancock. Would that be a sensible slide trail to start with? A lot of people seem to do the slide on the East side of the Franconia Ridge (Lincoln's Throat?) too. Anyone have any thoughts on either of these as an intro to slide routes that don't have a trail?

 

[Grey J]

These trails can get monotonous for sure. I find the problem is feeling like I'm going so fast, so it seems like it should be done so much sooner, but going 50% faster only turns an hour into 40 minutes, which is still a long time to be walking thinking you're almost done. I'd add Moriah Brook to this list. On the flip-side, I find the Gulfside trail to be difficult when you can see where you want to go and it's miles away, but at least you have the views.

Math is not my best subject but if you go 50% faster, doesn't that turn an hour into 30 minutes?

 

[RollingRock]

Math is not my best subject but if you go 50% faster, doesn't that turn an hour into 30 minutes?

My understanding when I read that is that you may be going 50% faster as to effort, but a monotonous trail in rough terrain is not actually going to cut down the time in half. Made sense to me.

 

[Grey J]

Ok, I said I struggled in math but I think I get it. If you are going 2 miles an hour and increase your speed by 50% then you are going 3 miles an hour. At 3 miles an hour, you will go 2 miles in 40 minutes. You would have to increase your speed by 100% to change that one hour to 30 minutes. To put it another way, you would have to double your speed from 2 miles an hour to 4 miles an hour in order to go 2 miles in 30 minutes. Apologies to TJsName.

 

[TJsName]

Math is not my best subject but if you go 50% faster, doesn't that turn an hour into 30 minutes?

I get your thinking, but what you're thinking is that if one were to go twice as fast (100% faster) it would half as long. I was trying to give a more realistic increase on the downhill of 50%. It works out that if you go 2 mph, it will take 1 hour to go two miles. An increase in speed by 50% means you're going 3mph. Those same two miles will now take 2mph/3miles = 2/3h or 40 minutes.

 

[TJsName]

Ok, I said I struggled in math but I think I get it. If you are going 2 miles an hour and increase your speed by 50% then you are going 3 miles an hour. At 3 miles an hour, you will go 2 miles in 40 minutes. You would have to increase your speed by 100% to change that one hour to 30 minutes. To put it another way, you would have to double your speed from 2 miles an hour to 4 miles an hour in order to go 2 miles in 30 minutes. Apologies to TJsName.

Oh that's funny - you used the exact example I did.

 

[Bob Kittredge]

I will go with Huntington Ravine Trail.
The Holt Trail on Cardigan is no slouch, either.

Funny you should mention those two. I'm hoping to do the Holt this Friday and Huntington Ravine on Saturday. I've done each of them a few times and know what I'm in for.

Flume Slide is nasty. North Slide on Tripyramid can be unnerving. Great Gully is certainly strenuous but not especially scary; likewise the King Ravine Trail. Great Gulf is a bit of a slog; I had difficulty finding some of the blazes on the headwall.

I did Mahoosuc Notch a couple of weeks ago for the first time in 12 years. Have they made it even harder since 2005? Mercy!

The first time I did the Hunt up Katadin, I thought it beat even Mahoosuc. Now I'm not so sure.

Castle Ravine kicked my butt last year.

I started up the OJI Slide one time and turned back an hour into it. It was the sand and loose gravel on the steep slabs that scared me witless.

 

[Tom Rankin]

Many of Baxter's former routes were slides as they provided the path of least resistance through the inevitable spruce/fir zones. The slides were and are very unstable and heavy rain conditions can wipe out a hiking route quickly. In recent years portions of the Dudley and the Abol trail got wiped out. The old Chimney route reportedly was closed when some very large boulders fell down and got stuck in the chute turning it into a technical route. I did the abandoned Marston Slide trail a few years back and although steep the biggest issue is that the upper sections are quite loose and its incredibly easy to start small slides raining rocks down on anyone else coming up behind. Given the typical hikers goal of bagging Coe, the Brothers and Fort all in one shot, it really made sense to build the Coe connector and move the Marston route to a more stable area.

The Underhill's had a penchant for creating steep "hiking" trails in the whites. At least one was closed on North Percy as it was treacherous in wet weather as it consists of traversing many steep granite slabs.

Coming down from Coe back in the 90's I did start a small landslide, which my hiking companions did not appreciate!

After that, they put me in the front of the line!

 

[nartreb]

So what are considered to be the best "starter" slide trails in NH? The most common one I seem to come across is Arrow Slide on Hancock. Would that be a sensible slide trail to start with? A lot of people seem to do the slide on the East side of the Franconia Ridge (Lincoln's Throat?) too. Anyone have any thoughts on either of these as an intro to slide routes that don't have a trail?

"Lincoln's throat" is a route on the west side, it's sometimes done as an ice climb in winter, so I expect it's damp in the summer. The slide on the east side of Franconia Ridge looks straightforward enough, but it's got a *long* approach and I doubt it's easy to find from below.
Arrow is much better from those perspectives. I haven't done it but it seems to have a relatively benign reputation.

Some slides that do have trails are: tripyramid (x2), Mt Coe, Owl's Head. Do at least two of those first before you try bushwhacking.

 

[DayTrip]

"Lincoln's throat" is a route on the west side, it's sometimes done as an ice climb in winter, so I expect it's damp in the summer. The slide on the east side of Franconia Ridge looks straightforward enough, but it's got a *long* approach and I doubt it's easy to find from below.
Arrow is much better from those perspectives. I haven't done it but it seems to have a relatively benign reputation.

Some slides that do have trails are: tripyramid (x2), Mt Coe, Owl's Head. Do at least two of those first before you try bushwhacking.

I've done pretty much everything in the Whites that is an actual trail. That's why I wondered if NY or ME had more formidable trails. Sounds like Coe and Oji are peaks to put on the radar for my next trip to Baxter.

As far as the slide on East side of Franconia Ridge does it have a name? I've seen several trip reports this year from people who have used it to catch Franconia Ridge and Owl's Head in the same hike. Sounded "better" than going around the long way. The bottom of that slide does look quite a ways from the Lincoln Brook Trail. I've only gone up that far once and don't really remember what the woods look like regarding a bushwhack.