marcy slide from panther gorge?

[kd9truck]

I recently started hiking the slides and find them outstanding.any feed back on this slide would be greatly apreicated. I would like to couple it with a explouration of panther gourge. I understand there use to be a trail down from the col between haystack and marcy .the more info the better thanks again riddle- we run in when everyone runs out?

 

[MrOysterhead]

9 Truck - I don't have any personal experience in the gorge itself, but when I was geting beta for a trip in there everyone I talked to said it was very thick and the views were limited.

The ADK Rock and Ice Guide describes them as being "overgrown" and "more trouble then they are worth."

Enjoy. WE run in when everyone runs out - so even if its a lot of trouble you should be good to go right?

peace
Oysterhead

Oh yah - this might be a dumb question but...what FDNY company do you run with? Ladder 9?

 

[Johnnycakes]

If I remeber my Adirondack history correctly, the route up the slide was actually part of the first trail ever cut to the top of Marcy. I'm pretty sure it Phelps who cut the trail and took clients up to Marcy via those slides.

I can't imagine that there ever would have been a trail from the Marcy-Haystack col to Panther Gorge. I only say this because it is so damn steep; not because I have any historical information. If there is an old abandoned trail, you can count me in for checking it out. I'm thinking we would start from Panther Gorge and head up to the col. I wouldn't want to descend it site unseen. I would suggest bring a climbing rope you can repel off of too if you do decide to check it out.

I would also be game for hiking Marcy via the path of the first trail cut up the mountain, including the slide from Panther Gorge. Again, I would bring a rope though, as the slide looks mossy, wet, and slick. Something makes me think the slide was cleaner back in the days, but I don't know for sure.

John

PS We are talking about doing this in the late spring to early fall, right?

 

[MrOysterhead]

For both of you and anyone else who cares - this was indeed the route that Old Mountain Phelps used to guide clients to the summit (going up the slide - not going up the headwall of the gorge).

I'd second the idea of bringing a rope, some webbing, and the other technical gear you'd need for a rappel incase you got into a section you couldn't downclimb and were in a position where climbing up would be a bad idea.

peace
Oysterhead

 

[mavs00]

Trying to follow along with the conversation here. Are we talking about the long curved slide to the right of the rock face in the photo below? That seems to be the only true slide that rises out of Panther Gorge onto Marcy. BTW, blown up to it's original size, the bottom of that slide looks dam near vertical, and certainly not for the casual slide climber.

 

[MrOysterhead]

The slide in question I BELIEVE is the dirty, long angle slab you can see on the extreme left of the picture. I believe the climbing in the area you're looking at Mavs is all 5th class - definetly worth exploring for me in a few years when I have more solid trad skills.

peace
Oysterhead

 

[kd9truck]

Yes ,may I call you perl , I was in ladder 9 for 7 yrs now I,m in l-176 and if we must crawl then crawl we must.I beleve the Phelps slide is the one I,m thinking of and all the gear should come . sept. is a fine time,for shreding my gear then I can get new stuff on sale on close out thanks , I will try to post a better pic of th slide later ty

 

[TCD]

My understanding of the overgrown "Phelps Slide" was that it rises roughly from near 4 corners, and not from Panther Gorge really at all.

 

[Johnnycakes]

MrOysterhead is correct (as is TCD). It is the slide at the extreme left. I checked the slide out (from a distance) on my descent into Panther Gorge from Four Corners. Although not terribly steep, it is not a slide I would want to try in anything but dry conditions, as it looks like it would be quite "slimey" if it were wet.

 

[tgoodwin]

Don't count on finding any evidence of the trail shown on the 1953 topo map. The trail was cut in the early 1920's by the survey crew of Arthur Hopkins (as in the Hopkins Trail from Bushnell Falls), who at the time was chief of the Conservation Department's survey crew. This crew was surveying the new boundaries of the AMR when the AMR sold Panther Gorge, the summit of Marcy, Indian Falls and the Johns Brook Valley from just above JBL to the State. Both what is now known as the Hopkins Trail and the trail shown through Panther Gorge were cut to facilitate the movement of survey crews. Maintenance continued on the Hopkins Trail, but not on the one through Panther Gorge.
Hopkins did show this trail on his final survey maps, and the USGS apparently just cribbed from this map without ever checking to see if the trail even existed. There was no sign of that trail as of 1953 when the map was published. This error and others on the 1953 map finally motivated ADK to start producing their own topo maps with more up to date trail data.
As for the "Phelps" slide, it is the low angle one to the left. The Phelps route to Marcy approached it from Panther Gorge. It has been skied many times by the Ski To Die Club.
Hope this helps.