42 Slickrock 0.6
45 Ike Branch 1.5
56 N. Hangover Lead 2.4
56 S. Hangover Lead 3.0
46 Deep Creek 4.0
53 Haoe Lead 5.1
42 Slickrock 5.3
44 Nichols Cove 1.6
49 Yellow Hammer 1.7
45 Ike Branch 1.5
42 Slickrock 0.6
Total Miles 27.3
Knowing that this area is known for it's hard trails, we left Thursday night to get an early start. On the way over while driving the Dragon we saw an owl, a woodpecker, and a hog. We parked just across the river by the trailhead. We hiked in and camped just before the Ike Branch trailhead off the Slickrock trail next to the river. We set up camp right at dark. A car came into the campsite across the river from us and stayed the night. We sat around the fire and enjoyed the stars.
Day Two
We got up, ate breakfast and broke down camp. The climb started at Ike Branch and what was left of the snow. North Hangover Lead is where it really began. The sign didn't lie. The trail was straight up.
It doesn't look like there is even a trail there, but there is! Straight up the side of the mountain. 1720 feet in a two mile segment with some just straight up.
We took our lunch break at Big Fat Gap where the North and South part of Hangover lead come together. From there it is only 2000 more feet up. Lora made her graceful fall on this part and bruised her shin. The highlight of this section as the snow got deeper and deeper, was the rock overlook where you could see forever in all directions.
When we got to the top, the snow was around five inches deep. We decided not to go to the hangover which we had both been to before. We continued to Deep Creek which turned out to be quite the challenge. Not only locating the trail, but all the downed branches and trees. Once we got down out of the snow you could see the trail better. We camped along side the trail where there was a campsite. We even had our own waterfall. The wood was damp so it was difficult to keep the fire going and we were tired from the long day of climbing and bushwhacking.
Day Three
At least we started the day downhill. We even found the bridge over Deep Creek which from our trail description said was no longer safe. It had obviously been replace since the book was written. When the uphill section started the windfall started too and we worked our way to the Haoe Lead trailhead.
There has been beautiful views all along these trails and now we were looking over Lake Santeetlah. The cool thing to see on the Haoe Lead was the rocks that shot up along the ridge. They reminded us of the Devils Racetrack. We stopped among these and ate lunch. As we got higher we got back into the deep snow and harder steep climbing. People had been out going from Naked Ground to the Hangover so we had slush to hike through instead of snow. Messy, messy, messy.
When we got to the Naked Ground we had to spend some time looking for the Slickrock trail. The sign was there, but with the snow no trail to be seen. We referred to the topo map and then did some hunting. Finally we bagged what we were hunting for. A slight indent of a trail followed by some saw marks on logs.
The first section of the Slickrock trail is a winding switchback through the rhododendron. Basically following a tunnel with lots of downfalls along the way. Every now and then you got a view. Finally we broke through to a clear area out of the snow and campsite so we camped for the night there.
Day Four
We woke up and got breakfast started. It tried sprinkling on us a couple of times and then when we got on the trail it started to rain. We were back in the rhododendron tunnel again and it rained for some time before we finally got to walk along the creek. Then it cleared up for the day. We enjoyed the trail down to the junction.
At the Nicholas Cove trail junction, there was no snow, but there was windfall everywhere. We searched and searched and finally found the trail which started with....you guessed it! A very steep climb. 400 feet in 0.4 miles. This turns into a beautiful trail along with the Yellow Hammer. Lot's of ups and downs. We got to see the grave site at the trail junction of these two trails.
By the time we got back to the car, we were ready to be done. It was a beautiful hike. Just hard and hard on us.
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