Hiking NY: Climbing Big Slide

A couple of weeks ago on my day off from camp I headed into the high peaks region of the Adirondacks for a solo hike up Big Slide. Thunderstorms were in the afternoon forecast so I tried to hustle so I would not get caught on the steep sections in the rain!

I started from the Garden parking lot trailhead and hit the trail around 9:30am. The sun was out at that time and made for a very warm and humid morning on my ascent. You know I love steep climbs! Ha. I drank lots of water and electrolyte powder but I had to go so slow to keep my breath and energy. My legs were tired and sweat just poured off of me.

As I got to the First Brother I had amazing views from the slide and tons of wild blueberries to snack on! This bolstered my spirit a bit to push on for the long haul over the second and third brothers to the summit.

Water was a bit scarce but I did come across this great mossy little nook where I was able to refill my bottles to keep going.

There was definitely some steep sections, and I just kept thinking how I did not want to go down them in the rain! The final push to the summit had some scrambles and the storms moved in as I got there so I got back into the forest for a quick lunch break then started the descent as quickly as I could.

The rain started out gentle and was actually refreshing with how warm it was, but it quickly turned into a downpour. I had to stop to put the rain cover on my backpack and then I continued on. I hiked about an hour in the rain before I finally saw my car! It was so nice to get my muddy wet shoes and socks off.

Miles: ~7.8

Elevation gain: 3,200'

#22/46

Check back soon for my post about my next hike!