Slide Mountain Wilderness area

[jdix]

As this trip will be my first peak bagging and bushwacking trip I have a few questions. My plan is to hike the LP from Peekamoose road to Peekamoose Mountain then hit Table. From there Bushwack to Lone, Rocky, Balsam Cap, Friday, Cornell. From Cornell I would hike Wittenberg then back down the LP, over Cornell to Slide and finishing up at my vechile on Peekamoose road.

My questions are, what type of bushwack am I in for? This seem to be fairly popular trip I am looking at. Is it a herd path or unmaintained trail or a real trailless bushwack? Second how is the water situation? I realize that you've been getting pounded with rain but it seems to be over now. Are the streams on my map a water source I can count on? The Neversink River would be ok I assume but what about these feeder streams?

Also, my map shows a primative trail following the Neversink. Should I follow that and summit each mountain in a up and back or should I basically cut a line through the each summit and make a sort of J out of the bushwack.

Any other advice anyone has would be great. Also I'm using the maps put out by the New York/ New Jersey trail conference.

[imarchant]

That is a long tough bushwack. I have not been up the Neversink side yet, but that is a popular way to go. I know the neversink is tough to cross with high water. The ridge (Lone, Rocky, Balsam Cap, Friday, Cornell) is very thick spruce with no water. There is an excellent spring 0.25 mile before the summit of Slide at the top of the ladders.
How many days are you planning? I would not attempt this in one day with out a bailout point.

[jdix]

I'm planning on 3-5 days down there. When I complete this loop I'm thinking of depending on how much time I have left adding in Big Indian and Fir. Then possibly just a overnighter somewhere else in the cat's
That loop would be just a bit out of my day hiking range.

[Mark Schaefer]

Welcome to the forum. This is a great hike, especially in the longer days of summer. Going peak to peak there is no reason to drop all the way to the Neversink, unless you want to find a better camp site for a multiple day hike. But in summer this can be all done as a very long day hike. As Ian mentioned there are no real water sources on the ridge other than the springs that are shown along the trails: south of Peekamoose, east of Slide, and west of Table, as shown on the NY/NJ map. The one on Slide usually runs all summer. The other springs can slow to a trickle and even dry up in the summer. So it is best to bring what you will need. Dropping down to one of the streams is the other option.

There is an embryonic herd path to Lone that starts from the Peekamoose - Table saddle, just as you begin to climb Table. It is not continuous to Lone, but it will get you started. The route to Lone is generally not too thick or difficult. From Lone over Rocky to Balsam Cap you are mostly on your own. You might find short paths near the canisters. The growth can be quite thick. I have generally dropped towards the Neversink to avoid the really dense stuff, but others may advise the other side. Your experience is likely to vary from all the advice.

From Balsam Cap to Friday you should be able to follow the herd path that comes up from the east. This will not cost you much in elevation on the east side of the ridge as they come from a common route/point.

From Friday to Cornell you are on your own again. This is where it really gets thick. There is no good way as you plow through. One question is whether you want to climb "Dink", a 3655' false summit of Cornell shown the maps. In reality it has two summits, neither has a view. The going is a little less thick bypassing them on the Neversink side, but not by much based on my experiences.

Don't plan to go any faster than 1 mile per hour on the bushwhacking, but YMMV. Once you hit the trails you can resume to your normal pace. Going down the Curtis Ormsbee trail from Slide is nice, watch for the viewpoints which tend to be on short unmarked paths.

The viewpoint just west of the summit of Table is worth looking for - on an unmarked side path. There is also a worthwhile viewpoint, about 0.1 mile south of the Peekamoose summit (not shown on the map) -- on a faint unmarked path east of the trail.

One suggestion, you might want to consider starting/ending at the Denning trailhead. That way you would not have to climb Table and Peekamoose at the end of a very long hike. Psychologically it can be much easier. The Denning trailhead is also several hundred feet higher than the Peekamoose Rd trailhead, so it will save you some elevation. Also if for some reason you have to bail out along the bushwhack it is relatively easy to descend to the Neversink to return to the trailhead. A note on the wilderness (Fisherman's) path along the Neversink. The several floods during the last two years have washed out some sections - so do not expect it to be continuous. You may see some occasional, unofficial red blazes. If the water is running high (usually uncommon in summer) you might want to stay on whichever side you wish to exit the valley. The log bridge at the Peekamoose-Table trail (Long Path) has been washed out for some time, though it is possible to shimmy or walk across depending on your tolerance level for such things. If you choose not to use the bridge stream crossings during summer are usually not too difficult, though generally easier further upstream from the trail crossing.

[jdix]

Great info thanx. I like the idea of starting at Denning RD. I was planning on going over Dink. Thought maybe I could catch a few views to the East along the ridge line. Also what do the canister's look like and how hard are they to find? I know you said there maybe a few paths around the canister.

Thanx for the help and to finally find that "other forum"

[Mark Schaefer]

The canisters are made of PVC plastic which has been painted gray (as are all of the ones in wilderness areas) so as not to be too intrusive. You should not have too much trouble finding them. Before the herd paths formed the one on Friday was difficult to find owing to the flat rounded summit. With the herd path it is now much easier to find. The others are generally easier to find as the summits are smaller in area. I think Ian or others have some photos that could provide a link to.

If you are backpacking there are possible camp sites in the Slide / Cornell saddle. Other than that good campsites might be difficult to find along the ridge lines, and/or they may be above 3500' making camping illegal. Also be careful not to lose things tied to your pack as you bushwhack through the thick stuff. Those tree are known to steal anything that is not tightly secured to your pack.

[billandjudy]

Having BW'd from the Slide- Cornell col to Friday I will attest to it's difficulty. It is incrediby thick. It took an hour and a half to get to Friday- the conditions betwen Friday and Balsam Cap are a little better w/ a distinct path to follow. I followed a route over Dink on the way and hugged the east ridge on the way back--not much difference. Here's a report--
http://www.adkhighpeaks.com/forums/s...ead.php?t=1358