grouseking
Well-known member
This trip was a near last minute trek. My friend wanted to know where I wanted to go, and I suggested either Black Mtn in Benton, or Webster Slide Mtn and Wachipauka Pond. We chose the latter because there was a nice and refreshing pond to jump into if we wanted.
We started at Rt 25C along the power lines near the Warren/Piermont line. It brought back memories for me because I worked at Camp Walt Whitman, which was only a couple miles away.
The hike was quite eventful, and I will describe thru the report. First off, I was delighted by the gorgeous mixed forest we were walking thru, as we ascended slowly towards Mt Mist
These beeches def had that bark disease, but they still made for a lovely photo.
After about a half an hour, we heard a bunch of loud barking dogs and saw them tear thru the woods. Soon thereafter, we saw the owner, who was bushwhacking around. He stated that they were chasing a bear!!! Well I'm glad they didn't chase the bear down the trail! That would have made for an interesting couple of seconds...
Anyways, after about an hour, we made it to the summit of Mt Mist, then descended down to the fun signs along the way.
The actual view was all right, but I'm not posting any pics of it, but they are in the photo album. We met a couple thru hikers there, and I gave one half my turkey sub. He accepted it with open arms. He said that it had been months since he had any deli meats! I can't imagine....
Before too long we made it to the trail junction of Webster Slide Mtn. The sign says one mile to the summit, and the map says 0.7 miles. I say, average the two.
The lower section was also a lovely stretch of mixed forest and hobblebush, which is beginning to change color!
In my travels slightly off trail, I noticed some old stuff, which appeared to be part of a stove, and something that looked like a sap bucket, but it was connected to a striped maple. Here is the stove thingy....
Further down trail, just before the steep rise, we noticed a trail that veered off to the left. It seemed well beaten, but then had a bunch of hobblebush growing in the middle. I wonder if that trail is the old AT, or it leads to the powerlines? Another adventure for another day...
So now the trail gets mighty steep! And there was a section that was quite eroded, but we were both still in good spirits and made it to the summit area in a relatively short amount of time. My fav part besides the views was a section of tall ferns just prior to the summit sign.
And now, onto the summit view points. This was the beginning of the next interesting part of my trip. We liked the view from the top near the make shift benches.
But we wanted more. So now we explored around, and went left. From here we VERY CAREFULLY, and I cannot stress this enough...very carefully made our way down a steep and loose section, to the point where we decided to stop. Any further and it would have been tough to survive a fall, haha. From there, it was a jaw dropping, breathtaking view down to Wachipauka Pond and the surrounding mountains.
Slight zoom
In this pic, I was in the brush, on the side of a very steep rock face, a rock face that there was nooo way I was going to touch.
continued in a few min
Last edited:
I knew I just wanted to see the Moose, and I found it! It is a shame I was near/on some sort of wild birds nest area, because I would have stayed longer. As for the AT sandwich...I've been reading lots of thru hikers books, and it makes me want to get out there and complete a hike from GA to ME. Since I cannot (at least right now), I feel like I should give back any way I can. So whenever possible, I try to give someone something, whether its a power bar, water, or deli meat. haha
