2025 Hikes Part 3
Hike Report M34 Denning Trailhead > Slide Mtn FLT Eastern Terminus > John Burroughs Plaque O&B
This morning 9 hiker met in Bainbridge at 6:30AM
Chris G, Cindy S, Lucy 🐾, Guy F, Ben H, Joanne F, Malia P, Gwen W, Lisa R, Steve E.
We carpooled to the Denning trailhead and headed ⬆️, the trail was dry and looked like it could be very wet if it rained a lot.
The large rock rock water bars across the trail are used to prevent erosion of the trail and divert water off rather than washing down the trail.
The large rock rock water bars across the trail are used to prevent erosion of the trail and divert water off rather than washing down the trail.
There were so many rocks that we had to have a little fun and look for geometric shapes,
now you can too if you look at the photos.
At one of the viewpoints we saw a peregrine falcon fly by us.
The mountain ash berries were hanging on the trees even though the leaves had fallen.
Just before the Slide Mtn summit there is a new plaque for the FLT Eastern Terminus.
Dot and Bill Rice came from the Slide Mtn Parking on Olivera Rd. (from the other side of Slide Mtn)
and really surprised us when we got to the top.
We asked a trail maintainer (professional geologist) why at the top there seemed to be gravel.
His reply was that the top of Slide mountain was not covered by the glacier from the last ice age 10000 years ago so it was more weathered from exposure. That may have broken the rocks into gravel driving up and down to the old fire tower.
Just past the summit at 4080' is a large ledge and around on the side is a plaque dedicated to John Burroughs.
John Burroughs (April 3, 1837 – March 29, 1921) was an American naturalist and nature essayist, active in the conservation movement in the United States.
We descended much quicker than the ascent but it seems like there were more stones on the way down.
I would say that it is a pretty rocky trail.
The hike was 10.4 miles with an elevation gain of 2026'
Map:
Photos:
Ain't no mountain high enough,
Steve
Full Moon Hike, Monday 10/6
We had 18 hikers and two dogs meet at Berry Hill for this evening's full moon hike. They were: Joanne Finch, Mike Cunningham, June Granz, Abbie Tamber and dog Pic, Cheryl Lyon, Mike DeWispelaere, Dennis Geist, Melissa Tworkowsky, Lynn Kline, Guy Forden, Johnny Orsini, Chris Snow, Sharon Valentine, Jason Eastmen, Steve Ellsworth, Colette Johnson, Rebecca Hargrave with dog Apollo, and myself. I thought we had 19, so appolgies if I left someone off, but only 18 signed the sheet.
The small group arriving from Norwich arrived at the fire tower to a larger group already assembled to watch the sun set and the moon rise. After shuffling some cars to Bowman Lake to accomodate the larger group, we set out down Tower Road around 7pm. We followed the trail through the red pine plantation east of Tower Road before crossing back to the west side. Crossing the Breslin Bridge it was no surprise that the unnamed tributary of Bowman Creek was bone dry, much to Apollo's disappointment. Soon after heading west throught the hemlocks, a distant hoot of a barred owl was heard. We paused after a second hoot was confirmed, and Mike D. played some barred owl calls, but no response was heard. Taking in the quiet darkness of the woodswe eventually turned south towards Preston Rd, passing beneath the towering spruce. The trail was in excellent condition, with hardly a stick out of place.
Emerging on Preston Rd, we paused for a water break. Being that this was the Harvest Moon and the first supermoon of the year (Supermoon: a full moon or a new moon that nearly coincides with perigee—the closest that the Moon comes to the Earth in its orbit) a snack of pumpkin-shaped Reese's peanut butter cups, candy corn, and other chocolate bars with "festive fall wrappers" were shared to energize the group for the second half of the hike. Continuing on, we following the trail south along the old farm path, admiring the stone walls along the way that lined the edge of the trail.
Descending now away from the old farmland we paused at an area of exposed, uniform ledge rock that we decided must have been quarried long ago. Satisfied with that explanation, we resumed our trek southward and before long the framing of the new Bowman Creek bridge emerged from the darkness. As we approached the bridge the satisfying smell of fresh cut lumber greeted us. The bridge is an impressive structure spanning 24 feet and it easily handled our large group without complaint. Kudos to Larry, Steve and the whole crew who worked so hard to get this built. And while we were admiring the bridge, and although the creek was mostly dry, Apollo was happy to find a large puddle to lay down in to cool off—a strange thing to say in October.
Leaving the bridge behind, I noticed a strange sensation. Turns out it was the first uphill portion of the hike. Fortunately this was short lived and we soon started back down towards Bowman Lake. This section of trail has some truly impressive large trees, including a few black cherry, red and sugar maple. This section of trail was rocky and definitely undisturbed by farming or pasture grazing. I would be curious to see old aerial photography from the 30's to confirm that they were survivors of the original land clearing from European settlement.
Soon after, the banks of Bowman Creek appeared alongside the trail and the glint of streetlights on our vehicles at the trailhead was visible. The sign at Bowman says 2.8 miles to the firetower. My own measurement puts it closer to 3 miles to the gate at the base of the fire tower road, with the tower road being about 0.25 miles in length. Joanne's GPS said 3.6 miles, though I'm not sure if that includes the walk up and back to the firetower. Anyhow, we finish about 8:45pm, covering about 3 miles in an hour and 45 minutes, including the two stops mentioned.
Thanks to Steve, Guy, Melissa, and Rebecca for car spotting and thanks to everyone for an enjoyable evening. We all piled into the vehicles to return to the fire tower and were on our way home by 9pm. We could not have asked for a better night.
The next full moon is November 5th.
Chris
