masshysteria
Member
Let me first start by stating emphatically: You have got to climb this baby! What a view!!
Now that that's out of my system, here's the details. My friends, Mike and Chris Liebla, joined me for one of those,'I gotta do that someday' hikes in the ADK's. The three of us left the Orebed leanto at 8:00, armed with maps, aerial photos, and selected intenet suggestions from many people, like iceNsnow, oldfogie, and others. Arriving at the first brook after the leanto, we headed upstream. I might add that with all the rain, there were half a dozen small brooks between these two, so marking a waypoint with the GPS was very helpfull. We hooked up with two young men who were climbing the technical North Face. They mistook one of those rivulets as the correct brook, followed it, then had to bushwack south to pick up the correct brook.
Climbing the open brook/ slide bed, we got to the point where the NF was in full view in front of us. It is quite an impressive sight! So we parted ways with the two rock climbers, and proceeded to turn left into the woods, to intersect the lower portion of the slide. After a push of about 200 yds. through very thick balsam, we didn't hit anything. performed a u-turn, and retreated back to the brook. From there, we continued father up the brook, until it got to just about the base of the NF. There we took a left, and voila, came upon the connector slide. This slide was easy climbing with small birches, raspberries, and very thick moss under foot. This slide soon joined the main slide, where we sat, ate our lunch, and marveled at the view.
Climbing higher up this slide, you come to a point where the right side of the slide merges with the NF. What a view from here on. You are right over that drop off, and while we didn't have a problem, someone with a fear of exposure might have a little anxiety. At the very top of the slide, there is a large overhanging boulder that you have to get around, to the left. That was a little dicey looking, so we opted to get into the brush to get by that. After emerging from that, it was an easy walk through the knee high scrub to get to the northern summit. I wish that I had access to a web photo hosting site, so I could share the pics. Absolutely breathtaking! From there, it was a short hike to the true summit, via the Range Trail.
In case you haven't heard, Pete Hickey and his crew put a new cable on the west face of Gothics, and a fine job of it. Thanks Pete!
We also had the pleasure of watching the two young rock climbers work their way up the North Face. We met them again on the trip back, where we exchanged info on our different adventures. They told us that they hadn't eaten anything all day, because a bear had raided their campsite and took all of their food. These two rock climbed Gothics, walked back via the Ore Bed Trail, without having anything to eat all day. We had a lot of food, so we gladly shared it with them. Needless to say, they were hungry, but it didn't diminish their desire to climb that baby. Ah to be young....
That was a sweet hike, and it really wasn't that hard. But what rewards! Thanks again to iceNsnow and oldfogie for all of their help.
Now that that's out of my system, here's the details. My friends, Mike and Chris Liebla, joined me for one of those,'I gotta do that someday' hikes in the ADK's. The three of us left the Orebed leanto at 8:00, armed with maps, aerial photos, and selected intenet suggestions from many people, like iceNsnow, oldfogie, and others. Arriving at the first brook after the leanto, we headed upstream. I might add that with all the rain, there were half a dozen small brooks between these two, so marking a waypoint with the GPS was very helpfull. We hooked up with two young men who were climbing the technical North Face. They mistook one of those rivulets as the correct brook, followed it, then had to bushwack south to pick up the correct brook.
Climbing the open brook/ slide bed, we got to the point where the NF was in full view in front of us. It is quite an impressive sight! So we parted ways with the two rock climbers, and proceeded to turn left into the woods, to intersect the lower portion of the slide. After a push of about 200 yds. through very thick balsam, we didn't hit anything. performed a u-turn, and retreated back to the brook. From there, we continued father up the brook, until it got to just about the base of the NF. There we took a left, and voila, came upon the connector slide. This slide was easy climbing with small birches, raspberries, and very thick moss under foot. This slide soon joined the main slide, where we sat, ate our lunch, and marveled at the view.
Climbing higher up this slide, you come to a point where the right side of the slide merges with the NF. What a view from here on. You are right over that drop off, and while we didn't have a problem, someone with a fear of exposure might have a little anxiety. At the very top of the slide, there is a large overhanging boulder that you have to get around, to the left. That was a little dicey looking, so we opted to get into the brush to get by that. After emerging from that, it was an easy walk through the knee high scrub to get to the northern summit. I wish that I had access to a web photo hosting site, so I could share the pics. Absolutely breathtaking! From there, it was a short hike to the true summit, via the Range Trail.
In case you haven't heard, Pete Hickey and his crew put a new cable on the west face of Gothics, and a fine job of it. Thanks Pete!
We also had the pleasure of watching the two young rock climbers work their way up the North Face. We met them again on the trip back, where we exchanged info on our different adventures. They told us that they hadn't eaten anything all day, because a bear had raided their campsite and took all of their food. These two rock climbed Gothics, walked back via the Ore Bed Trail, without having anything to eat all day. We had a lot of food, so we gladly shared it with them. Needless to say, they were hungry, but it didn't diminish their desire to climb that baby. Ah to be young....
That was a sweet hike, and it really wasn't that hard. But what rewards! Thanks again to iceNsnow and oldfogie for all of their help.
