Downes Brook Meander

I wanted to pay a visit to one of my favorite snowshoeing destinations, the expansive lower ledges of Mt. Passaconaway's Downes Brook Slide, but I wasn't sure if the four crossings of Downes Brook on the Downes Brook Trail would have solid enough ice/snow bridges for safe passage. As expected, the first 0.3 mile approach to the Mount Potash Trail; was a packed highway. And, as I often find in winter, beyond that junction the Downes Brook Trail was a chopped-up mess created by barebooters. I strapped on my snowshoes and slogged up to the first crossing. I didn't like what I saw. The booters had made a precarious route involving a tall boulder. 

Not knowing what the other three crossings would be like, I opted to backtrack a bit and bushwhack up a steep slope to a viewpoint atop a gravel slide/washout that I had visited several times before.

Tress barely hanging on at the top edge of the washout.

Potash Mountain across the valley.

Looking up the Downes Brook valley with a northern spur of Mt. Whiteface on the left.

An impressive closeup of Mt. Passaconaway.

Above here I dropped into a drainage and started bushwhacking to the south in mostly open woods, with some fine hemlocks.

This western flank of Hedgehog Mountain consists of a series of ribs and drainages. Up and down we go.

Down into another drainage.

And up again. This route was proving to be slow and tedious, so I descended to the trail between the second and third crossings and figured I see how the third and fourth crossings would be.

The third crossing was straightforward.

A beautiful valley.

The fourth crossing was meandering and somewhat sketchy. Although I cursed the booters for wrecking the trail - I would much rather break trail in untracked snow - they did show the way for me on the crossings.

 

Into the Wilderness.

 

 

 

The condition of the trail was abysmal for snowshoeing, so I took them off and found easier going by stepping in the irregular boot tracks.

I was happy to see that the boot tracks continued up the trail and did not break off for the slide. Don't know where they were going, but it would only get more tiring for them the farther they went up the valley. I put my snowshoes back on and headed up the frozen brookbed towards the slide.

Cold winter beauty.

 

Making tracks.

Frozen cascade at base of the open ledges.

Looking up the broad, low-angle slabs to the norther spur of Mt. Passaconaway, atop which is the mountain's superb northern viewpoint.

The Downes Brook Slide, aka Passaconaway Slide, fell in the early 1890s and for many years formed part of the route of the Downes Brook Slide Trail up Mt. Passaconaway. This trail was abandoned in 1957 because the steep upper slabs are wet and dangerous. Even these lower angle slabs can be treacherous in summer if wet. The old route gets occasional use from experienced bushwhackers, but the upper part above the slide is very steep, mossy in summer, and could not sustain heavy use. When unknown parties blazed the old route about 1990, the Forest Service and Wonalancet Out Door Club cooperatively covered over the markings to discourage casual use, and posted signs at either end noting that while foot travel was allowed, maintenance of the abandoned trail was not permitted. The only part that remains open as a maintained trail is the 0.3 mile upper stretch that leads down from the summit of Mt. Passaconaway to the spectacular north outlook.

The exhilaration of wide-open spaces. The ledge slabs were sheathed in a hard crust, which provided good bite for the teeth of the MSRs. 

An interesting natural sculpture.

Side view.

I have snoozed in the shade of this white pine on hot summer days.

 

Some exposed ice poked through here and there. Before Christmas, after the rain and thaw, the ledges were reportedly sheathed in ice nearly wall to wall.

Looking back at Potash Mountain, which provides an excellent view of these slabs.

Close-up.

 

Ledges on Mt. Tremont in the distance.

 

Looking down from the top of the lower slabs.

A frozen cascade.

Side view.

Feather prints of (presumably) a Ruffed Grouse.

 

Nice open spruce forest alongside the slide.

The largest cascade on the slide and its accompanying pool. Would have liked to continue farther up the slide, but it was getting late, so this was my turn-around point.

Heading back down through the spruces.

View of "South Potash."

 

Back on Downes Brook Trail. Two miles of yuck.

Passing my tracks from where I came down from the bushwhack.

The second crossing on a winding route.

I gingerly navigated my own route on the first crossing and made it out before dark.

 

Tunnel Brook Notch

Tunnel Brook Notch, the deep gap between Mt. Moosilauke and Mt. Clough, is one of my favorite destinations at any time of year. Our cold early winter suggested that the chain of beaver ponds on the floor of the Notch would be well-frozen, allowing unique winter-only views of the steep, icy slides on Mt. Clough. Also, that the four brook crossings on the southern approach along Tunnel Brook Trail would be ice-bridged. Seeing two recent photos of slides in the Notch - one on Mt. Moosilauke, the other on Mt. Clough - posted by avid bushwhacker "timbercamp" prompted me to head out there on a cold day with high winds on the summits.

 

The nearest plowed parking for Tunnel Brook Trail (and Blueberry Mountain Trail; both are located on Long Pond Road) is at the Glencliff trailhead on High St. This adds 0.7 mile each way to the Tunnel Brook hike. At the point where Long Pond Road leaves High St. an open field offers a view of Wyatt Hill and Webster Slide Mountain.

A gentle climb on snowmobile-packed Long Pond Road leads to the start of Tunnel Brook Trail.

The first three stream crossings had pretty good ice bridges.

The fourth crossing (the second of Slide Brook) required some delicate maneuvering.

The reservoir pond for the Glencliff Home was frozen, though I'm not sure I would trust the ice.

A nice view of Slide Brook.

Tunnel Brook Trail is a pleasant route with mostly easy grades, as shown here, and one section of moderate climbing. The trail had been softly packed by several sets of snowshoes. Here, in the western White Mountains, there was less snow depth than in our yard in Lincoln.

Snow-laden softwoods at the broad height-of-land at the south end of the Notch.

Snow flurries had moved in as I arrived at Mud Pond, the largest and southernmost pond in the Notch. But Moosilauke's southern ridge and South Peak, and the slides in Slide Ravine, were still visible.

The largest slide in Slide Ravine looked a little bony. This had been visited by timbercamp a few days earlier. The climb from Slide Brook through the woods, and the slide itself, are quite steep. Though I have made several summer/fall visits,  I have not been there in winter

The snowshoe tracks led across the pond, showing that it was well-frozen. I took the opportunity to wander around on it, with views peering north into the Notch.

Looking across from the old beaver dam at the north end of Mud Pond.

I followed the tracks to the next pond to the north, from which three of the nine slides on Mt. Clough could be seen - #2, #3 and #4, counting from the south.

Closer look.

It was exhilarating to be snowshoeing across these open snowy expanses.

From the next pond, a close look at the steep, icy ledges of Slide #2.

Slide #4 is the tallest and steepest of the Clough slides. It is 1,000 ft. long, extending from 2,310 ft. to 2,930 ft, with an average slope of 32 degrees. It has a variety of features. At its moderately sloped lower end are two parallel long, narrow spines of glacial till (and a shorter third spine). The middle section is steeper, with a mix of fractured ledges and scrub. The rugged upper section, starting at ca. 2,550 ft., consists of very steep bare ledges, a swath that rises at a slope of 38 to 40 degrees. This slide had been at least partly ascended by timbercamp a couple of days earlier, and I aimed to go up the lower part until it became too sketchy for snowshoes.

Looking south back down the Notch from a trailside spot that is accessible in summer.

Continuing north onto the next pond.

Getting closer to Slide #4.

Yikes! Lots of ice bulges up there.

This is one long beaver pond. All told, the traverse of the ponds was nearly a half-mile in the open. Luckily there was virtually no wind.

Head-on view of #2, #3 and #4. The various Clough slides came down in 1927, 1938 and `1942.

Close-up of Slide #3, another steep and ledgy one.

I returned to the trail and followed it to an impassable crossing of Tunnel Brook, so I passed on visiting the northernmost beaver ponds.

From the crossing I could see the next pond to the north. A bit of Slide #5 can be seen on the left.

I backtracked a short distance and then pushed uphill through snow-loaded conifers to the lower part of Slide #4, which consists primarily of parallel strips of gravel, long and narrow. Note the small red pine (needles in pairs) in the foreground.

Looking up the  northern of the two longest gravel strips, with the upper slide in sight above.

Higher up, and zoomed. Snow cover was thin atop the rocks and gravel.

Looking back.

From the top of the gravel strips, I continued up onto the first ledges on the slide. Here I encountered timbercamp's snowshoe tracks.  There was crunchy ice under a thin cover of powder, enough for the MSRs to grip on.

Looking across the Notch to Moosilauke's South Peak.

Above here the slide was getting too steep and icy to climb (and then descend) in snowshoes, time to turn around.

A view north to the snow-covered ridge followed by the Benton Trail. The strip of spruce on the right marks the revegetated track of a slide that fell on Moosilauke's west slope in 1927.

Carefully descending.

Wide-angle shot.

Zoomed.

Looking down the southern gravel spine.

One of a number of white pines on the slide.

Back onto the ponds for the return trip.

There's gold on the South Peak.

Heading south across Mud Pond.

Looking back to the north through the Notch.

Spotlight on Slide Ravine.

The slides, mostly from 1927 and 1938.

A good look at the big slide, which presumably fell during the November 10927 storm. 

It is still massive and wide open, very steep and full of loose rock. It is 1,100 ft. long (the lower 500 ft. is a narrow, revegetated track), extends from 3,020 ft. to 3,770 ft., and has an average slope of 34 degrees. Its open section, which begins at 3,400 ft. and is up to 110 ft. wide, offers expansive views to the west and an intimate vista down into Tunnel Brook Notch, revealing Mud Pond on the floor and the many slides on the steep east face of Mt. Clough. There is very little exposed bedrock on this slide, and after nearly a century the open part bears only a scattering of stunted birch, spruce, fir and white pine.

 

Homeward bound on Tunnel Brook Trail.