Big Slide via The Brothers (7/23)
I arrived at the Garden around 2:00 am and it had maybe 15 cars there. After a brief unplanned nap and adding a mile going down the wrong trail, I locked in and began hiking at 4:30. This was my first time going up the Brothers trail and it was glorious! Clean and dry rocks that I could climb like a mountain goat all the way until the second brother. There was a mild amount of mud, but it was avoidable through hopping on dry rocks. The third brother to Big Slide was moderately wet and muddy; it covered the trail but the mud was either firm enough to walk on or had enough rocks to hop. I was comfortable with just boots and no gaiters. The weather was perfect today and I got great views of the fresh slides on Gothics and Saddleback. I descended back the way I came since it was dry enough on the rock slabs to just walk. Overall it was a great day; I think the Brothers trail is now one of my favorite hikes in the high peaks!
