Big Slide, March 30, 2013, Adirondack Park

View to the Southwest, From Big Slide Summit

Like the White Mountains and the Catskills, the Adirondack Park has a goal-oriented hiking club. Known as the Adirondack 46ers, the club is open to those who have hiked all 46 of the 4,000 foot peaks in the Adirondack High Peaks region.

I've been outdooring in the ADKs for years with various trips including peak bagging, canoeing and even the famous "nine carries" canoe route in St. Regis. I guess that I may as well start the ADK 46er list.

First up... Big Slide via the Brothers.

Blue Skies from Big Slide Summit

Big Slide is not one of the highest peaks in the Adirondacks, but it is certainly not an easy one to climb - especially in late March. From the parking area at the Garden in Keene Valley, one travels up and over three smaller peaks - the Brothers - and then steeply up to the summit of Big Slide. I found the trail ice-covered from the start and donned microspikes for the climb over the first two Brothers. Once at a higher elevation, I decided to use snowshoes even though the trail was pretty well packed. It's better wearing 'em than carrying 'em.

View of Big Slide from a Brother

The final push to the top is very steep, but the magnificent views on a bright, blue-skied day proved to be the just reward. As far as I could tell, I was the first on at the summit and had a full 1/2 hour to relax before descending.

The final climb

The descent, however, posed the first real problem of the day. The last section to the summit is super steep, so much so that they installed a wooden "ladder" to help people ascend. Totally snow-covered, the ladder didn't serve me well at all. Instead, the path around it amounted to what looked like a steep bobsled run. I didn't even notice it going up. To descend, I first tried a few cautious steps in snowshoes but the angle just wasn't right. When that didn't work, I tried microspikes. No good either. The warm sun had started a snow melt and it was impossible to get any traction.

Finally, I realized that my best shot at making it home was to butt slide down Big Slide.

Thank goodness for snow pants.

Peak: Big Slide
Elevation: 4,240 feet (Gain: 2,800)
Distance: 8 miles, up and back
Conditions: Sunny, 45 degrees