I really prefer loops to out-and-backs and some of the unmaintained trails shown on Dave Roberts' map open some possibilities.
The red dot trail between Whiteface and Piper has been itching at me for a while, so I decided to see if I could connect the dots, so to speak.
I DO NOT recommend doing this. Please pay attention to the following warnings from Dave Roberts.
"Broken lines in red ...can also be difficult to follow ...".
Also from DR: "... suitable only for the most experienced hikers, who are very adept at finding their way in the woods and skilled enough at brushwhacking to be able to easily find their way back to a good trail if they do lose their way..."
Even counting avoiding the spider ( at shoulder height in the middle of the trail ) , this was the easy part -
There's sort of a central artery ATV trail that gets crossed by the red dot trail. But finding where it leaves whiteface and where it crosses the ATV trail ... well, I have never found that. There are hints of a trail here and there that seem to follow the map, but they may be wishful thinking. The same is true below Piper as well. This is unusual; I've followed some of the DR map's unmaintained trails and been very impressed with their accuracy - not to mention finding old telephone poles etc that the map notes.
I tried doing some correlation between google earth and the DR map, and the result was inconsistent whether I tried to use elevation contours or distances from reference points. So I made my best guess and off I went.
I did find a very faint path that got me close to the base of Piper, but it finally petered out at a surprisingly deep little runoff canyon with a cliff on the far side that offered no chance of ascent.
I found a crossing upstream; it would not be viable if the bed hadnt been dry. From here I started up South Piper fairly close to the ridge end, headed for the ledges above Swett.
There was no sign of a trail at this point. The woods were pretty open, though, and generally not too many rock falls/boulders to get around. Lots of wooded ledge and detached/jumbled slabs.
I've been playing mostly Irish music for a while, now, so I was grateful that when I glanced uphill at one point that it was daytime and not a moonlit night. I've dubbed this the 'Banshee Tree':
Eventually I did break out above the cliff below the view ledges. I still did not see any sign of the "trail" to this point, though here there was an ancient cairn. I think my path was too far north. Possibly I'd have found some remains of the red dot trail if I'd gone downstream at the cliff canyon. Perhaps some other day . Perhaps. Reports of yellow jackets on the other end of Piper reminded me of my own experience getting stung out there a few years ago. Grateful that didnt happen this day !!! I may wait for colder weather :)
.It was a really great day to be out there!
The base of the south ledge on South Piper has lots of detached slabs. Some are quite large. When struck sharply they produce a tone. This fascinates me :) I couldnt resist playing a little when I found a collection of 5 adjacent (large) tone rocks
Finally ... a surprising wildlife encounter on the descent ( piper-whiteface link). I saw something fluttering in the trail. Thought it was an injured bird, but as i got closer saw it was a large toad. The toad was being assailed by some frenzied little furry thing. I thought at first the toad was trying to eat it, but I think it was actually the other way around - I believe a shrew. Although I chased it away ( toads eat bugs go find something else to eat little guy) it came back several times. I dont know how it finally played out, the shrew seemed to give up after a while. Anyway .....
I'm a pretty slow hiker, but this was a slow hike, even for me, due to difficulty. Also to sitting and admiring the view :)
Altogether, 4.3 miles, 1550 ft el gain, 5hr 23min.