Snowshoed partway up the East Osceola slide above Upper
Greeley Pond. The slide had recently served as a playground for
backcountry skiers and the snow conditions were firm and grippy.
Snow depth in the woods, before this week's storms.
Arriving at Upper Greeley Pond. Note the lonely cluster of small white cedars on the left.
The two upper forks of the slide group above Upper Greeley Pond. My best guess is that these fell in the 1950s. These are the routes favored by backcountry skiers. The original slide above Upper Greeley - the one the Mt. Osceola Trail parallels and eventually crosses at the top - dates back to 1892 and is mostly revegetated.
The massive scarred eastern face of East Osceola.
The NE cliffs, under which the Mt. Osceola Trail passes.
Onto the track leading up to the slide. Lots of recent skier traffic, but none today.
Onto the open slide. You can find a great YouTube video of two skiers schussing down this slide.
First view back to the K2 Cliff on the west knob of Mt. Kancamagus.
Getting steeper. The compacted snow was almost styrofoam like, providing great grip for my snowshoes.
On several winter trips here, I've turned back from or bushwhacked around this ice bulge area.
Yup, I think I'll bushwhack around.
Steep and deep in the woods. By cutting across the slope, I was able to use part of the old abandoned section of Greeley Ponds Trail.
Emerging back on the slide, above the ice bulge.
Nice view of Kancamagus here.
Lunch break.
Holy cow, there's some snow up here!
Continuing up the slide.
The crest of East Osceola, high above. The white streak above the trees is the top of the big slab the Mt. Osceola Trail climbs alongside at 3300 ft.
The fork where the 1950s slide (left) and 1892 slide (right) merge. This was the first time I'd made it this far.
Not far above, a steep pitch leads to the first of several ice bulges on the 1950s slide.
A cool crag guards the south side of the bulge.
I made it almost to the top of this bulge, but the last short pitch looked too sketchy for snowshoeing, bordering on winter mountaineering with crampons and ice axe. More ice bulges could be seen farther up the slide.
Zoom on the ice bulges above.
Side view of the bulge I was clinging to.
Profiles.
View back to a little pointy spur of Mt. Kancamagus, near Kancamagus Pass.
Yikes!
Heading back down.
Zoom on the K1 Cliff on Mt. Kancamagus.
Back into the scrub.
Floundering in spruce traps.
Skier's view.
Ice art on the slide.
A wan sun at Upper Greeley Pond.
Is the start of the slide easy to find on the GP trail?
ReplyDeleteYes, the track of the slide comes right down to the trail maybe 100 yards south of the Upper Pond.
DeleteIs there any bushwhack from top of slide to the Osceola ridge trail, or is it blocked by cliffs?
ReplyDeleteHello to MW store, we've bought books and maps there 😁
I have bushwhacked down to the tops of both forks of this slide from the Mt. Osceola Trail, and I did not encounter any cliffs. Just some steep woods.
Delete