Hiking Big Slide and the Brothers

Friday night, my sister, our friend Brendan and I drove to Keene Valley to stay a few nights in the Adirondacks for some hiking! I wanted to take my sister up there to experience a hike and thought she would enjoy it! She is in pretty good shape, even though she doesn’t do any hiking, so I figured we could tackle a moderate but not too easy hike, so I decided on Big Slide!

Saturday morning at around 8:30 am, we parked at The Garden Parking lot for $7 and it was already filling up! Everyone knew it would be a nice day for hiking, despite the previous night’s rain.

We decided to take the route to big slide via the Brothers, three smaller mountains that you summit on your way to Big Slide. They boasted good views so, we might as well, and we were also told the other route was treacherous because of the rain and we should avoid it. The Brothers it was!

We hiked for about an hour and half until we reached the first Brother. With some rock scrambling, we made it to the first viewpoint!

We stopped for a snack and some photos, obvisouly.

The view of Big Slide, from the Second brother (I think?)

The views were so good, I can see this being an easier hike for those not wanting to go all the way to Big Slide.

Things got a little freaky when at the second Brother we thought we were at the third! And there wasn’t anyone else at the trail at that point, so Brendan consulted his trail book and we determined we still had well over a mile to the Big Slide. Eventually we ran into a group coming down so they confirmed we had about a mile left of hiking! Hurray!

More views, from the Third Brother.

The higher up we got, the more interesting the vegetation got! Here is the Old Man’s Beard a type of moss that grows up there.

Finally we saw some signage! .3 to the summit of Big Slide!

A few scary minutes of climbing ladders (I didn’t know there were ladders on Big Slide) and we got to the summit!

High Peak # 8 for me, complete.

We stayed up there for a while enjoying the view and eating some snacks. Every so often the clouds would come by and cover the nearby peaks, it was a lovely sight.

4 miles of climbing make these views worth it!

We took the same route back, stopping at the Brothers again to recharge before hiking back to the car. Overall we spent about 9 hours on the trail. It was a LONG day, but we stopped a lot and weren’t moving very quickly. I’m one of those hikers that likes to stop and enjoy the scenery around me, listen to the birds and take photos. 🙂 The trail was muddy and getting dirty was unavoidable. The black flies were nowhere to be found.

Back at the car at about 5:30PM. Time for a shower!

Big Slide

Via the Brothers: 8 mi RT
Elevation: 4240′
Ascent: 2800′
High Peak Rank: 27

My favorite way to refuel after a hike: a red ale from Paradox Brewery at The Cottage in Lake Placid.