Some more slide climbing

Two more days and 5 more slides climbed.

Joined by Neil we set out to climb a series of 3 slides on Giant including the Eagle slide, which is known to be seriously steep and seriously exposed.  Ended up being an incredibly fun day.

Read more here: http://forums.adkhighpeaks.com/showthread.php?t=9041

Pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/stephenmdunbar/GiantSlides8609#

Next day was a trip to East Dix (one of the 46) from a much less traveled route.  In the process I climbed two more slides.  After reaching the top I then bushwacked the ridge line to the north over Spotted Mountain and Elizabethtown #4.  A very good day, full of big views, lots of rock, and lots of blueberries.

Trip report here: http://forums.adkhighpeaks.com/showthread.php?t=9058

Pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/stephenmdunbar/EastDixSpottedETown48709#

Of Slides and Santanonis

This was an overnight foray into the Santanoni range which contains 3 ADK46er peaks.  However, I took a very non-standard route to get to Little Santanoni, a Hundred Highest peak that is buried deep in the wilderness.  Along the way I climbed two different slides, had a couple miles of nice bushwacking, and a short section of miserable bushwacking.  The second day I bagged Henderson Mt. which brought me up to 75/100 peaks.  An excellent trip which you can read more about here: http://forums.adkhighpeaks.com/showthread.php?t=9010.

Or, for the pictoral version: http://picasaweb.google.com/stephenmdunbar/SantanoniCircumnavigation83409#

Slide – 12-19-08

Well it is good to be back in the Adirondacks.  I decided to pursue another of the Hundred Highest peaks – Slide – a part of the Sentinel Range just SE of Lake Placid.  There is a fairly easy bushwack route that is only a 5 mile roundtrip so I figure it would be a good warm up hike for the winter season.  I got to the trailhead at about 8:15 am and started with a brisk walk for 3/4 of a mile on a trail.  At a large bridge I left the trail and started the bushwack toward the summit.  It was a nice, gentle type of bushwack – mostly through open hardwoods.  Down low there was about a foot of snow and up high there was 2-3 feet.  I enjoyed the quiet of the woods as I slowly climbed through snow clad trees.  Every once in a while I stopped to take in the beauty of the scene -  the solitude and silence of the mountains in winter.  These are moments of intense clarity, where all is suddenly well with the world.  All troubles and all worries fade to nothing in the overwhelming fullness of the scene.

I slowly gained on the summit and finally topped out on a completely viewless summit that was also clouded in.  I took a break for a few minutes to get some food, semi-frozen Gatorade, and check the thermometer – +2 degrees F.  I didn’t spend long there as my fingers were alreading starting to hurt.  The descent was rapid and I returned to the car in about an hour.  I managed to beat the snowstorm that is supposed to drop ~6 inches this evening.  I’m currently enjoying the warmth of the Lake Placid Public library before heading somewhere to sleep in the Subaru for the night.  Tomorrow I will be joining forces with some other guys for another assault into the Sentinel Range in pursuit of another ADK100 peak.  Then Sunday should be a foray to Nippletop and Dial to help some other guys get some more winter 46er peaks.  Then it will be south to the Catskills for a long day to bag a bunch of 3500 peaks before heading home for Christmas.  Updates to this site should continue for the next few weeks!

A few more pictures, but nothing too exciting: http://picasaweb.google.com/stephenmdunbar/Slide121908?authkey=1Atln9ALhBU#