When we received an invitation to a wedding in Middlebury, I knew I wanted to incorporate a return to the Adirondacks. We were at the tail end of a big house project, but we ended up with time to leave two days early, make the drive to New York, and spend a day hiking before heading to Vermont.

On our one full day in New York, we woke up to rain, delayed a bit to avoid the worst of it, and made our way to the Garden trailhead in Keene Valley ($10/day) to hike Big Slide via The Brothers. We arrived just before 8AM on a rainy Thursday morning at the end of June and found room in the lot. Despite our best attempts to work around it, the worst of the rain started falling just as we were gearing up. I think there is also a shuttle that runs from Marcy Field if the lot is full (and I’d probably expect it to be this late with better weather).

The trail travels at a steady incline through the woods until opening up on the First Brother. We’d heard the views along this hike were unbeatable, and this is where we got our first (and best) glimpse of them through the clouds. At this point we still had hope that things would clear up.

Despite the rain, the earlier portion of our hike wasn’t too wet, but did become muddier (though manageable) after Second Brother. Unfortunately, it also got colder and cloudier, so the view of the slide, and any views from the summit, were virtually nonexistent. Disappointing since our list visit was also raining and we were hoping to see a bit more of these beautiful mountains, but there is something special about standing amongst the clouds. There were some steep, slick sections, the worst of which has a ladder in place to assist.

We opted to take the Big Slide trail to Phelps out, making a loop to avoid going down the wet slabs and for a change of scenery. The walk out was pleasant, meandering along and across Slide Mountain Brook for much of the decline. We passed through some of the primitive camp sites and chatted with a ranger who encouraged us to return for camping in the future.

All in all this was an enjoyable hike, and I’d prefer misty conditions and subpar views to the sweltering heat and humidity we’ve experienced in the following weeks. I think we passed a total of three groups on our way up, and crossed paths with one other on our way out. AllTrails says this is a 9.6 mile loop with 3,021 ft of elevation gain and it took us around 6.5 hours to complete with a stop for lunch.

We stayed at NewVida Preserve, a recently restored lodge overlooking Whiteface. The view was fabulous but I think we were visiting before peak season, as it was mostly eerily quiet during our stay. The restaurant was open on our second night, but please confirm with wait staff and ask them to check with the kitchen about dietary restrictions as there was some confusion and a few items mislabeled as gluten free on the menu.