Giant: Northeast Slide, East Face, Dipper, Finger and Eagle Slides 6/4/11

[mudrat]

• Started from 9N via the North Trail, a climb up Owl Head Lookout and took a look at high bank on the way to the base of the NE slide.
• Explored the two lobes of the NE slides…drastically different from one another…right is mossy, left is cleaner.
• Bushwhacked over the ridge (1200’) to the main ledges of the East Face and then walked across to the middle trib. and climbed to the summit.
• Dropped down the trail to RPR col and down another 300’ vertical to base of Dipper Slide and up to Ridge Trail.
• Took Ridge Trail to top of Finger Slide and descended to the rubble pile.
• Quick whack over to Eagle Slide (roughly equivalent to 1st pitch) and climbed to the second “feather” from the right and then back to summit. Exit via Roaring Brook Falls.

NE Slide(s)
Dipper Slide
Finger Slide Descent
Eagle Slide

I love to create routes using slides as the main attraction. I routed some on Giant’s western face as a kick-off hike for 2010 summer season and decided to finish the named slides on Giant this year with the same method. The only complication was that they were on various faces or ridges of the mountain which ended up being a moot issue since they’re still close together. This hike took me on three new slides (Northeast Face, Dipper and Finger Slides) and two old friends (East Face and Eagle). I made a few bushwhacking miscalculations en route, but was pleasantly surprised a couple times as well which enabled me to complete my best case scenario…I often plan slightly beyond my perceived limits. The Eagle, which I’d already climbed twice, was the wildcard which worked out in the end. The thirteen plus hour covered about 12.5 miles (which felt like much more) from Route 9N to Route 73.
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Saturday morning started with sun and some half hearted ambition that I knew I’d walk off once I woke up completely. The moderate hike in from 9N via the north trail to Giant was just the ticket and I kept a steady, but leisurely pace. A cacophony of birds including the familiar song of the Robin and Wood Thrush sung to my soul while the gentle streams under a hardwood canopy massaged my other senses. There really wasn’t much to report until I dropped my pack at Owl Head Lookout after about an hour’s walk. I’d never been up to the overlook so I jogged the 1/10 mile to take a peek and survey the slides on Rocky Peak Ridge and Green Mountain. It was 7:20 and RPR’s small slides called from afar.

Further along the trail, a field of wild columbine, red/orange and yellow, adorned a hillside. The warm colors were further enhanced by the early morning sun. Last year on a trip to Giant’s East Face from New Russia I photographed the distant glacial feature…High Bank. I arrive on it birch adorned crest at about 8:30 and heard the rush of Roaring Brook below. Giant’s East face gazed from a distance a couple minutes later…calling and tempting me to explore once again. …and I planned to during this hike.

I first needed to climb the primary goal, the Northeast Slides and needed to spend another mile on trial before beginning the off trail menagerie of a route I’d had in mind. A friend, Jim (LeavenoTrace), told me to catch the stream where the trail was closest, but I followed if farther up to attempt a distant shot of the slide. No such luck due to the lush foliage except one area where I was able to photograph the mid to upper portion. So, the bushwhack began at about 8:30 and I intercepted the brook only a few minutes later after a comfortable bushwhack. I then followed along the left side of the stream…the wrong stream, but heck it was a nice day. I’d whacked ¼ mile too far by the time I decided to check my bearing and realized I was on the other side of the ridge from my NE slide drainage.

All the while I couldn’t help thinking about James 2 when he talked about trials, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds.” I don’t think he was talking about bushwhacking at the time, but it seemed appropriate at this juncture, nonetheless.

NE Slide
The entire affair cost me ½ mile and the same amount of time…1/2 hour. The woods were a little more littered with blowdown on Giant, but far from tight. Step by step I approached the steep ledge-ridden edge of the drainage and dropped about 50’ down onto the lowest slabs below the initial wall onto the slide. It’s width was about 20’ and it was beautiful beyond compare. 12” tiers on the gentle slope formed small cascades and pools where various outcrops redirected the water. This lasted for several hundred feet.
I was presented with a choice of direction. Left led into a tight confine of vegetation and I’d changed into rock shoes so I avoided it and followed the main flow of water. This was mistake number two.

I climbed a couple hundred feet through a rather interesting gorge of mossed rocks and rather enjoyed the scenery. The direction felt wrong and I didn’t bother to check the compass. The slide had been in front of the section I avoided. I expected to come to a clearing any moment perhaps on the right lobe, but the drainage, upon later research led gradually away from the slides. I came upon some new activity from the recent rains. A boulder (30’ long and 10’ in diameter) had rolled about 15’ down from the hillside and into the drainage taking all trees with it and shearing a couple in half. I climbed up the embankment and trekked south for a few minutes when I met up with the slide just above the foot wall. I looked down from the ledge and saw the rather grown in slab and bottleneck of blowdown at the chokepoint 100’ below.

Crossing to the “clean” side involved carefully finding my footing on the rounded ledges. Moss grew in the cracks and occasionally on the rocks and the footing was less than sure at times.

Now upon the slab, I climbed the small ledges, heavily grown in with 10-12’ alder (in birch family) and other vegetation including magnificent clumps of pink mountain laurel. It was about 9:30 a.m. and the beautiful flowers glowed in the mid-morning light. The slide splits at about 3,700’ in elevation, the point at which I decided to drop my pack and climb the right-hand tributary. An interestingly weathered ledge led to the clean slab of the left trib. With camera in hand, I cross trekked and upon looking at the right side decided to just take a picture and save energy. Then I thought, “I’ll just climb to the next set of vegetation.” So, I picked my way up on the bare spots between the heavy algae and moss. It was heavily grown in. The slab was rough, rounded and extremely textured with plenty of feature…a stark contrast to what I saw on the south side which was rough but rather flat and without major features. Anyway, I climbed to within about 50’ of the top where large mounds of moss grew in an interesting formation…the high point of the northern side. Ten minute’s careful down-climb led me back to the fork and my pack.

Climbing the main clean slab was not rock science. The slope is minimal around 30 degrees. The main features of interest were about six veins of granular garnet. The dikes were horizontal and not weathered. The bottom edge then dropped to the slab until it reached the next flat vein. The veins I find are normally rounded extrusions.

A few minutes slow climb led to a headwall that increased in pitch by a few degrees and was again rough underfoot. A small rock at the very top was the perfect perch to change shoes, eat and absorb the late morning views. Green Mountain spread before me. The ski slopes of Whiteface peaked over as well. Hurricane’s fire tower peaked over Green Mountain as well. The next section would involve a bushwhack to the south and into the sun…easy navigation. I imagined dense cripplebrush, but was pleasantly surprised.

GOTO PART 2

[Gregory Karl]

Wow! Love the pics—and what a day! Yesterday on the way up between RPR and Giant I noted the brook leading to the NE slide for future reference—looks like fun.

East Face — The angle is wrong in the first open shot. It's steeper than that. And in the third shot and the ones following you are studying the crux of the ascent, right? I remember trying like three different ways up that mess until I managed, in my timorous and unskilled way, to pull myself up it. The traverse across the top was spectacular.

Dipper Slide — Jeeze, I went down Dipper Brook yesterday without even noticing its existence.

The lesson I find here: There are so many great ways up Giant. You get well into the double digits doing them all. Can't wait for the report. Bravo!

[mudrat]

Wow! Love the pics—and what a day! Yesterday on the way up between RPR and Giant I noted the brook leading to the NE slide for future reference—looks like fun.

East Face — The angle is wrong in the first open shot. It's steeper than that. And in the third shot and the ones following you are studying the crux of the ascent, right? I remember trying like three different ways up that mess until I managed, in my timorous and unskilled way, to pull myself up it. The traverse across the top was spectacular.

Dipper Slide — Jeeze, I went down Dipper Brook yesterday without even noticing its existence.

The lesson I find here: There are so many great ways up Giant. You get well into the double digits doing them all. Can't wait for the report. Bravo!

It was a stellar day!...had a blast. Thank you!

East face is probably my favorite place on Giant...so much to explore. Actually, angle is correct in the first shot (trees are straight), but you're correct...it looks less steep than it really is from that perspective. It skews because I was in the cripplebrush on the far east with a 400 mm lens shooting 2/3 the way across on a closeup of that section. I think the close-up combined with the fact that i wasn't perfectly adjacent to it makes it look less steep. I wanted to cross the slide right below the ledge and really get some shots of the layering and ledges, but screwed up the initial whack to the NE slide while playing around...which cost me time.

Pic 3 yup, I was shooting pics of where Rico and I climbed it last year. Well, rico climbed about 50' to the left of the main fold and i picked my way up a mid ledge boulder and around the steepest portions while taking pics of him and the area.

I whacked from Dipper Pond up to RPR a couple years ago and cut into the blow-down hell on the n side of the ridge. Never paid attention to the slide either. Want to do it again sometime and play more.

You're right, Giant is so much fun just to play around on and tie different things together. Possibilities are endless

[NoTrace]

Geesh... now the cat's out of the bag on the NE slides... pretty soon they'll have to put in signs and a boardwalk and a handicapped-accessible trail.

[masshysteria]

As a group of us were heading down the Dipper Brook in '05, after Neil and Dom made their 46, I do recall seeing a rubble pile and a small cleared area on the northwest side of the brook. Never even gave it a thought that it would head almost to the top of the ridge.

Another fantastic trek Kevin!

[tcd]

Nice! I've been up Dipper Brook a few times, but only as far as the "three way confluence" a little over a mile from the road. It's a beautiful route with all sorts of interesting features, but I never noticed the slide. Nice trip up and down and all over Giant!

(Greg, I didn't know that you were coming down that way, or I could have told you about some cool features in that brook. Did you visit Dipper Pond? See all the swimming holes just above and below the falls? Check out the cliffs in the "canyon" section? Just below the falls, did you see the free standing "fin" of white rock in the center of the brook? That brook is special!)

[Gregory Karl]

(Greg, I didn't know that you were coming down that way, or I could have told you about some cool features in that brook. Did you visit Dipper Pond? See all the swimming holes just above and below the falls? Check out the cliffs in the "canyon" section? Just below the falls, did you see the free standing "fin" of white rock in the center of the brook? That brook is special!)

I didn't get below the Dipper this time. I suspected there was great stuff further down—the satellite photo of the falls was enough to prove this—but I figured I'd be back soon anyway. This time I was on a deadline because of a ride waiting, a little ahead of schedule, but it would have required rushing rather than lingering. Now I'm definitely intrigued.

[Neil]

Geesh... now the cat's out of the bag on the NE slides... pretty soon they'll have to put in signs and a boardwalk and a handicapped-accessible trail.

What about a heated bathroom with tiled floors and flush toilets?

All with a plaque labelled, "ADKHighpeaks Foundation"

Mudrat is going to wear out the ADK slides, he'll wear 'em right down to the bedrock.

[mudrat]

What about a heated bathroom with tiled floors and flush toilets?

All with a plaque labelled, "ADKHighpeaks Foundation"

Mudrat is going to wear out the ADK slides, he'll wear 'em right down to the bedrock.

I like that...wear them right down to the bedrock! Neil, you can have about 100 signs for the foundations done in brass like Esther's and I'll install them. Might break leave no trace values though...

[mudrat]

Geesh... now the cat's out of the bag on the NE slides... pretty soon they'll have to put in signs and a boardwalk and a handicapped-accessible trail.

Well now, we can do that if YOU need the boardwalk. If i could ever get you to come on one of my little treks, I could judge for myself and perhaps make some suggestions on your behalf when they're installed...like broad sweeping turns and a graaaaadual grade to the final elevation.

[mudrat]

As a group of us were heading down the Dipper Brook in '05, after Neil and Dom made their 46, I do recall seeing a rubble pile and a small cleared area on the northwest side of the brook. Never even gave it a thought that it would head almost to the top of the ridge.

Another fantastic trek Kevin!

Thank you, Sir! It was a real surprise. Based on the comments i really want to walk the entire brook again to top it off with the slide!

[masshysteria]

See all the swimming holes just above and below the falls? Check out the cliffs in the "canyon" section? Just below the falls, did you see the free standing "fin" of white rock in the center of the brook? That brook is special!)

Those falls are quite evident on Google Earth! looks like a great place to explore, thanks!

[mudrat]

Part 2

East Face Slide
I found myself on rather open ridge top after a pleasant whack through some very bendable trees and mild blowdown. The real trial came on the lee side where the trees were denser and blowdown was more prevalent. The trees bit back, however. I branch which I unknowingly bend downward, release hitting me square in the face nearly knocking me backwards. I began a string of cursing which I quickly cut off. A total of fifteen minutes bushwhacking led to the top of the right hand “cliffs” …really ledges at 45-50 degrees…exactly where I wanted to be to take pictures of the central line of ledges on the east face.

I really wanted to survey the area where Rico climbed last year and where we picked our way over and through the ledge set. I’d tossed around an idea of exploring the ledges this day, but decided against it since I lost time with the bushwhacking mistakes earlier. I, instead, opted to exit onto the fir right run of the slide and cross to the middle where it runs west to the summit.

I got lazy and kept my trail runners on. At this point, they’d been completely torn down the sides and the tread on the bottom was negligibly effective. The right side has a decent amount of moss at spots near the top. I boxed myself in about six feet from the edge and braced myself as best I could. I thought, “One good jump and I’ve can get to the edge.” My problem was that I was actually lying on my leg to retain traction and the moss was wet. I threw myself to the best of my ability and touched the edge capturing a bit of sphagnum in my hand before sliding down the slope…but only for about 10 feet before I rolled closer to grab a tree. After berating myself, I cut across to the central slab…a relatively moss free swath of anorthosite laden with weathered and breaking pieces of slab.

The top led to the woods and, after about fifteen minutes bushwhack up to the west, I popped out on the summit at about 12:40 p.m.…with a dozen other people. I’d jokingly written my itinerary for my wife and put “5 minutes’ rest”. The crowd cut it down to two minutes before I walked to the Giant/Rocky Peak col and the peacefulness of solitude. I was just in the mood to be alone at that point. During the descent, I noticed the sky getting cloudier. A distant rumble reminded me to keep perspective on the situation and watch the weather. It was supposed to be clear, but I put my instincts before a weather man’s forecast. In the end, the forecast was correct.

Dipper Slide
I reached the col at 1:12 p.m. The Dipper, on the SW ridge of Giant, starts below the path intersection of the Ridge Trail and the trail to Rocky Peak Ridge. The plan was to start at the col and bushwhack to the base of the first slab or drainage just below. The 300’ descent began in the relatively loose woods of the area until the descent began in earnest. It closed at that point and challenged my energy. Gravity was on my side; however, I exited the woods a few feet below the first pitch at a point where a boulder had lodged at the end of a flat section of the drainage. The stream continued to descent southwest and out of sight. The drainage was about 20’ wide and about 15’ deep. It was a dramatic gulley. A steep wall of wet and intermittently mossy stone faced me from the north. It was steep with plenty of contour and I was happy at the site.

I’d surveyed the mid to upper portion of the slide from RPR and had a vague idea of what to expect. Setting foot to stone can give the slide an entirely different perspective, however. The first challenge was a near vertical face with a boulder lodged against it…the perfect setup to climb using the two faces. Ledge upon ledge waited thereafter. The old rock has lichen and algae to contend with, plenty of feature allowed for plenty of traction. Alder grew in the cracks as usual.

I mentally defined the slide into four distinct pitches, each involving by several sections of slab or ledges. The first pitch opened to a run of slab and then several wet rounded ledges. I took care as I chose my route, of which there were many. A few sketchy moves in the water with my feet surrounded by algae gave me pause. I backed out of one situation that would have required a leap of faith. After my small slip on the east face, I decided not to take a chance. The outcome would have been a graceless tumble down 50’ of rough ledges.

Additional runs of roughly textured and contoured slab continued as the slide got wider and drier on the second pitch. The slab widens like a three-pronged pitchfork at this point. The center terminates in a mossy grown in stream that leads to another dramatic wall. The transition represents the most grown-in portion of the slide which is quite short.

The next wall was steep and spotted with moss on the center and east side. A dramatic diagonal ledges cut up and west which made a perfect route by which to ascend. I played with a few options at that point and decided to cut back toward the center. The surface was so rough that I felt comfortable with the exposure. Views of Dix’s Beckhorn and northern slide set opened with the climb as well as the Rocky Peak Ridge and a crowd of people on its summit.

I was tired by the top of the third pitch and sat to enjoy the views and lack of blackflies. They’d been a bit troublesome while changing shoes in the drainage, now far below. That was the first and last time of the day; the wind was strong enough to keep them at bay.

The final pitch was a climb of great beauty on open wide slab with a steep looming headwall watching from just above. Footing was sure, at least on the dry slab with rock shoes. I mentally noted that I was tracking toward the intersection with the Ridge trail/RPR trail intersection from whence I came just over an hour earlier.

I really did savor the time on the slab and enjoyed the changing perspective of Dix and the north slides that I’d routed together last October. On the upper portions, the west is the steepest area and the east is not what I’d consider flat by any means. I figured a herd path would appear at the top, but didn’t see one…nor did I look very hard. The ascent up the last hundred or so feet through the cripplebrush was perhaps the hardest bushwhack of the day, but mild compared to many. A lingering dehydration induced headache didn’t help.

Eventually I popped out on the trail and immediately replenished the water in my hydration bladder with the backup Nalgene bottle. I set the bottle down while anticipating a sweet drink of the liquid, right before I knocked it over. Reflexes jumped to action and I only lost about ¼ of the liter. I’d been conserving water anyway, so I’d have to conserve more conscientiously. It didn’t occur to me while fighting the blackflies at the bottom to check my supply…lesson learned (again).

The Finger
The top of the Tulip and several tributaries of the Eagle are fairly obvious to spot from the Ridge trail. It wasn’t the same with the Finger slide, at least to my tired mind. It was roughly 500’ west down the trail based on my research. I looked for a bit and eventually dove into the woods near a ridge top erratic. The narrow slide hid itself well. I first located an outcrop between the Eagle and Finger. It was steep and disappeared into the woods nearly immediately. I knew the Finger was unbroken by vegetation. I surmised that I was too far east and cross trekked before finally coming to a dramatic near the steep headwall of the well contoured slide.

I’d changed shoes for the ‘whack and for the fifth time of the day, changed again before descending. I’d entered the top just under a large boulder, held by a smaller one trapped underneath and adjacent to the final headwall. A vertical ledge about 30’ in length, but only 2’ in height, began and dropped sharply down. It was a beautiful feature that kept my interest as I picked my way slowly down, careful not to slip on the loose rocks and spotty moss I found underfoot from time to time. The top is the flattest section before it breaks into ledge after rounded ledge. They’re only six or 10’ in height, but down-climbing is challenging when you can’t see the next step.

To exemplify, I found what looked like a nice section to drop from if I could find a foot hold. I hung over and searched by feel only to find the edge of the ledge overhung the next area of anorthosite. My balance shifted and my body swung only slightly down, but enough to grind my shin into the sharp edge. I crossed to the center, thereafter, and picked my way down with hand and foot holds aplenty.

By 3:50 p.m., about 20 minutes later, I was standing in a zone of heavy rubble and smooth flat slab. I’m not sure of the stone, but it was orange and not as granular as the normal anorthosite. Pieces of the rubble (4’ to about 1’ in diameter) shifted as I stepped on them.

I would next cross a thin band of trees to the Eagle and make the second summit of Giant.

GOTO PART 3

[mudrat]

Part 3

Eagle
Other trip reports on the eagle may be found HERE. With the exception of a winter climb, out of my three attempts and the nine times I’ve climbed Giant, this day involved the most sun. For some reason beyond my scope of understanding, the weather senses when Kevin and Giant are in the same vicinity and it conjures either snow, rain, or fog to keep me company.

I exited onto the Eagle less than 5 minutes after my exit from the Finger. The crossing wasn’t rocket science. I decided to climb the Eagle again while at the bottom of the Finger basically so I didn’t have to bushwhack down the drainage. I’d never entered from the south side, so it was new in any case. I was tired, so I decided not to explore the northern portions of the Eagle and just cross to the center and up.

Moss grew in various areas as I remembered and it was easy to keep trees under me on the south. The sun was now out in full force after a day of much haze and relatively cool temps. It baked me and I opted to the easiest route to the top once I reached the center. Normally, I’d consider it the 3rd “feather”, but I saw what looked like a new boulder perched on the 2nd, so I changed plans. It’s face was orange and the other half of it appeared to be laying nearby. In retrospect, they weren’t a mated pair, but two different stones.

Anyway, I picked my way up to them and found myself overheating. The first ledge, about 12’ in height was dripping with moisture and a large stone near its base formed a convenient damp shadowed crack. I sat into it and snacked/drank with a splendid view.
Once, I re-nourished, I tried to actually climb the ledge (which runs across other “feathers” also). I’d never had rock shoes and always had to cut through the trees to navigate around them. This time, with great care, I was able to climb the face and pull myself up to the run of stone before the second ledge. I repeated the effort and walked to the entrance of the sweet cripplebrush shortly thereafter. It promptly ate my trekking pole as well. I think it’s around there somewhere, but didn’t discover it until I was on the summit at 5:20 p.m.

The trek down would have been rather mundane if not for the company and conversation with Jooles from the forum and some of her friends! My wife was waiting at the Roaring Brook trailhead at about 7:30 when I poked my head back out of the wilderness.

[Gregory Karl]

Nice report Kevin! What a day you had there. I am now planning to whack up Dipper Brook and climb the Dipper Slide in the near future. I want to see the part of the drainage I missed on my recent Rocky trip and, well, it's another slide. Of course, having seen your pics I've had to put the Northeast Slide on the list too. Jeez, I've been on the summit of Giant like seven or eight times in the last couple of years, mostly because of the damn slides.