Nippletop Slide Help

[Pete Hogan]

If there is anyone who has some information pertaining to the location of the Nippletop slide, I would appreciate hearing about it. Why? I missed it! Yup, that's right.....I was all over the main drainage from Elk Pass, but I never found the slide.

Some details may help solve the mystery or at least help you decide if I was close or couldn't hit the broad side of a barn!

Friday, 8/26/05 myself and two climbing friends hiked into Elk Pass before turning off trail with the main drainage and descending south (toward Elk Lake). Our goal was the Nippletop Slide. We were encourage to give this one a try after completing ascents via the 1990 Colden slide, Bennies Brook slide, et. al. As a 46er (#4111) with over 30 years of hiking and bushwhacking experience (in the days when Street, Nye, Tabletop and others were true exercises in map, compass and old fashioned, bloody bushwhacking), I felt "qualified" to tackle this adventure.

Somewhere we read (McMartin?) the approximate distance to the slide from the trailed route was .5 mile with about a 400' descent. We struggled through very thick cover (as thick as I have ever experienced) with a myriad of paths (like the old Nye days), but remained true to suggestions of staying low with the drainage. Thinking that the slide stretched all the way to the edge of the main drainage from the pond at Elk Pass, we continued to descend over 60 minutes down the drainage.

I honestly thought that 30-40 minutes tops would do it for a .5-mile bushwhack but I extended the time because travel was so difficult and slow.

We did come across an open rock area about 10 minutes after leaving the Elk Pass Trail, but we were still in the plateau area of the bog and hadn't even reached the beaver dam or started to descend the drainage. We continued on for a total of 1 hour and 12 minutes before deciding to return to Elk Pass. We had even passed the massive vertical cliffs on the Colvin side of the brook that clearly show on the topographical map. The slide is also located further down the drainage than these cliffs and we were well beyond that point when we decided to turn around. It took 1.5 hours to return to the the trail in Elk Pass. We even tried to ascend the side of the mountain further from the brook on the way back in hopes that we would eventually cut across the slide if (by chance) it didn't go all the way to the brook.

After spending 2.5 hours on the bushwhack and way too much energy, we decided to forgo Nippletop and return over Fish Hawk Cliffs and Indian Head. Great views, but small consolation for the day's real goal.

So....is there anyone out there who might offer some experienced guidance on how to locate this elusive slide? Where did we go wrong? Were we down far enough in the drainage? We literally had the brook in sight the entire time and could not find the start of the slide. Does the slide actually come all the way down to the brook? We even rock hopped in the brook because it was easier to be in the brook than in the maze of balsams. I'm thinking that we still had farther to go and should have continued to descend the brook, but we were well past the sheer cliff wall mentioned above.

Can anyone shed any light on this before I return and hopefully not make the same mistake twice? Thanks in advance for any guidance you can offer.

Pete Hogan

 

[randomscooter]

It's been a few years, but...

I think I can still describe the terrain/forest at the point where the slide enters the brook. First, rock hopping down the drainage is definitely the way to go in low water. As you descend the drainage the banks are generally steep, sometimes cliffy, and generally covered with thick fir growth. However, you will come to a spot where the banks recede away from the brook somewhat and the local vegetation is more of the whispy deciduous (perhaps alder?) variety, small trees but distinctly different than upstream. There is also a fairly large pool in the stream here, much more gravelly bottomed than the rocky pools above. The Nippletop slide enters from the left here, hidden somewhat behind all the alder growth, but obvious when you pull back the branches and see the large terminal cliff of the slide.
As I said, it's been a few years, so anyone with more recent memories feel free to correct mine.
Tom H

 

[rhihn]

Pete,

Neil did this recently. He will probably respond to your question, but you can also check out his report here:

http://www.adkforum.com/showthread.php?t=2745&highlight=Nippletop

 

[WalksWithBlackflies]

Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

I shouldn't laugh... I missed it too the first time I tried! Felt like a complete idiot since the slide runs the entire length of the mountain.

The first time I bushwhacked, I stayed a little too high and had to push my way through the same thick brush you seem to have encountered. I actually found the bottom of the slide that day, but ascended the wrong drainage (which was actually the most obvious route). It took me one hour to reach the slide. I ended up ascending while looking for the slide. I never found it. Bushwhacking to the summit of Nippletop is not recommended. You made the correct choice by heading back to Elk Pass.

The second time, I stayed right near the brook and found myself at an obvious cliff face at the bottom of the slide. This time, it only took me 1/2 hour to reach the slide. As I ascended, I almost made the same exact mistake as before. Luckily, I noticed my mistake early and only had to descend about 10 feet to take the correct drainage.

I know the cliff face on Colvin of which you speak. You must have either missed the slide somehow (traveled through the scrub-brush region) or were VERY close to it.

Let me know if you try it again... I may be able to recall some more details which may help you.

 

[Pete Hogan]

Follow-up

First of all, thanks for the thoughtful responses. I appreciate any and all information I can get before I go at this one again. Before designated herd paths, myself and my two sons struggled through the Nye/Street maze for nearly 4 hours before recognizing our ascent route. We opted to retreat due to the lateness of the day and returned to summit Street later on that summer. It was a terrific lesson in route finding, bushwhacking, teamwork and trust. We all learned a great deal from that experience.

I am really not concerned with failing as long as I "fail forward". If I continue to make positive progress toward a goal, I'll go back as many time as it is necessary to get the job done.

Here is my main concern at this point............

I have received conflicting reports on one issue which I believe to be critical. That is, if I stay in the main drainage the flows from the outlet (after the beaver dam) of the southern most pond in Elk Pass will I see the slide from the drainage? I say that because, remaining in the drainage (when it is relatively dry) permits safer, quicker travel as well as a recognizable safety marker (sight and sometimes sound) for possible retreat.

So, is staying in the drainage the best choice given the incredible thick cover and maze of herd paths? It was so thick in there that a few more minutes in the brook might have made the difference. However, that is only contingent upon being able to actually see the slide wall from the brook.

Thanks again for your thoughts. Happy Trails!

 

[rhihn]

Great report and let me know when you go again, I've actually wanted to do that slide for awhile

Let me know as well...depending upon the time, I'd be interested.

 

[WalksWithBlackflies]

if I stay in the main drainage the flows from the outlet (after the beaver dam) of the southern most pond in Elk Pass will I see the slide from the drainage?

Yes and no. If you stay DIRECTLY IN the drainage itself, you MAY miss it, since there is band of scrub brush about 10 feet wide between the drainage and the first rock pitch. If you stay along the eastern bank (hiker's left) of the drainage, it is impossible to miss, and there is actually a good herd path in this section that leads directly to the base of the pitch. If you stay on the east bank, you will follow an intermittent herd path, and the hiking is MUCH easier. BTW, I remember seeing a second area of beaver activity in the drainage about 1 minute before reaching the slide.

 

[Pete_Hickey]

I have received conflicting reports on one issue which I believe to be critical. That is, if I stay in the main drainage the flows from the outlet (after the beaver dam) of the southern most pond in Elk Pass will I see the slide from the drainage?

I don't think so. There isn't much of a drainage to speak of. I've done that slide a couple times, and always stayed above the stream. I think I could have walked past it if I were in the stream.

 

[blacklab2020]

We never took the herd paths... it was much quicker to stay in the drainage... that brush looked really nasty/dense.

As you descend there are a couple spots were you can jump up to the right on the side of colden and see where the slide comes down. We couldnt see the slide until we hit a sudden flat spot and pools of water. At that point we decided to walk through the dense brush and found the base of the slide there... What I remember is stay to the right when the slide splits. It took 4 average hikers about an hour from the trail to reach the slide.

Best of Luck,
Justin

 

[Tom Rankin]

Let me know as well...depending upon the time, I'd be interested.

Neil and I were thinking of doing it this winter.

 

[WalksWithBlackflies]

What I remember is stay to the right when the slide splits

Y E S ! ! !

 

[Neil]

We stayed to the left of the drainage following the braided herd trails and could see the slide just prior to reaching it. The map shows a 4-500 foot drop. (I didn't check the exactitude). The going was not particularly thick alltho' I did pick up some my fair allottment of scratches on my (bare) arms and legs. I didn't check but it felt like an hour in bushwhack time (versus white man time).

 

[TCD]

It's been 15 years for me, but I seem to remember staying up a bit to the left of the drainage.

Easier to see the slide after some leaves are off in a few weeks. It does come up on the left very shortly after the cliffs on Colvin appear on the right.

You'll like it; it's one of the easier slides to climb. I think I remember the herd path at the top exiting on the left side of the top of the slide.

 

[mavs00]

Just did it.

You have gotten pretty much all the advice you need. A few other tidbits. A few others speak about "herd trails". Look for em'. I followed a pretty obvious path from Elk Pass all the way down to the slide base. It pretty much runs 10-15 feet to the left of the drainage and it wasn't too thick at all. I've been doing a lot of b-whacking lately so perhaps it's just because even the faintest whisper of path seems real obvious in the brush to me, but I followed it all the way without difficulty, only losing briefly it 1-2 times.

As for the "Will I see the slide from the drainage?" question. Yes you will, however that's sort of misleading. If your looking for a "macomb" type slide rising from the drainage, you will not see that. It's more like a big rock wall (basewall) that, if your not careful, could certainly pass for cliffs on your left and pass right by. The slide itself can only be seen from the top of the wall. There was alot of water on these rocks and I moved around to the right to "make the slide". Stay to the right once on the slide to hit the right fork.

It took me about 20-25 minutes to reach the rocks from Elk Pass, but I was solo and perhaps moving a little quicker than the average group might.

You're looking for something like this;