When I first went down the slide last September, I made the first mistake by leaving the Franconia Ridge at the low point between North Lincoln and Mt Lincoln. If you look at Papa Bear’s
photo #92 , you will see the nearest main branch of the slide heading toward that low point. That is where I entered the slide. The krummholz was extremely thick and difficult in this area. Not only did I also feel bad about snapping the branches on these fragile plants but they got their revenge on me by
cutting my legs to shreds. It took me about 15 minutes to negotiate this short section. I did not time it but that is what it felt like. Follow Papa Bear's lead on the entrance point of the slide off the ridge.
The slide was pretty straightforward and Papa Bear’s assessment was exactly as mine; it’s very loose and I was very careful not to dislodge anything. There were lots of large boulders overhead. The lower part of the slide turns into a stream and I followed the streambed down too far to my liking. I was actually walking in the stream and walking very gingerly over moss covered cascades, thinking that if I took a significant fall here, I would be stuffed. As I went down the stream, I kept looking to my left for an easy place to enter the woods but there didn’t appear to be any. So finally I just got out of the stream and headed into the woods.
The first 25 feet or so were quite thick but then the woods opened up and the bushwhack could not have been easier. I kept my compass heading between 70 and 80 degrees to give me an almost due east direction and I kept the stream on my right within earshot. I even came across a couple pieces of red tape, on trees and on the ground, from previous bushwhack markings, so I knew I was on the right track. I came out exactly at the same spot as Papa Bear, with the cascades on Lincoln Brook to my left and the Lincoln Slide stream on my right. I easily crossed Lincoln Brook and there was the trail. It only took me 1:15 from the Franconia Ridge to the Lincoln Brook Trail but it seemed like it took longer. I’m not a watch watcher so I don’t know what my intermediate times were along the route between the two; only the beginning and end points.
You’ll notice on the
TopoZone Map that the Lincoln Slide stream appears to intersect the Lincoln Brook Trail where the trail turns from a south-east direction to due east. It does not. The stream actually enters Lincoln Brook a bit south of that spot. It’s not off by much but I just wanted to point that out to map followers.
Photos are here.
JohnL