Mt. Colden via the 1990 Slide - 10/1

[takeahike46er]

I had a wonderful time hiking up Colden on Saturday. The slide varies immensely. It starts off as a series of terraces before funneling into a narrow section complete with a waterfall. The slide opens back up and gradually gets steeper until the final series of slabs. The herdpath at the top is brief, thankfully. I highly recommend this route up Colden.

The views were somewhat hazy on Saturday. The foliage was spotty and overall didn't make for very colorful photographs.

Here are some pics.

 

[dom15931]

Wow, sounds interesting. Looks steeper than the trap dyke. This slide is now on my to do list.

 

[bubba]

Wow, sounds interesting. Looks steeper than the trap dyke. This slide is now on my to do list.

Mine, too! Excellent photo tour.

Questions:
What kind of time did it take?
Did the water on the trail make is slippery or could you get around it okay?
Comfortable on the steep sections? Any rope protection? Ankles ache?
How'd you come out?

 

[Pete_Hickey]

What kind of time did it take?
Did the water on the trail make is slippery or could you get around it okay?
Comfortable on the steep sections? Any rope protection? Ankles ache?
How'd you come out?

Interesting. I did that slide the day before. It was quite wet then, from melting snow:

http://newmud.comm.uottawa.ca/~pete/tmpadk/coldenslide.jpg

That forced me to choose my route based on what was dry, not the easiest. For the most part, the rock was quite grippy (I had approach shoes), even when wet, but I did not want to push it. Especially on the reddish-slime sections

My time on the slide was an hour.. base to summit. I spent a good 15 minutes eating a snack, thinking that the longer I wait, the more the water would dry. It didn't, but the water did get warmer.

Near the top, it was quite steep. I would not have wanted to do it with hiking boots.

I came out a few hundred yards from the summit, which was VERY icy. I returned via Lake arnold, and was down early enough to head off to do some afternoon trailwork onthe street/Nye trail

 

[takeahike46er]

Mine, too! Excellent photo tour.

Questions:
What kind of time did it take?
Did the water on the trail make is slippery or could you get around it okay?
Comfortable on the steep sections? Any rope protection? Ankles ache?
How'd you come out?

It took me less than 3 1/2 hours to get from the Loj to the summit. I probably spent about an hour on the slide.

I was much more fortunate than Pete because the slide was dry overall. The rock was grippy and there were plenty of ledges and cracks to aid in the zig zag up the steep sections.

No ropes were needed because the pitch varied considerably-- even in the steep sections. Its not as steep as the trap dike.

My ankles DID ache because I was a fool and wore boots on the slide. Sneakers or climbing shoes would work better for the slide. Keep the boots for the mud.

Overall, it was a great workout but nothing too taxing.