Tri-P north slide comparisons

[dms]

I think the Marston Slide was closed after a father and son slid to their deaths on it. It is very steep and very slippery.

 

[askus3]

Sometime I will have to dig into my archives to find those slides of Marrston Trail (Brother Slide) and scan them. I kind of remember it from my 1981 trip as the way John L. described it.

 

[dms]

I can remember being up in BSP in the eighties and seeing a hand written sign at the head of the slide that the it was closed because someone had died on it. I'll check my own records for the time frame. According to records I found at katahdinoutdoors.com/bsp/fatalities.html the fatality was on the slide on August 4, 1985.

 

[RoySwkr]

Huntington Ravine Trail is not a slide, it's a sloping rock face, and I agree with Gene's comment. I have been up it 3 times, each with a 10-year-old (the first time it was me), one time we brought a dog but he had a harness and we had a rope that was sometimes attached to the harness and sometimes to timid people. This is a fun trail if you like rock scrambling, otherwise stay off.

I think North Slide of Tripyramid is the toughest slide with a trail up, but I never did the S Brother Slide.

I went up Adams Slide once, I didn't think it was that hard and was mostly closed because it nobody wanted to build that many rock steps and the FS thought there were too many miles of trail in the Wilderness.

I cut my hand on N Slide of OJI on a rainy day that Katahdin was closed, so it isn't trivial but once again I don't think it was that hard.

 

[JohnL]

According to records I found at katahdinoutdoors.com/bsp/fatalities.html the fatality was on the slide on August 4, 1985.

Interesting. I went up the Marston Slide on Sep 02, 1985. I'll check my photos. I know I took a photo of the trailhead signs.

JohnL

 

[Brownie]

Top 10 Toughest NH Trails

I like this topic, and thought I would share my thoughts and ask feedback for the Top 10 Toughest NH Trails.
I am starting a quest to locate, climb, photo and document what might evolve into a list of new challenges.
My goal is to keep to currently known trails and stay away from bushwack jobs, however reading about the abandoned Adams Slide has sparked my interests.
Also, trails NOT on my list are anything assisted by ladders. (Six Husbands)

I am off to climb Huntington's Ravine based on comments read here.
I have been up & down Flume Slide and probably can say this is one of the toughest experienced after seeing what Tuckerman’s and Great Gulf had to offer.
(The trip down Flume was the last day I owned an external framed pack!)

Anybody got a good list for this yet?

On another note about difficulty rating:
Mountaineers & Climbers use a rating system to identify just how difficult a "route" can be. Flume Slide, King Ravine and a few other Prezzie Ravines are rated Class 3 "where the climbing begins".
This is based on use of handholds, footholds and degree of "exposure", the amount of air beneath your feet!
I don’t expect to assign this system too far beyond the Class 3 as I am focused on actual trials.
Just thought it would be a fun effort to explore in general.

On my “to do list” so far, need more to compare:
Huntington Ravine
Kings Ravine
Chem’de Dames
Great Gulf Headwall
Tukerman’s Ravine
Tri-Pyramid North Slide Trail
Caps Ridge
Flume Slide

Jeff

 

[Bob Kittredge]

re: Top 10 toughest NH trails

You'll have to define what you mean by "tough" -

Sheer elevation gain (e.g. Great Gulf)

Steepness (e.g. Great Gully)

Rough footing/slow going (e.g. Parapet, Link)

Danger/scariness (e.g. Huntington Ravine)

Length (e.g. Dry River, Davis Path)

Length + elevation gain (i.e. booktime)

 

[patrickbrusil]

it seems that this list should obtain steep and exposed trails that gain a pretty good amount of elevation (maybe?).

anyways I would say adding the south slide of tripyramid is not unreasonable and from what i hear the madison gulf headwall is intense, however, I have not hiked it so I have no idea in reality.

I am also curious about the adams slide with all this discussion. I had never heard of that trail before ......hmmm

 

[patrickbrusil]

Has anyone climbed what appears to be rock slides on the side of west bond that falls in to hellgate ravine?

 

[bigmoose]

If we're talking official trails-on-slides, I'd have to say Tripyramid's North side is right up there. Steeper, slippier than South Tripyramid's rubble, slicker than Maine's Coe, and fewer handholds and steps than Flume's overgrown slide. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe there are marked trails on Adirondack slides.

Slides without trails? The "checkmark" slide on Peak Above the Nubble nearly killed me. Steep, with a coating of black goo.

 

[hikerfast]

great gully trail in king ravine

I agree this is steep and scary. Did it years ago. Undoable to me currently since my fear of heights is very active at this point. very annoying to me. Maybe I should start a thread wondering how to cure this major pain in my arse.

 

[Raymond]

I think I cured mine by taking my son along with me. He was four years old, and I was so worried about him that I sometimes found myself easily walking blindly backwards up and down steep slopes (Maine's South Turner Mountain comes to mind).

Does this photo show Marston Slide?

 

[Bob Kittredge]

I think I cured mine by taking my son along with me. He was four years old, and I was so worried about him that I sometimes found myself easily walking blindly backwards up and down steep slopes (Maine's South Turner Mountain comes to mind).

I planned a hike up Madison Gulf precisely because the guide book said it was interesting and challenging and I like scrambles. But when we got to the interesting part, one of my hikers was having problems with leg cramps. Most of my attention was devoted to making sure she stayed hydrated and stopping to let her rest and relax. I don't remember much about the trail at all.

 

[SherpaKroto]

...Also, trails NOT on my list are anything assisted by ladders. (Six Husbands)...

That will eliminate some of the best trails I've been on. IMHO, what makes a trail dificult is the combination of features that one may encounter. But it's your list Ladders are not ALWAYS there solely to make things easier, but often to keep traffic into a well defined section where erosion could develop into a problem should wandering be allowed.

Madison Gulf is indeed steep, but it was not as scary as I expected. There are a few spots where you stop and scan your route, but it's toughness is more in its unrelenting straight shot to the ridge.

Another trail getting little mention is Daniel Webster Scout Trail on Mt Madison. It is not horrendously steep, but it always feels so darn long when I cilmb it, and the last push to the ridge is quite steep.

Others that I found steep: Hell Brook (Mansfield), LT up from App Gap to Mad River Glen (Stark Mtn), Holt Trail (Cardigan), Doubletop (BSP, from Slaughter Pond side).

Three trails that I have to get on real soon: Great Gully (Adams), OJI (BSP), The Owl (BSP). With any luck, I'll hit 2 of them before October!

 

[spencer]

OJI is indeed steep and the gravel is VERY loose. I went up the North Slide Trail which is officially closed (and was pretty difficult to follow in places below the slide) and came down the easier South Slide Trail.

Unfortunately, I didn't have much for views when I was up there.

The Owl has some of my favorite views in the park for their complexity of surrounding terrain (Witherle Ravine is AWESOME), proximity to fir waves (part of my other main interest in life) and views into the Klondike. The trail up to the Owl is quite easy and not very steep with the exception of a very short section before the summit.

spencer

 

[spencer]

Does this photo show Marston Slide?

I don't have my pictures of it handy right now, but that one doesn't look right. I have some of it from Doubletop on my home machine. I'll try to remember to post them tomorrow.

I haven't hiked the Marston Slide, but have been wanting to. Sometime I wish I were an old timer so I could have hiked all those old trails.

spencer

 

[dms]

Well, as I am 60 (yuck) today, and certainly an old timer by any standards, the biggest difference I see is that when I started really serious hiking in the 70's, real hiking knowledge only came via your network of hiking friends by word of mouth. The guidebook was some help but to find out about the really "interesting" stuff to do you heard about it from your friends. This site is absolutely amazing for making this "hidden" knowledge available to all who are interested!

 

[RGF1]

That will eliminate some of the best trails I've been on. IMHO, what makes a trail dificult is the combination of features that one may encounter. But it's your list Ladders are not ALWAYS there solely to make things easier, but often to keep traffic into a well defined section where erosion could develop into a problem should wandering be allowed.

Madison Gulf is indeed steep, but it was not as scary as I expected. There are a few spots where you stop and scan your route, but it's toughness is more in its unrelenting straight shot to the ridge.

Another trail getting little mention is Daniel Webster Scout Trail on Mt Madison. It is not horrendously steep, but it always feels so darn long when I cilmb it, and the last push to the ridge is quite steep.

Others that I found steep: Hell Brook (Mansfield), LT up from App Gap to Mad River Glen (Stark Mtn), Holt Trail (Cardigan), Doubletop (BSP, from Slaughter Pond side).

Three trails that I have to get on real soon: Great Gully (Adams), OJI (BSP), The Owl (BSP). With any luck, I'll hit 2 of them before October!

SK you are right about the Danail Webster trail. Not onlly does it seem long but the boulders / talus below the ridge crest are not fun at all. I enjoy scrambling but that part of the trail is not even that it is just a pain in butt .
Madsion Gulf is indeed a long steep but very scenic hike.
You are also right about laders and I will add the stone steps to that .
Some other steep but scenic trail are the Castle Ravine Trail and both the Emerald Path and the Link that climb the sidewalls of the ravine.

 

[Bob Kittredge]

Owl and OJI in Baxter

SherpaK,

I skipped The Owl earlier this month, but my hiking companions really liked it.

I was considering doing OJI and made inquiries. The north branch of the old loop is officially closed. I asked a couple of rangers what exactly that means. One said that you can do it, but it's now considered a bushwhack. The other said that, if you get in trouble on it, the rangers would not be terribly sympathetic. I gather that what they most want to discourage is descent via the north branch. Let us know how it works out.

 

[askus3]

For steepness, I planned this crazy backpack in 1971 in the Whites for my two friends and I. The only steep trail to that point I knew was Breakneck Ridge in the Hudson Valley. So with 30+ pound packs on the second day of my figure eight, I went up the unrelenting Osceola Trail up East Peak from Greeley Pond. And then in '71 it went straight up right from the Upper Pond. That was a bitch. Never knew a non-technical trail could go up and up and up and up ... Then two days later we went up North Slide Tripyramid. We didn't think anything could top the Osceola Trail, but wait ... I found one that did. Thirty years later I went back to these crazy trails with boots instead of sneakers (Keds) and numerous years of experience to see if it was my imagination or were those mountains right up there in the top ten of difficult ascents. North Slide Tripyramid is still right up there. The Osceola Trail is too, except that the newer modified bottom end makes it a tad easier. I still need to hike in the Adirondacks and I want to climb the Cathedral Trail in Baxter but the old Marrston Trail is right up there also. I can't remember the descent from Doubletop to Slaughter Pond that well. All I remember is a blur. We were moving so fast to avoid a thunder/hail storm that we just simply flew down and when we were finished we were totally drenched and got to see a rainbow over Slaughter Pond at the end of the hike.

On the subject of ladders, is the Blueberry Ledge Trail from Ferncroft on Whiteface, NH, the only case of the removal of ladders from a trail that still exists? That ascent also gets a vote for steepness.

And two climbs aside from Adams Slide that I haven't done and are closed now that might also be listed in the crazy ascent list are Tumbledown (up the original chimney) not that the Loop Trail doesn't have its moments and the original closed ascent of Percy Peak! And if it weren't for hiking (climbing) aids, Beehive & Champlain would be outright technical! I took my daughter age 6 up the Beehive, (my wife heard about the Precipice and wouldn't allow me to take her up that one). That was the only time I feared for her and wondered what in h... am I doing taking her here! She is 23 and still remembers that one as one of her favorites of all time.