mavs00
New member
I really didn’t have designs in heading back into the Santanoni’s anytime in the very near future. Not that I don’t enjoy em’, but with so many other fish to fry, they just were not a real high priority for me. The new OSI land purchase kinda changed all that for me. Neil PM’ed me early on and asked me if I had interest in the previously inaccessible (without trespassing) Santanoni Twin Slides, I immediately jumped at the chance. After some careful route study and some strategizing, we settled on a route and the 19th as our hike day.
Arriving in the lot real early, I got a few hours rest and was up ready to go when Neil pulled in just before 0630 hrs. A third in our party (Hillman), had work trouble and could not make it. We were out and walking within a few minutes and were just chatting away mindlessly and before we knew it we had left the road (in :28) and were headed up the trail to Bradley Pond. It was already pretty hot and humid, but the forest felt nice and within another 1/2 hour we’d reached the property line and were ready to jump into the woods for the roughly 1.5 mile bushwhack over to the slide base.
I’d done a little Google earth/satellite work and we’d selected a nice zigzagging route that was perhaps a little longer than a more direct route would be, but one we felt would keep us in hardwoods the whole way. For the most part we were dead on and it was a great little route. We ran into a few old tote roads that came in handy but with such easy travel, they were hardly needed. We covered the 1.5 miles in just about and hour and found ourselves standing in the rock strewn brook that represents the base of the slide by 8:30.
The next 2 hours was pure slide climbing paradise. The slide itself was not incredibly clean as slides go, but what it lacked in physical characteristics, it was more than made up for by the remote and wild nature that a practically untraveled slide will bring. As we climbed, the view E&S just continued to improve. The view was mostly over to the Allen, Cheney Cobble and the N. River Range. It was a nice stroll, albeit quite hot. The day was heating up nice and we were scorched out on the rocks. Every now and again, the whisper of a breeze blew in and made it somewhat bearable.
This slide itself is quite long. It rises almost 1700 feet and changes complexity several times, from rubble, to slab rock, to steep rock walls. Pretty much a bit of everything. A pretty little brook cascades down the middle for quite a good portion of route. There are many off-shoot slide and splits so close attention needs to be paid to select the correct slide track. Several steep sections and nifty rock walls to negotiate near the top kinda tops things off. Once at the top of the slide, it was time to pay the piper for our relatively easy day thusfar. It was only .2 miles (~500 vertical feet) up to the summit, but all would be brutally thick.
We opted for straight up to the ridge and then push right along the ridge. The up was very steep, but we found a few nice seams that gave up passage through the dense thickets. Once we hit the ridge, no more seams, we were completely enveloped in dense, narley spruce thickets that had to be pushed through. It was pure torture in the heat of the day. Luckily, it was only about .1 miles, and we finnaly pushed through and found ourselves on the summit. A scant 4:45 after leaving the TH.
We choose to take the new/old route down and using Rik’s description, we found the top of the route after just a bit of exploring. The path itself was quite delightful and easy to follow. Someone’s been doing work here. I did enjoy the route, but I have to say, not being an expert, I have to wonder how much traffic it could sustain without turning to a nightmare. The walk out was quite uneventful and we were back at the cars at the 7:40 mark in our hike. All-in-all a very satisfying hike and we were quite pleased in the knowledge that we were probably the first (general non-club hikers) to have legally hiked that slide route in MANY years.
Arriving in the lot real early, I got a few hours rest and was up ready to go when Neil pulled in just before 0630 hrs. A third in our party (Hillman), had work trouble and could not make it. We were out and walking within a few minutes and were just chatting away mindlessly and before we knew it we had left the road (in :28) and were headed up the trail to Bradley Pond. It was already pretty hot and humid, but the forest felt nice and within another 1/2 hour we’d reached the property line and were ready to jump into the woods for the roughly 1.5 mile bushwhack over to the slide base.
I’d done a little Google earth/satellite work and we’d selected a nice zigzagging route that was perhaps a little longer than a more direct route would be, but one we felt would keep us in hardwoods the whole way. For the most part we were dead on and it was a great little route. We ran into a few old tote roads that came in handy but with such easy travel, they were hardly needed. We covered the 1.5 miles in just about and hour and found ourselves standing in the rock strewn brook that represents the base of the slide by 8:30.
The next 2 hours was pure slide climbing paradise. The slide itself was not incredibly clean as slides go, but what it lacked in physical characteristics, it was more than made up for by the remote and wild nature that a practically untraveled slide will bring. As we climbed, the view E&S just continued to improve. The view was mostly over to the Allen, Cheney Cobble and the N. River Range. It was a nice stroll, albeit quite hot. The day was heating up nice and we were scorched out on the rocks. Every now and again, the whisper of a breeze blew in and made it somewhat bearable.
This slide itself is quite long. It rises almost 1700 feet and changes complexity several times, from rubble, to slab rock, to steep rock walls. Pretty much a bit of everything. A pretty little brook cascades down the middle for quite a good portion of route. There are many off-shoot slide and splits so close attention needs to be paid to select the correct slide track. Several steep sections and nifty rock walls to negotiate near the top kinda tops things off. Once at the top of the slide, it was time to pay the piper for our relatively easy day thusfar. It was only .2 miles (~500 vertical feet) up to the summit, but all would be brutally thick.
We opted for straight up to the ridge and then push right along the ridge. The up was very steep, but we found a few nice seams that gave up passage through the dense thickets. Once we hit the ridge, no more seams, we were completely enveloped in dense, narley spruce thickets that had to be pushed through. It was pure torture in the heat of the day. Luckily, it was only about .1 miles, and we finnaly pushed through and found ourselves on the summit. A scant 4:45 after leaving the TH.
We choose to take the new/old route down and using Rik’s description, we found the top of the route after just a bit of exploring. The path itself was quite delightful and easy to follow. Someone’s been doing work here. I did enjoy the route, but I have to say, not being an expert, I have to wonder how much traffic it could sustain without turning to a nightmare. The walk out was quite uneventful and we were back at the cars at the 7:40 mark in our hike. All-in-all a very satisfying hike and we were quite pleased in the knowledge that we were probably the first (general non-club hikers) to have legally hiked that slide route in MANY years.
A view of distant Allen, Cheney & the N. Rivers, about 1/2 way up.
