Some friends and I did the Whiteface Passaconaway loop via Downes Brook, Kate Sleeper, Rollins, Dicey Mill, Walden trail and then down the former Downes Brook Slide trail route. The Downes Brook Slide Route officially abandoned since the forties is still very obvious when descending the mountain. It follows a well worn path that runs down the spine of steep ridge for a distance before dropping down into a old grown in slide path. There was an attempt to brush in the entrance to the trail from the viewpoint on Walden trail but its very obvious and the brush is easily walked over. The USFS ensures that you are on the trail by installing a sign informing all hikers that this is a unmaintained hiking trail about 50 feet in from the entrance. From there its a well worn route marked with old ax blazes. The route is very steep and the presence of moss on the trail bed makes for interesting footing in places. In a few places the trail zigs or zags off the old slide for a short distance usually to avoid a steep spot. At one point the trail bed widens out and the route is less obvious and its easy to follow a drainage path onto some steep rock slabs that can be treacherous when damp. The actual route appears to go left of the upper ledges to skip the worst ones but its easy to miss the turn.
Eventually the trail intersects with a series of open granite slabs with a brook cascading its way down in spots The actual old route generally skips the worse drops of the ledges by going to the right side but I expect most folks will follow the stream bed except for a few spots. As the route descends the granite slope widens out. At the head of one particularly large expanse of granite there was what looks to be a hand forged iron ring pinned into a rock. Except for the apparent age, it looked like a top belay point for climbers. At the base of this expanse of granite was a couple of sharp drops with a water cascade and at the base of the cascade was a 100' by 70' pool that appears to have been built up over the years by some rock dams. It would be quite a place on a hot day to go swimming but we were running late.
After following the stream down and occasionally running to the right into the woods to skip some ledges we eventually came to the back side of another USFS sign warning us of the fact that it was not a trail and within 100 feet we came out on Downes Brook trail.
I do realize that some folks prefer going up this route rather than going down down and we met two of them heading up while we were descending. I expect its more of a navigational challenge locating where the trail finally goes into the woods as the painted out blazes and cairns are long gone from the ledges. The standard caveat applies that one of the reason this is such a nice trip is that it is unmarked and does require some minimal navigation skills, I hope it stays this way. I had the 1st edition WOC map that shows all the abandoned trails and routes in the area (since sanitized to remove these) but a prewar AMC guide or even a topo map would be enough to plan a trip.
I do this route every few years and always have a good time. If you have not done it, its worth checking out, although you should be comfortable traversing granite slabs and definitely time the visit when its dry.
We took our time on the loop and it was warm, but the overall loop was about 8 hours including breaks. Given the very nice grading of the Downes brook trail and the short section of the Sleeper trail up to the ridge line I expect trail runners could cut a considerable time off our time.
Eventually the trail intersects with a series of open granite slabs with a brook cascading its way down in spots The actual old route generally skips the worse drops of the ledges by going to the right side but I expect most folks will follow the stream bed except for a few spots. As the route descends the granite slope widens out. At the head of one particularly large expanse of granite there was what looks to be a hand forged iron ring pinned into a rock. Except for the apparent age, it looked like a top belay point for climbers. At the base of this expanse of granite was a couple of sharp drops with a water cascade and at the base of the cascade was a 100' by 70' pool that appears to have been built up over the years by some rock dams. It would be quite a place on a hot day to go swimming but we were running late.
After following the stream down and occasionally running to the right into the woods to skip some ledges we eventually came to the back side of another USFS sign warning us of the fact that it was not a trail and within 100 feet we came out on Downes Brook trail.
I do realize that some folks prefer going up this route rather than going down down and we met two of them heading up while we were descending. I expect its more of a navigational challenge locating where the trail finally goes into the woods as the painted out blazes and cairns are long gone from the ledges. The standard caveat applies that one of the reason this is such a nice trip is that it is unmarked and does require some minimal navigation skills, I hope it stays this way. I had the 1st edition WOC map that shows all the abandoned trails and routes in the area (since sanitized to remove these) but a prewar AMC guide or even a topo map would be enough to plan a trip.
I do this route every few years and always have a good time. If you have not done it, its worth checking out, although you should be comfortable traversing granite slabs and definitely time the visit when its dry.
We took our time on the loop and it was warm, but the overall loop was about 8 hours including breaks. Given the very nice grading of the Downes brook trail and the short section of the Sleeper trail up to the ridge line I expect trail runners could cut a considerable time off our time.
