KINSMAN NOTCH POWDER: 2/10/15
On a relatively warm (20s) day with lots of clouds Linda Moore and I spent a few hours plowing through deep powder to a couple of spots on the north slope of Mount Waternomee. As luck would have it, Erin Paul Donovan told me he had broken a track up into that area the day before. His strong effort sure made our trek easier - thanks, Erin!
Erin's talk of knee to thigh-deep powder prompted me to break out my old 30" Tubbs, which had sat idle for a decade. One step after climbing over the parking lot snowbank I heard a horrible cracking sound. Guess the plastic got brittle over the years. Luckily I had my regular pair of tailed MSRs in the car. Glad it didn't happen a mile in amidst the deep snow.
"Jakey's Crag" seen from the from field near the old DOT garage site, not far from the Beaver Brook trailhead.
There's a brook under there somewhere.
Erin's track followed a great route, cutting the grade on the steeper slopes.
A peek back at the folds of Kinsman Notch.
After a mile we cut off and broke trail across to the "Waternomee Waterslide." It was slow going in the deep snow!
We dropped down a steep slope to the base of the waterslide. This snowy swath is steeper than it looks in the photo.
Taking a break.
We climbed up along the left edge of the waterslide, which is a huge ledgy ramp in summer. Out on the slide the snow cover was much thinner, with ice underneath.
Looking down the slide and across at the peak bearing the Dilly Cliffs above Lost River.
Heading to the edge for a lunch break near the top of the slide.
Another angle on the view down. Looks like there's potential for a nifty backcountry ski run.
Linda breaking trail back across to our inbound tracks.
Steep and deep! This made us appreciate the effort Erin put in breaking his track solo.
Looking back at the waterslide through the trees, with a steep buttress beyond.
An old bear tree.
Returning to Erin's track, we followed it upward through glorious glades.
Winding through a winter wonderland.
Deep enough! This is about what folks in Weymouth, MA have in their back yard.
We plowed a short way above the end of Erin's track to view this wonderfully open hardwood glade.
Heading back down, some views through the trees.
The sun lights up "Lost River Mountain."
By chance we spotted this cryptic sign, like the "ZEM ZEM" one that's also in this neighborhood.
A window view to Black Mountain, Mount Huntington and the Loon ski trails.
A Pileated Woodpecker at work.
An old warrior yellow birch.
A small beech tree doing a split.
Looking back to beautiful blue skies.
Hi Steve, I just stumbled across your site. All of these trip reports are great. I've been skiing a bit in Kinsman notch this year, and have found some nice glades (some marked with signs and some not). I was wondering if you would be willing to share some info on where the 'Toy' and 'Zem-Zem' glades are? I've been parking at the Beaver Brook trailhead and heading out from there, but from the pictures these glades look a bit further East and maybe easier accessed parking off a pullout on 112?
ReplyDeleteAlso love all the trip reports on the slides, I've really gotten into skiing slides this year. I've skied a few that you have trip reports on, and you've got trip reports for a few I have my eyes on (haven't been on any of the Osceola slides yet). Just did Downes Brooke this past weekend, not the best I've skied but it had some really fun sections.
Thanks, Andrew
Hi Andrew,
DeleteThanks for your comments! You're correct, the Zem Zem and Toy glades are a little farther east. I access them from the upper pulloff on the south side of 112. Not sure if it's being plowed this winter. The brook that comes down to that pulloff has a neat ledgy waterslide at about 2100-2200 ft. that might be skiable with all the snow.
A local guy was in here recently who has skied the Osceola Dogleg Slide and one of the East Osceola slides the last couple of weeks. I was thinking of heading in to the Downes Brook Slide soon for some snowshoeing. Those lower ledges are so expansive. Gets pretty constricted heading up to the "turn of the slide." Sounds like the crossings on Downes Brook are bridged pretty well? Happy exploring,
Steve
Just saw that you replied to this. Thanks for the info on Kinsman, I'll have to get up there and check it out. The crossings to Downes brook were filled in great. When the slide split I took the climbers left hand side, and there was some fun steeper sections up that way.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite slide to ski so far has been the North Tri slide, I've been up there a couple of times. I saw a couple snowshoeing up it one of the times, so that might be a fun trip if you haven't done it yet. Definitely steeper though.